If I Should Fall From Grace With God

I see Volkswagon is now flogging their cars on TV to The Pogues song "If I Should Fall From Grace With God".  I'm not able to come down on artists as sell outs, those dudes have got to eat and it's not like the Pogues made the kind of cash that U2 can bag with just a single show.  I do have to wonder if anyone at the ad agency actually read the lyrics though.  Not exactly inspiring for a car buying mood.

The point of including the song, I assume, is less about the meaning of the lyrics and more about accessing the subconscious of the buyer with the tempo and arrangement of the song.  That uptempo Irish reel, quick-cut editing, a family on the move with things to do and places to see.  Post haste, and all that.  If I'm buried neath the sod but the angels won't receive me..is this is a family tune?

The music used in commercials hasn't had an actual relationship to the product being sold for a very long time.  No one does a literal interpretation of what's being said, done, or sold on the screen, no catchy jingle.  Bury me at sea where no murdered ghost can haunt me.

In the world of advertising I can almost imagine an executive having a database or spreadsheet which lists songs and the products they could represent.  I would love to see what they believe "Fairytale of New York" could sell.  With the current boulevard of broken dreams state of the economy, perhaps it would be an excellent choice to sell banking or financial services.

Let me go, boys.  Let me go, boys.