lyrics. In November 2020, the BBC again announced that Radio 1 would play a censored version with the words "faggot" and "slut" removed, while Radio 2 would play the original, and 6 Music presenters would each decide for themselves which version to play. In response musician Nick Cave accused the BBC of "mutilating" the song, stating it would be "stripped of its value". Meanwhile, The Pogues' official Twitter account responded to Laurence Fox's call to get the original to the top of the charts and "#DefundTheBBC" with, "Fuck off you little herrenvolk shite". On 19 November 2020, PinkNews journalist Josh Milton described the seemingly annual argument over whether or not the use of the word "faggot" was offensive as "Britain's worst festive tradition". He also stated that in 2010 the musical comedian Mitch Benn argued that the word "faggot" was Irish and Liverpudlian slang for a lazy person although modern Irish news outlets focus on the word's use as an anti-gay slur. In December 2020, an alternative version with MacColl singing "you're cheap and you're haggard", replacing the contentious line, was included in the compilation album TikTok Christmas. The same censored version was utilized for the official Marvel Entertainment playlist soundtrack of the 2022 special short film The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Releases and promotion The song was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in November 1987 and swiftly became a hit, spending five weeks at Number 1 in the Irish charts. On 17 December 1987, the Pogues and MacColl performed the song on the BBC's television show Top of the Pops, and it was propelled to number two on the official UK Top 75. Although the song finished 1987 as the 48th best seller of the year despite only a month's sales, it was denied the UK Christmas number one by the Pet Shop Boys' synth-pop version of "Always on My Mind". MacGowan was reported to have said "We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine". MacColl later said that she did not feel they were really in competition with the Pet Shop Boys as they were doing a completely different type of music. The song was re-released by the Pogues in the UK in 1991 (reaching #36), and again in the UK and Ireland for Christmas 2005, reaching number three in the UK. All proceeds from the latter release were donated towards a