London, Dec 8 (IANS): After getting criticised for using 'homophobic' lyrics in his song "Fairytale of New York", singer Shane MacGowan defended himself saying the word was used to make the character's dialogue sound authentic.

MacGowan's song recently came under fire when two RTE radio DJ's criticised the use of the word "f****t". They found the lyrics as being insensitive to the gay community, claiming that the word was a "slur", and suggested the song should be censored, reported metro.co.uk.

During his appearance on Virgin Media's "Tonight Show" MacGowan said: "The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person.

"She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate. Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend."

However, MacGowan said that he had no problem with the song getting censored.

"If people don't understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word but I don't want to get into an argument."