A Spaceman Came Travelling
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| "A Spaceman Came Travelling" | ||||
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| Single by Chris de Burgh | ||||
| from the album Spanish Train and Other Stories | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Format | Vinyl | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 5:10 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Writer(s) | Chris de Burgh | |||
| Chris de Burgh singles chronology | ||||
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"A Spaceman Came Travelling" is a song by Chris de Burgh released on the album Spanish Train and Other Stories in 1975. It became a popular Christmas song in the UK, and has been released numerous times as a single, first in 1976, then 1981, 1984 and 1986. The re-release in 1976 reached #1 in Ireland, its reissue making #15 in that country in 1986. The 1986 release, which was a double A-side with the song "The Ballroom of Romance", reached #40 on the UK singles chart. It was also released as a single in the Netherlands in 1985. It has appeared on many festive compilation albums.
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[edit] Song history
De Burgh, who had just signed his first recording contract with A&M Records, was broke and "staying at a friend's flat" when he read Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Daniken. The book made him think "what if the star of Bethlehem was a space craft and what if there is a benevolent being or entity in the universe keeping an eye on the world and our foolish things that we do to each other?" A fan of Irish poet William Butler Yeats, whose work "The Second Coming" avers that every 2,000 years or so there would be a major cataclysmic event happening, de Burgh saw the birth of Christ as "such an event and then 2,000 years later there would be a similar" one. He imagined "the nativity scene, the thing hovering over and I could see the shepherds in the fields and this weird, ethereal music was drifting into the air and they were 'what the heck is that'?" But he "had no ideas about trying to write a hit record." The song failed to chart when it was first released as a single, but De Burgh says it's been "much better to have a regular recurring song than a hit for three weeks." Like Lake, de Burgh's favourite Christmas song is "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby.[1]
[edit] Narrative
The song is a narrative of a UFO religion tale. It is a retelling of how the angel Gabriel came to give a message to the shepherds, but with a spaceship and a spaceman instead.
De Burgh seems to make a prophecy of the Second Coming in this song:
"The stranger returned and said 'now I must fly. When two thousand years of your time has gone by. This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry..."
The baby represents the purity with which the Christ will be returning.
[edit] Cover versions
- Austrian band Eela Craig covered the song on Hats of Glass in 1976.
- Taiwanese singer Chyi Chin released "直到世界末日" (Until the end of the world) on his 1994 album 邊界.
- English rock band Smokie released a cover of the song on Light a Candle – The Christmas Album in 1996.
- Icelandic singer Paul Oscar and harpist Monika Abendroth covered the song on their 2003 Christmas album Ljósin Heima (Lights at home).[2]
- Polish dance music singer Mandaryna released her version of the song on her 2005 album Mandaryna.com2me and as a Christmas radio single, which became a number #4 hit in Poland and reached #34 in Germany.
- Gregorian released a cover of the song on their Christmas Chants album in 2006.
- The song features on the 2009 album So this is Christmas by St. Peter's Male Voice Choir.
- Celtic Woman released the song as a bonus track on the German release of their 2010 album Songs from the Heart. It also featured on their 2011 DVD, Believe, performed by Lisa Lambe.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The stories of the Christmas hits" by Liam Allen, BBC News, December 25, 2010.
- ^ "Ljósin heima – Páll Óskar og Monika Abendroth" (in Icelandic). Tónlist. http://www.tonlist.is/Music/Album/4595/pall_oskar_og_monika_abendroth/ljosin_heima/. Retrieved 2011-12-12.
