The Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh song)

For other uses, see The Lady in Red (disambiguation).

"The Lady in Red"
Single by Chris de Burgh
from the album Into the Light
B-side	"Borderline" "The Ecstacy of Flight (I Love the Night)"
Released	20 June 1986
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Genre	Pop, Soft rock
Length	4:17
Label	A&M
Writer(s)	Chris de Burgh
Producer	Paul Hardiman
Chris de Burgh singles chronology
"Fire on the Water" (1986) "The Lady in Red" (1986) "Fatal Hesitation" (1986)

"The Lady in Red" is a love song from Chris de Burgh's 1986 album Into the Light. The song was a big hit and reached the number one position in the UK, Ireland and Norway, and number three in the United States.

Creation

The song was written in reference to (though not specifically about) his wife Diane and was released on the album Into the Light. On the British TV series This Is Your Life, de Burgh said that the song was inspired by the memory of when he first saw Diane, and how men so often cannot even remember what their wives were wearing when they first met.

Music video

The music video is a studio performance, with animation at the beginning and at the end of the song. It features a curly-haired woman in red who depicts the song's lyrics.

Chart performance

Chart (1986/1987)	Peak position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 75)	7
Ireland (IRMA)	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	6
Germany (Media Control AG)	5
New Zealand (RIANZ)	6
Norway (VG-lista)	1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	3
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	18
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)	2
US Billboard Hot 100	3

Preceded by "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna	Irish IRMA number-one single 10 July - 28 August 1986 (7 weeks)	Succeeded by "I Want to Wake Up with You" by Boris Gardiner
	UK Singles Chart number-one single 29 July 1986
Preceded by "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie	Norway number one single 1 September - 29 september 1986 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "I've Been Losing You" by a-ha

Cover versions

• De Burgh himself did the Spanish version of the song, called "La Dama de Ayer".
• The Shadows did an instrumental of the song in 1987 on the album Simply Shadows.
• Bill Bailey performed a hillbilly spoof of this song in his show Part Troll, called "Cousin in Red," playing it with a banjo sound on his guitar. Bailey described the song as "simpering mawkish cack".
• American crooner Andy Williams covered the song under the title "Lady in Red" on his 2006 release, I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up.
• The Bloodsugars, a Brooklyn-based Indie rock band, covered the song for the Guilt by Association Vol. 2 compilation, released by Engine Room Recordings in November 2008. Although the song was not on the physical release of the album, it is possible to download it as a bonus track on the iTunes Store. Furthermore, the all military rock band American Attitude, based in Jacksonville Florida, has received high acclaim for their cover version that they play live during their concerts. The band has plans to record and release their cover version in 2009.
• It was also covered by 2010 X Factor Australia winner Altiyan Childs for his self-titled debut album.
• Junior Gonzalez did a cover in salsa from his album, Lo Pasado, Pasado.

In other media

It was the love theme for the characters of Steve "Patch" Johnson and Kayla Brady Johnson on the NBC daytime drama Days of our Lives.^{[citation needed]} The song appears briefly in the 2000 film adaptation of American Psycho when Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale, is listening to it in his office on his Walkman. It also appears in the 1988 movie, Working Girl. It is also heard in the 2004 comedy film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It appeared in the 2008 comedy film Baby Mama. It was also used in episodes of Drop the Dead Donkey, That Mitchell and Webb Look (where it was parodied with the "special secret snooker words" "Table of Reds"), Reasonable Doubts, Men Behaving Badly (during Gary's reminiscences in the final episode of Series 6, "Sofa"), 30 Rock, and an episode in Supernatural called "Tall Tales," as a man slow dances with an alien.

The song is referred to by DI Alex Drake in the first episode of Ashes to Ashes. As a joke, she says 'I need to change out of red before Chris De Burgh writes a song about me'. A joke the others don't understand.

The song is mentioned in the TV sitcom Friends during season seven. In the episode The One with Ross's Library Book, character Janice proposes it as a song for Chandler and Monica's wedding (alongside George Michael's "Careless Whisper").

Just after the song's release, it regularly featured on television and radio in the run-up to the wedding of The Prince Andrew, to Sarah Ferguson, which was held on 23 July 1986. Eight years later, it was chosen as the accompanying song to the clip of the wedding on the BBC Rock 'n' Roll Years for the 1986 edition - by which time the couple had separated.

External links

• Chris de Burgh: The Lady in Red at Discogs (list of releases)