Lady in Red: The Very Best of Chris de Burgh

There's a Spanish train that runs between
Quadalquivir and old Seville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
and people hear she's running still...

And then they hush their children back to sleep,
Lock the doors, upstairs they creep,
For it is said that the souls of the dead
Fill that train ten thousand deep!!

Well a railwayman lay dying with his people by his side,
His family were crying, knelt in prayer before he died,
But above his head just a-waiting for the dead,
Was the Devil with a twinkle in his eye,
"Well God's not around and look what I've found,
this one's mine!!"

Just then the Lord himself appeared in a blinding flash of light,
And shouted at the devil, "Get thee hence to endless night!!"
But the Devil just grinned and said "I may have sinned,
But there's no need to push me around,
I got him first so you can do your worst,
He's going underground!!"

"But I think I'll give you one more chance"
said the Devil with a smile,
"So throw away that stupid lance,
It's really not your style",
"Joker is the name, Poker is the game,
we'll play right here on this bed,
And then we'll bet for the biggest stakes yet,
the souls of the dead!!"

And I said "Look out, Lord, he's going to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, he's going to win!.."

Well the railwayman he cut the cards
and he dealt them each a hand of five
And for the Lord he was praying hard
or that train he'd have to drive...
Well the Devil he had three aces and a king,
and the Lord, he was running for a straight,
he had the queen and the knave and the nine and ten of spades,
All he needed was the eight...

And then the Lord he called for one more card,
but he drew the diamond eight,
And the Devil said to the son of God,
"I believe you've got it straight,
So deal me one for the time has come
to see who'll be the king of this place,
But as he spoke, from beneath his cloak,
he slipped another ace...

Ten thousand souls was the opening bid,
and it soon went up to fifty-nine,
but the Lord didn't see what the Devil did,
and he said "that suits me fine",
"I'll raise you high to hundred and five,
and forever put an end to your sin",
But the Devil let out a mighty shout, "My hand wins!!"

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you let him win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, don't let him win..."

Well that Spanish train still runs between,
Quadalquivir and old Seville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
And people hear she's running still...
And far away in some recess
The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess,
The Devil still cheats and wins more souls,
And as for the Lord, well, he's just doing his best...

And I said "Lord, oh Lord, you've got to win,
The Sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is still on time, Oh my soul is on the line,
Oh Lord, you've got to win..."

Waiting at the water's edge
Watching all the ships
As they are heading for the harbour wall,
I was just a boy,
I was just a boy,
Dreaming of the wide world,
Dreaming of the wide world;

Watching as they disappear,
Reading out the names
Of all the places I have never been,
Looking out to sea,
Staring out to sea,
Dreaming of a wide world,
Dreaming of the wide world,

I wish I was sailing away,
Sailing away,
Sailing away, with you tonight,
With you tonight;

Walking down another street,
Underneath the red lights,
I am watching where the shadows fall,
Looking at the girls,
Listening to the girls,
Dreaming of a new world,
Dreaming of that new world,

I wish I was sailing away,
Sailing away,
Sailing away, in your arms tonight,
In your arms tonight;

I wish I was sailing away,
Sailing away,
Sailing away, with you now,
With you now...

I've been missing you...

I've got the roses, I've got the wine,
With a little luck she will be here on time,
This is the place we used to go,
With romantic music and the lights down low,
And as you stand there amazed at the door,
And you're wondering what all this is for,
It's just a simple thing, from me to you,
The lady that I adore, 'cos there's something
That you should know, it's that

I've been missing you, more than words can say,
And that I've been thinking about it every day,
And the time we had just dancing nice and slow,
And I said now I've found you,
I'm never letting go;

There is no reason to the things that we do,
You can break a heart with just a word or two,
And take a lifetime to apologise,
When the one you love's in front of your eyes,
And I will fall to my knees like a fool,
If it's the only way of getting through,
You see if I think you are beautiful,
Someone else is going to feel it too,
So there's only one thing to do, tell you that

I've been missing you, more than words can say,
And that I've been thinking about it every day,
Well tonight's our night for dancing nice and slow,
Because now I've found you, I'm never letting go,
No, now I've found you, I'm never letting go;

I've been missing you...
I've been missing you...
I've been missing you...
I've been missing you, darling...

Up on the hill I see it begin,
Marking the heroes where they fall,
In the stone, in the stone the names of those who have gone;

And over the river, there is a place,
Where they remember boys and men,
Widows talk, widows talk of all that they could have been;

We can hear you, we can hear you whisper our names;
We can see you, we can see you reading our names;

Up here in heaven, we stand together,
Both the enemy and the friend, 'till the end of time,
Up here in heaven, we are forever,
There is only on God up here, for all of the world;

What of the children caught in the war,
How can we tell them what it's for,
When they cry, when they cry are voices heard anymore?

Are you listening, are you listening men of the war?
There is nothing, there is nothing worth dying for;

Up here in heaven, we stand together,
Both the enemy and the friend, 'till the end of time,
Up here in heaven, we are forever,
There is only one God up here, for all of the world;
There is only one God up here, the God of the world.

It was late at night on the open road, speeding like a man on the run
A lifetime spent preparing for the journey.
He is closer now and the search is on, reading from a map in the mind:
Yes there's that ragged hill and there's a boat on the river.

And when the rain came down, he heard a wild dog howl
There were voices in the night
(Don't do it!)
Voices out of sight
(Dont't do it!)
Too many men have failed before, whatever you do;

Don't pay the ferryman!
Don't even fix a price!
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side.

In the rolling mist, then he gets on board, now there'll be no turning back
Beware that hooded old man at the rudder.
And then the lightning flashed and the thunder roared,
and people calling out his name,
And dancing bones that jabbered-and-a-moaned on the water.

And then the ferryman said "There is trouble ahead,
So you must pay me now."
(Don't do it!)
"You must pay me now."
(Don't do it!)
And still that voice came from beyond, whatever you do;

Don't pay the ferryman!
Don't even fix a price!
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side.

Blonde hair, blue jeans, best thing I've ever seen,
She looks great, she feels good, lives in my neighbourhood,
And when she walks past my house she brings me to my knees,
It's like a long dark shadow falling over me; I'm talking 'bout

Blonde hair, blue jeans, she haunts me in my dreams
I wake up, I fall down, I'm lost in what I've found,
Because she lies beside me and whispers in my ear, please, please,
And when I start to kiss her she just disappears;

I'm gonna be where I wanna be,
That's holding her right next to me,
I'm gonna get her in my life, anyway at all; I'm talking 'bout

Blonde hair, blue jeans, best thing I've ever seen,
We're so right, we're skintight, and I'll be with her tonight,
I'm gonna bring her up and take her on the floor,
And when the morning comes then she's gonna beg for more,

I'm talking 'bout, blonde hair, blue jeans,
I'm talking 'bout, I'm talking 'bout,
Blonde hair, blue jeans.

We took a boat over Lake Geneva.
It was raining all night long,
We were lucky and we saw no enemy,
And came from Switzerland poor refugees,
Far from the guns of war,
We said goodbye to it all;

They brought us in to a nurse's station,
Half a mile behind the lines,
Oh Lord, how my heart was breaking,
To see the children, and the walking wounded,
Hoping for a ticket home,
And say goodbye to it all;

I woke up on a cold blue morning,
To see her there, standing right beside me,
Long years since I left her at the borderline,
And how she found me I'd never know,
But we decided there and then,
To say goodbye to it all;

Say goodbye to it all,
Say goodbye to it all....

Took a train from Paris to the ocean,
Found a small hotel by the coast,
As we walked along the beaches of Normandy,
We came to Juno, Omaha and Gold,
And whispered a prayer for the boys,
Who said goodbye to it all;

Now we've got our own place by the water,
And I have a job in the old hotel,
She is ready and she's hoping for a daughter,
Well I don't mind, we've made our choice.
We've got all the time in the world,
We said goodbye to it all,
We said goodbye co it all.

Say goodbye to it all,
Say goodbye to it all,
Say goodbye to it all,
Say goodbye to it all.

A spaceman came travelling on his ship from afar,
'twas light years of time since his mission did start,
And over a village he halted his craft,
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star...

He followed a light and came down to a shed,
Where a mother and a child were lying there on a bed,
A bright light of silver shone round his head,
And he had the face of an angle, and they were afraid...

Then the stranger spoke, he said 'Do not fear,
I come from a planet a long way from here,
And I bring a message for mankind to hear',
And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air...

And it went la, la...
Peace and goodwill to all men, and love for the child...

This lovely music went trembling through the ground,
And many were wakened on hearing that sound,
And travellers on the road, the village they found,
By the light of that ship in the sky, which shone all round...

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky,
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...'

And it went la la... This song will begin once again
to a baby's cry...
And it goes la la... Peace and goodwill to all men
and love for the child...
Oh the whole world is waiting, waiting to hear that song again,
There are thousands standing on the edge of the world,
And a star is moving somewhere, the time is nearly here,
This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry...