Spark to a Flame: 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..."

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...

The cafes are all deserted, the streets are wet again,
There's nothing quite like an out of season holiday town,
In the rain,
When the tourists go and the cold winds blow,
And my girl is on a plane, home...

I'm never going to love another, the way that I have loved you,
It's taken me a little time to discover it,
Now I know it's true, but fatal hesitation,
Made me miss the show,

Oh Romeo is standing in the rain,
And I know that I have let her slip away,
Fatal hesitation, fatal hesitation...

I saw you again this morning, walking down the beach,
And though you are a thousand miles away,
You were only just out of reach, but when I got up close,
And I saw her face, I knew it couldn't be so, no, no;

Oh Romeo is standing in the rain,
And I, yes I know, I have let her slip away,
Fatal hesitation, fatal hesitation,
I'm going to get on my boat and sail away;

Oh Romeo is standing in the rain,
And I, yes I know, I have let her slip away,
Fatal hesitation,
Fatal hesitation,
Fatal hesitation,
Fatal hesitation...

I'm going to read a little Shakespeare,
And get her out of my head,
It doesn't matter any more,
I'm going to miss her just a little bit,
Just a little bit...

Oh my heart is spinning like a wheel,
Only she can see the way that I fell,
Eyes are holding right across the room,
High explosion coming out of the blue;

Well here we go again,
Living in a world that others cannot share,
Yea here we go again,
We are moving from a spark to a flame;

I am high on emotion, high again,
High on emotion, your love will find the way;

Oh my heart is burning like a fire,
Closer now and she is breathing desire,
Take my hand and give it all your light,
Take command I am your rhythm tonight;

Well here we go again,
Living in a world that others cannot share,
Yea here we go again,
We are moving from a spark to a flame;

I am high on emotion, high again,
High on emotion, your love will find the way;

I am high on emotion, high again,
High on emotion, your love will find the way;
High on emotion, high again,
High on emotion, your love will find the way

Sometimes the man in me gets restless,
I need to get away from you,
And spend some time with someone that I knew,
Just to see here for a night,
And in the candlelight,
To talk and remember early days;

Sometimes the woman in you's uneasy,
I can see it in your eyes,
Just like me you need to know
Can you still fly,
Can you still arouse the passions
Of another man,
And if you carry it through, what would I do?

It would take much more than this
To break a love so long in the making,
It would take much more than talk or dreams
To break so strong a foundation - more than this;

Sometimes the man in me gets lonely,
When I am away from you,
And in the darkness of another hotel room,
If there's someone in the night saying
"It's gonna be alright" to ease away the pain of missing you,
What can I do?

It would take much more than this
To break a love so long in the making,
It would take much more than talk or dreams
To break so strong a foundation - more than this...

O Lean, O Lean, O Leon, Wellahiya.
O Lean, O Lean, O Lean, Wellahiya.

Out on the water I can hear them call
I feel the rhythm inside of me
This is the moment I've been waiting for
When I'm hearing the drums in the night
When I'm seeing the river of light, hey, hey

Out on the water it's another world
I feel the power inside of me
The flame is here and now it has to burn
You can live but you cannot survive
And it's something you cannot deny
To the waiting heart - this waiting heart
To the waiting heart - this waiting heart

Oh I'm holding on, I'm just holding on
Holding on, Wellahiya
Holding on, I'm just holding on
Holding on, Wellahiya

And maybe tonight - tonight I'll go -
I'll go down to the river where my love will be
This time - this time I know -
She will lay down beside me, 'cos everything comes
To the waiting heart - this waiting heart
To the waiting heart - this waiting heart

Out on the water I can hear them call
I feel the rhythm inside of me
This is the moment I've been waiting for
It is here, now I'm breaking away
And it's fortune that favours the brave
And the waiting heart, oh the waiting heart
This waiting heart - oh the waiting heart
This waiting heart - oh yeah the waiting heart
This waiting heart - oh this waiting heart
This waiting heart

Mamana Mamana Mamana Mamana Mamana Mamana
This waiting heart ...
Holding on I'm just holding on ...
Out on the water I can hear them calling ...
This waiting heart

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...