Christopher Anton Rea (born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues sing… Read Full Bio ↴Christopher Anton Rea (born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which topped the UK Albums Chart. Described as "rock's ultimate survivor", given his recovery from several bouts of serious illness, Rea was "a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10" with his single "The Road to Hell (Part 2)". The album, The Road to Hell (1989), topped the album chart, as did its successor, Auberge (1991). His many hit songs include "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "Josephine", "On the Beach", "Let's Dance", "Driving Home for Christmas", "Working on It", "Tell Me There's a Heaven", "Auberge" and "Julia". He also recorded a duet with Elton John, "If You Were Me". Rea was nominated three times for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist: in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

He has never toured the United States, where he is best known for the 1978 single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, earning him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1978. A decade later, "Working On It" topped the Mainstream Rock chart. He has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rea

Studio albums
Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? (Magnet, 1978)
Deltics (Magnet, 1979)
Tennis (Magnet, 1980)
Chris Rea (Magnet, 1981)
Water Sign (Magnet, 1983)
Wired to the Moon (Magnet, 1984)
Shamrock Diaries (Magnet, 1985)
On the Beach (Magnet, 1986)
Dancing with Strangers (Magnet, 1987)
The Road to Hell (WEA, 1989)
Auberge (EastWest, 1991)
God's Great Banana Skin (EastWest, 1992)
Espresso Logic (EastWest, 1993)
La Passione (soundtrack, EastWest, 1996)
The Blue Cafe (EastWest, 1998)
The Road to Hell: Part 2 (EastWest, 1999)
King of the Beach (EastWest, 2000)
Dancing Down the Stony Road/Stony Road (Jazzee Blue, 2002
Blue Street (Five Guitars) (Jazzee Blue, 2003)
Hofner Blue Notes (Jazzee Blue, 2003)
The Blue Jukebox (Jazzee Blue, 2004)
Blue Guitars (Jazzee Blue, 2005)
The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes (Jazzee Blue, 2008)
Santo Spirito Blues (Jazzee Blue, 2011)
Road Songs for Lovers (Jazzee Blue, 2017)
One Fine Day (Rhino, limited release, 2019)

If You Were Me
Chris Rea Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If you were me
And I was you
If you had to play my part out
What would you do

Two crazy stories,
Two different views
If you were me

And I was you

If you were me
And I was you
What kind of crazy things
Would I have to do

Who likes to party
Who stays at home
If you were me
And I was you

Never like strangers
Though never the same
Two circus side-shows
And laughter in the rain

You stay with the full moon
You search for the stars
Thank God it's heaven
Here we both are

If you were me
And I was you
If you had to play my part out
What would you do

Two crazy stories,
Two different views

If you were me, if you were me
If you were me and I was you

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chris Rea's song "If You Were Me" invite us to step into someone else's shoes and consider their experiences and perspectives. The first stanza poses a hypothetical scenario where the roles are reversed: if the listener were in Rea's place and had to play his part, what would they do? The second stanza presents contrasting characteristics and behaviors between the two individuals, such as partying versus staying at home. The final stanza expresses a sense of appreciation for the differences between them and the shared experience of being alive.

Overall, the song seems to be about empathy, curiosity, and mutual understanding. It acknowledges that everyone has their own story and way of seeing the world, and encourages us to imagine what it might be like to see things from someone else's point of view. The lyrics suggest that even though people may seem different or strange to each other at first, there is still a common humanity that can be found through humor and connection.

Line by Line Meaning

If you were me
Imagine yourself in my place

And I was you
And I were in your shoes

If you had to play my part out
If you had to embody my role

What would you do
What actions would you take?

Two crazy stories,
Two different and unusual experiences,

Two different views
Two contrasting opinions

What kind of crazy things
What absurd things

Would I have to do
Would I be required to undertake?

Who likes to party
Who enjoys celebrations

Who stays at home
Who prefers to stay indoors

Never like strangers
We never distrust unknown people

Though never the same
Even though we are not identical

Two circus side-shows
Two different spectacles

And laughter in the rain
And merriment during adverse conditions

You stay with the full moon
You stay up late at night

You search for the stars
You have a desire to achieve greatness

Thank God it's heaven
It is a lovely place to be

Here we both are
We are together

If you were me, if you were me
If you were me, if you were in my position

If you were me and I was you
If we switched roles

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER ANTON REA

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Garrettk41

Chris Rea is another performer I didn't really know before I heard this album. But he's definitely got talent, and this is quite charming duet. Also, that's an interesting piece of info in the description. I didn't know that was how Elton got inspired to do this whole album.