De Burgh was born in Venado Tuerto, Argentina, to Colonel Charles John Davison, MBE, a British diplomat, and Maeve Emily de Burgh, an Irish secretary. His maternal grandfather was Sir Eric de Burgh, a British Army officer who had been Chief of the General Staff in India during the Second World War. He took his mother's name, "de Burgh", when he began performing. His father had substantial farming interests, and Chris spent much of his early years in Malta, Nigeria and Zaire, as he, his mother and brother accompanied Colonel Davison on his diplomatic and engineering work.
The Davisons finally settled in Bargy Castle, County Wexford, Ireland, which was somewhat dilapidated at the time. It was a twelfth-century castle which Eric de Burgh bought in the 1960s. He converted it into a hotel, and the young Chris sang for the guests there.
After attending Marlborough College in Wiltshire, England, de Burgh went on to graduate from Trinity College, Dublin, with a Master of Arts degree in French, English and History.
Chris de Burgh signed his first contract with A&M Records in 1974, and supported Supertramp on their Crime of the Century tour, building himself a small fan base. His début album, Far Beyond These Castle Walls, was a folk-tinged stab at fantasy in the tradition of the Moody Blues. It failed to chart upon its release in late 1974. A few months later, he released a single called "Turning Round" from the album, released outside the UK and Ireland as "Flying". It failed to make an impression in the UK, but it stayed on top of the Brazilian charts for 17 weeks. This became a familiar pattern for the singer/songwriter, as every one of his 1970s albums failed to chart in the UK or US while they racked up big sales in continental European and South American countries.
In 1975 his second album, Spanish Train and Other Stories, was released. Whilst (again) not a huge commercial success, the album and tour expanded the fan base, with de Burgh starting to attract a cult following. Along with the epic title track, other fan favourite tracks from the album included "Patricia The Stripper" and "A Spaceman Came Travelling" (the latter released the following year as a single).
1977's third album, At the End of a Perfect Day, whilst well received and featuring both former Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks and later Fairport drummer Gerry Conway, failed to push de Burgh's career significantly, leading to the release of his fourth album Crusader in 1979. Crusader took a more electric direction, including guitar contributions from Ian Bairnson (formerly of Pilot), bass player David Paton (also of Pilot), and drummer Stuart Elliott (formerly of both Cockney Rebel and of Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel), all of whom were also working, at the time, with Kate Bush. The album also featured Sky keyboard player Francis Monkman and Mike Moran. Whilst it attracted a significant number of new fans, Crusader still failed to break through in the UK and US. 1980's Eastern Wind also failed to build further on the (still cult) following in the major territories.
In 1981 de Burgh had his first UK chart entry with Best Moves, a collection culled from his early albums. It set the stage for 1982's Rupert Hine produced The Getaway, which reached number 30 in the UK charts and number 43 in the US, thanks to the eerie single "Don't Pay the Ferryman". Chris de Burgh's follow-up album, Man on the Line, also performed well, charting at 69 in the US and 11 in the UK.
Chris de Burgh had an across-the-board success with the ballad "The Lady in Red" in late 1986; the single became a number one hit in the UK (number three in America) and its accompanying album, Into the Light, reached number two in the UK (number 25 in the U.S.). That Christmas season, a re-release of de Burgh's 1976 Christmas song "A Spaceman Came Travelling" became a Top 40 hit in the UK. Flying Colours, his follow-up to Into the Light, entered the British charts at number one upon its 1988 release, yet it failed to make the American charts. De Burgh never hit the US charts again and his commercial fortunes began to slide slightly in Britain in the early 1990s, yet he retained a following around the world. This is mainly due to inactivity of his previous recording label A&M Records UK division in the U.S.
In 1997 de Burgh composed a song entitled "There's a New Star Up in Heaven Tonight", dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales. The song was released as a 100-copy limited edition and included on the compilations The Ultimate Collection (2000) and Now and Then (2009).
In 2007 a concert in Tehran was planned for mid-2008, together with local band Arian, which would have made Chris de Burgh the first western pop singer to perform in Iran since the 1979 revolution. However, the concert never went ahead because he had not been given permission by the Iranian authorities to perform in the country.
He was the first Western act to play in Lebanon after the Lebanese Civil War.
On 25 June 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Chris de Burgh among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Just In Time
Chris de Burgh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And looking up I saw the snowbirds wheeling in the sky;
They said, "We are the last ones left",
And so I brought them in, I gave them comfort, gave them rest,
Just in time, to live another day,
Just in time, oh they'll live another day;
Just in time I read the book,
Such a revelation, we must give back what we took,
The mountains will come crashing from the valleys to the sea,
Just in time, oh don't throw it all away,
Just in time, don't throw it all away
"Who will save this world of mine,
Will you save it just in time?"
Just in time, I saw the dawn,
Watched the sun arising on a field of golden corn,
And through the mist, a million sang,
Friends of the Earth, calling out to every man,
Just in time, oh don't throw it all away, no, no, no,
Just in time, oh we'll live another day...
Ooh, how can I tell you how close we have come,
That the end of our world has already begun,
There are so many things we will not see again,
Every day there's another one dying away
Calling for help,
Help from your hand,
Hand coming down,
Down to the world;
World it is time,
Time for us all,
And all that is life,
To be living together before everything slips away.
The lyrics to Chris de Burgh's song Time In A Bottle speak to the urgency of taking action to preserve the earth and all that is living on it. The first verse describes the singer's encounter with a group of snowbirds who are the last ones left flying in the sky. The singer brings them in to safety, giving them comfort and rest, just in time to live another day. This can be interpreted as the need to take care of the earth and all its inhabitants before it's too late.
The second verse speaks to the revelation that the singer experiences as he reads a book that emphasizes the importance of giving back what we took from the earth. If we don't do so, the earth will roar like a wounded beast and the mountains will come crashing down. The urgency in these lyrics is palpable and the message is clear; we must act now to save the earth.
The chorus, "Just in time, oh don't throw it all away," is a call to action, begging the listener not to give up on the earth and to act before it's too late. The song's bridge brings home the reality of how close we have come to the end of our world and how every day sees something else dying away.
Overall, Time In A Bottle is an emotional plea for humanity to take responsibility for the earth and all that is living on it. The lyrics appeal to our sense of urgency and our desire to preserve the beauty of our world for future generations.
Line by Line Meaning
Just in time I heard the cry,
I heard a call just in time, to save some snowbirds wheeling in the sky.
And looking up I saw the snowbirds wheeling in the sky;
I looked up and saw some snowbirds hovering in the sky.
They said, "We are the last ones left",
The snowbirds told me that they were the last ones of their kind.
And so I brought them in, I gave them comfort, gave them rest,
I brought them inside and provided them with shelter, food, and rest.
Just in time, to live another day,
I saved them just in time, so they could live for another day.
Just in time, oh they'll live another day;
I was able to save them just in time, so they can live on for another day.
Just in time I read the book,
I read a book just in time, which had a revelation that we must return what we took.
Such a revelation, we must give back what we took,
The book taught me that we have to return what we have taken.
Or the Earth will roar like a wounded beast,
If we don't give back, the Earth will react like an injured animal.
The mountains will come crashing from the valleys to the sea,
The mountains will move violently from valleys to the sea, if we cause damage to the Earth.
Just in time, oh don't throw it all away,
We must pay attention, and take action just in time, to prevent destruction.
Just in time, don't throw it all away
We need to act timely and save the Earth, it's our responsibility.
"Who will save this world of mine,
"Who will save this world that belongs to us?
Will you save it just in time?"
Will you act immediately to save it?"
Just in time, I saw the dawn,
Just in time, I saw the sunrise.
Watched the sun arising on a field of golden corn,
I watched the sun rise over a golden cornfield.
And through the mist, a million sang,
Amidst the mist, millions of voices sang in unison.
Friends of the Earth, calling out to every man,
Friends of the Earth appealed to every individual to save it.
Just in time, oh don't throw it all away, no, no, no,
It is necessary to act just in time, and not waste anything, no, no, no.
Just in time, oh we'll live another day...
By acting in time, we will live for another day.
Ooh, how can I tell you how close we have come,
It's difficult to express how close humanity has come to the end.
That the end of our world has already begun,
The end of the world has already begun, and it's not too late to save it.
There are so many things we will not see again,
There are infinite possibilities that we're losing due to our actions.
Every day there's another one dying away
With every passing day, we're losing another possibility.
Calling for help,
Everything is crying out for help.
Help from your hand,
Help is needed from us, humans.
Hand coming down,
We must lend a helping hand.
Down to the world;
Down to the Earth, which is in dire need of our help.
World it is time,
It's time for us to act.
Time for us all,
It's time for all of us to come together.
And all that is life,
And all forms of life.
To be living together before everything slips away.
To live together, before it's too late and everything slips away from our grasp.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CHRIS DE BURGH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind