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.
Sight And Touch
Chris de Burgh Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dressed in silver and dressed in white,
She says she's having the strangest dreams,
Of another time and century;
And now she speaks of a far-off place,
A woman and a man are in a deep embrace,
Don't they know it's against the law,
Long before; it was
Real love and devotion, with sight and touch,
Real love and emotion, with sight and touch,
Real love and devotion, before the modern world;
She hears voices in her mind,
Talking of another world lost in time,
Before they took away the words,
That told us how we used to be,
Our history; words of
Real love and devotion, with sight and touch,
Real love and emotion, with sight and touch,
Real love and devotion, before the modern world;
And now we live in a two by four,
Never going outside through the door,
They're watching us on the video line,
But we sit and wait until the night,
And in the night, we have
Sweet love and devotion, with sight and touch,
Real love and emotion, with sight and touch,
Sweet love and devotion, in such a modern world;
We're never going to be lonely, with sight and touch,
We're never going to be lonely, with sight and touch,
We're never going to be lonely in such a modern world
The song "Sight and Touch" by Chris de Burgh is a reflection of the impact of modern technology on human emotion and human relationships. The song is a tale of a girl who is having strange dreams of a past era where love was pure and true, and not bound by societal rules and regulations. The girl in her dreams is a witness to a deep embrace of a man and a woman who are in love, not caring about the prejudices of society against their feelings. The song suggests that this love was real and true with "sight and touch" as opposed to the modern world, which is devoid of emotions and real connections between people.
The lyrics also suggest that the modern age has taken away the words that told us how we used to be. The use of technology and social media has created a world where we are "never going to be lonely", but at the same time, it has created a world where we don't go out of our house, and the line between reality and virtual reality blurs. It emphasizes that true love is not just about the emotional connection, but about the physical presence of the person with "sight and touch".
In conclusion, "Sight and Touch" is a commentary on society's detachment from real emotions and relationships in a technology-driven world. It highlights the importance of the physical and emotional presence of people in any relationship, and that true love can only be shared with "sight and touch".
Line by Line Meaning
My girl wakes in her bed of night,
The singer's partner wakes up during the night time.
Dressed in silver and dressed in white,
She is wearing white and silver colored clothes.
She says she's having the strangest dreams,
She tells the singer about her peculiar dreams.
Of another time and century;
Her dreams take her to a different era.
And now she speaks of a far-off place,
The artist's partner talks about a distant location.
A woman and a man are in a deep embrace,
In her dreams, she sees a couple hugging each other.
Don't they know it's against the law,
The couple breaking the law by embracing each other.
Well it must have been before the war,
The incident happened before the war.
Long before; it was
It happened a long time ago.
Real love and devotion, with sight and touch,
The artist's partner dreams about true love with intimacy.
Real love and emotion, with sight and touch,
The dreams are genuine and evoke strong emotions.
Real love and devotion, before the modern world;
The dreams are about love before the current era.
She hears voices in her mind,
The singer's partner hears mysterious voices in her head.
Talking of another world lost in time,
The voices speak about a lost world from the past.
Before they took away the words,
The words that explain the history were erased.
That told us how we used to be,
Those words explain how things used to be in the past.
Our history; words of
The words reveal our history.
In the night, we have
During the night they have...
Sweet love and devotion, with sight and touch,
The singer and his partner share an intimate moment.
Real love and emotion, with sight and touch,
It feels like true love to them.
Sweet love and devotion, in such a modern world;
They cherish their love in this modern world.
We're never going to be lonely, with sight and touch,
By sharing love in an intimate way, they will never feel lonely.
We're never going to be lonely in such a modern world
They will never feel lonely in the modern world, as they have each other.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CHRIS, DE BURGH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind