This predominantly Glaswegian act became one of the top-selling UK bands of the late 1980s/early 1990s. The group's members were Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh, James Prime, Dougie Vipond, Ewan Vernal and Graeme Kelling.
Ross, a former school teacher originally from Dundee, was the group's frontman, penning the vast majority of Deacon Blue's songs. He married female vocalist Lorraine McIntosh in the later years of the band's career. McIntosh, born May 1964 in Glasgow joined the band in 1987 as a vocalist.
The band's first album, Raintown, produced by Jon Kelly and released in 1987, is regarded by many as the band's finest effort, spawning the singles "Dignity", "Chocolate Girl" and "Loaded". Many consider Raintown to be a concept album, since nearly all the songs contribute to the overall theme of being stuck in a dead-end life in a deprived city longing for something better. The city that the album's title refers to is Glasgow, and the memorable cover art of the album is a shot of the River Clyde's docks taken on a miserable day from Kelvingrove Park.
The second album, 1988's When The World Knows Your Name, was the band's most commercially successful, with the mega-selling singles "Real Gone Kid", "Wages Day" and "Fergus Sings The Blues". However, music critics began deriding the band at this stage for pursuing commercial success over artistic quality, citing the earlier achievements of Raintown.
Jon Kelly returned to the producer's chair in 1991 for Fellow Hoodlums, and the album was met with more critical success, but by now the group's honeymoon period was over and their success started to wane. This album was followed up with Whatever You Say, Say Nothing in 1993, a much more experimental album which gained praise from the critics, but was a commercial failure.
The band released a Greatest Hits compilation the following year.
With Vipond's decision to quit the group in favour for a career in television, Deacon Blue split up in 1994.
Five years later, the band held an unexpected reunion gig in 1999, and this led on to a new album, Walking Back Home, with the band now working on a part-time basis.
The band released another album, Homesick, in 2001.
Though Graeme Kelling died from cancer in 2004, the band has vowed to continue in his absence.
The year 2006 saw Deacon Blue returning to the studio to record three new tracks for a Singles album - including the track "Bigger than Dynamite".
The band performed at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium, as the pre-match entertainment for the Rugby League Super League Grand Final on the 14 October, and continued on to a full UK tour in November.
The album The Hipsters was released in 2012.
http://www.deaconblue.com/, followed by A New House, Believers, City of Love and Riding On The Tide Of Love.
In 2023 the band released a greatest hits set titled "All The Old 45's" along with a box set of all their albums titled "You Can Have It All".
A Is For Astronaut
Deacon Blue Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For all the world's ills
There's plenty of people
Never seen the white cliffs of Dover
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
Got caught in the headlights
Saying something special
There's never a moment
When the beat stops long enough to hear the message
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
We all get stuck and we don't know why
We think there's no place we can go to
We need to trip on to
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
So come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
A is for astronaut
E is for everything
The song "A Is For Astronaut" by Deacon Blue is a powerful call-to-action for people to continue striving for their dreams and not get bogged down by the struggles of the world. The opening line, "You don't have to be grateful for all the world's ills," is a reminder to listeners that it’s okay to acknowledge and be upset by the challenges in the world, but we should not be defined or controlled by them. The chorus, which repeats twice, highlights the titular phrase that "A is for astronaut, E is for everything." This can be interpreted as a reminder that anything is possible and that our aspirations -- no matter how big or small -- should be pursued with our full effort and dedication.
The following verse speaks to the idea that we often get caught up in our own thoughts and struggles, and that moments of peace and clarity are few and far between. The line "there's never a moment when the beat stops long enough to hear the message" could be interpreted as a metaphor for life's noise and frenzy drowning out our own inner voice. The final verse offers a glimmer of hope, with the lyrics urging us to "trip on to" somewhere else, somewhere better.
Line by Line Meaning
You don't have to be grateful
There's no need for you to feel thankful for the world's problems.
For all the world's ills
For every bad thing that occurs in the world.
There's plenty of people
There are many people who have not experienced certain things.
Never seen the white cliffs of Dover
They have never been to England and seen the iconic scenery of white cliffs over the sea.
So come on, come on
Let's go.
A is for astronaut
The letter A represents the word astronaut.
E is for everything
The letter E represents the word everything.
Got caught in the headlights
Being suddenly in a spotlight and not knowing what to say.
Saying something special
Speaking something profound or meaningful.
There's never a moment
Time passes so quickly that there's never enough time for anything.
When the beat stops long enough to hear the message
The music or rhythm is so constant that it's difficult to hear what someone is saying.
We all get stuck and we don't know why
Sometimes we face difficulties without understanding why we are experiencing them.
We think there's no place we can go to
We feel trapped and unable to find a solution to our problems.
We need to trip on to
We need to journey somewhere else or do something different to escape our issues.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RICKY ROSS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nigel Smith
on Long Window To Love
This whole explanation is completely wrong. The song is about the Labour Party not winning a general election