Deacon Blue is a Scottish pop band formed in Glasgow in 1985. Their name ca… Read Full Bio ↴Deacon Blue is a Scottish pop band formed in Glasgow in 1985. Their name came from the title of the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues". Success came for the band in 1989 when their second studio album, When The World Knows Your Name, topped the UK Album Charts. The album included "Real Gone Kid" which became their first UK top ten single. After releasing further albums in 1991 and 1993, they split up in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, the band held a reunion gig and this led to the album, Walking Back Home. Since then they have released Homesick (2001) , The Hipsters (2012), A New House (2014), Believers (2016), City Of Love (2020) and Riding On The Tide Of Love (2021)

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".

Ragman
Deacon Blue Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Offered her a roof
The rain had made it shine
Offered her a song
Wasn't really mine

[Chorus]
I showed her all my things
She offered me belongings

She thought I was a Ragman

She offered me possessions
I tied them in a knot
Wrapped it in a note
I kept it in my pocket

[Chorus]

I came to her too soon
She should have had a ragdoll
And wound up with a Ragman

Wings and kites and wedding rings
All these charms I said I'd bring

[Chorus]

Baby you're a rich man
Lost in a small world
Looking for a rag doll
Wound up with a Ragman
With a Ragman
Ragman

[Repeat: x7]
The rain had made it shine

Overall Meaning

The Deacon Blue song "Ragman" tells a story of a man who tries to impress a woman with his possessions but ultimately realizes he is not the man she is looking for. The first verse of the song sees the man offering the woman a roof over her head and a song, but he admits that the song isn't really his. The chorus then explains how the woman offers the man her belongings, but he is perceived as a "Ragman." The man ties her offering in a knot and keeps it in his pocket.

In the second verse, the man realizes he has come too soon to this woman's life, and she should have had a "ragdoll" instead of him. He had promised her "wings and kites and wedding rings," but it was all just empty words. The chorus repeats the same phrase as before, with the woman now seeing the man as a "Ragman."

The repetition of the phrase "The rain had made it shine" throughout the song suggests a sense of hope and new beginnings. However, the man's attempts to impress the woman with material possessions only lead him to the realization that he is not the match she is searching for.

Line by Line Meaning

Offered her a roof
I provided her with shelter and protection

The rain had made it shine
The roof shone brightly due to the rain

Offered her a song
I gave her a musical piece

Wasn't really mine
It wasn't an original composition

I showed her all my things
I displayed my possessions to her

She offered me belongings
She gave me her own possessions

She thought I was a Ragman
She considered me a person of low status

She offered me possessions
She gave me her own belongings

I tied them in a knot
I bundled them together

Wrapped it in a note
I enveloped it in a message

I kept it in my pocket
I stored it in my garment