I last played this one in 2019 … it wasn’t a huge hit among my readers, but most did like it. For some reason, it popped into my head this evening, and knowing I didn’t have the energy to dig for a new song and set it up, I decided to redux this one.
I just hopped out of the shower … yeah, yeah, I know that not everybody showers at 1:30 in the morning, but I am, um, unique and my schedule doesn’t mesh well with the bulk of society. Anyway, if you’ll allow me to finish … where was I … oh yeah, the shower. I had just finished writing my ‘good people’ post and was trying to think of what song I wanted to play tonight, and two songs came to mind: Midnight Train to Georgia, and Lady in Red. I checked, and found I had played Midnight Train in late October, so that left me with Lady in Red. About that time, Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin popped into my head. You can see why my mind is sometimes rather messy and goes bouncing off on its own. Anyway, if you looked at the title of this post, you can see that I settled on Lady in Red.
Quite honestly, I could not remember who sang this song, only that I liked it. Turns out, it is both written and sung by British-Irish singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. Released in June 1986, the song was responsible for introducing de Burgh’s music to a mainstream audience worldwide.
According to de Burgh, he started writing this song about his wife Diane, after an argument, but he was having a hard time finishing it. Part of the problem was that he needed a title: he didn’t want to use The Way You Look Tonight, because there there was already a song with that name. As de Burgh tells it, five months later he saw Diane, wearing red, across a crowded nightclub, which gave him the idea for the title. On the British TV series This Is Your Life, de Burgh said that the song was inspired by the memory of when he first saw Diane, and how men so often cannot even remember what their wives were wearing when they first met. On his website, he said the song was not specifically about Diane, but about appreciating the most important people in our lives, who we often take for granted; how we often fail to notice what attracted us to another person in the first place. In this account, he was already married to Diane but didn’t realize it was her when he spotted her across the room.
Chris de Burgh was born in Buenos Aires but moved with his family to Ireland when his diplomat father retired. He and Diane had two sons and a daughter named Rosanna Davison (Chris uses his mother’s maiden name for showbiz – his real name is Chris Davison) who was chosen Miss Ireland, 2003 and went on to win the Miss World pageant.
The Lady in Red
Chris de Burgh
I’ve never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight
I’ve never seen you shine so bright
I’ve never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance
They’re looking for a little romance, given half a chance
And I have never seen that dress you’re wearing
Or the highlights in your hair that catch your eyes
I have been blind
The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek
There’s nobody here, it’s just you and me
It’s where I want to be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I’ll never forget the way you look tonight
I’ve never seen you looking so gorgeous as you did tonight
I’ve never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing
I’ve never seen so many people want to be there by your side
And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away
And I have never had such a feeling
Such a feeling of complete and utter love, as I do tonight
The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek
There’s nobody here, it’s just you and me
It’s where I want to be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
I’ll never forget the way you look tonight
I never will forget the way you look tonight
The lady in red, the lady in red
The lady in red, my lady in red
I love you
Songwriters: Chris De Burgh
The Lady in Red lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Pingback: Song Of The Day: Lady in Red. | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal
Lovely song!
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Glad you liked it, Vinny!
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Jill, count me in the plus side. Keith
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Whisper it but I like Chris de Burgh music but not this one song. 😂😂
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It’s interesting that here, this was the song that put him in the limelight, but on your side of the pond, I’m finding most liked De Burgh but hated this song! Clive was quite adamant that it was maybe the worst song he ever heard!
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Great slow dance song for a cozy romantic evening in ❤
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This song is a love/hate relationship for me. I’m not going to look to see if I commented last time, I probably did. Today the music is wonderful, de Burgh”s voice is soothing, and his lyrics sound sweet, until I realize the only value the Lady in Red has is her beauty, and even that only when she is wearing this one dress! What is she the rest of the time, unsliced bread? (Lucky for me, I love unsliced rye bread, bought still warm right from the bakery. Now that is worth singing about!)
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Well … since he was married to her, he must have found other values in her. I like fresh wheat bread, but you can keep the rye!
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Just telltell me you don’tlike Wonder Bread, please?
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Nope, no Wonder Bread in this house! I usually bake my own bread, but when I do buy bread it’s either wheat bread or oat bread.
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Ah, my faith has been restored. Having worked in the lab of a flour mill in my youth, I could never again eat white bread in my life, and the flour they sold to Wonder Bread was more chemical than it was wheat flour.
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I like a lot of Chris De Burgh’s stuff, especially his early albums. This, on the other hand, is utterly execrable! It was #1 here, and the album it was on, Into The Light, reached #2, including the purchase my ex-wife cajoled me into. Fun fact: an old schoolfriend of mine played sax on the album.
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Wow! Execrable, eh? Sorry for hurting your ears, my friend. Thanks for the bit of trivia about your friend on sax, though! I’ll try to do better next time! 😉
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Sorry, but I’ve always hated it! It didn’t help that my wife played the album a lot. You can’t win them all 😂
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You and David have yet something else in common … he was introduced to this by his late wife, but he learned to ‘sort of’ like it, and they even danced to it at their wedding!
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I could never like it, and fortunately we had been married for 11 years by the time it came out so dancing was off! The only good thing I can remember is that our first daughter was born that year so our chance to listen to music (I use the word loosely) was a bit restricted.
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Well, congratulations on something good coming out of that year!!! I’m pretty sure I won’t be playing this one again! 😁
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Thank you 😊
Don’t drop it on my account – some people may actually like it 😉
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It had very mixed reviews on my blog, literally a side-of-the-pond division. On this side, they liked it, on your side … not at all. Gary said the same thing you did … he liked the artist’s other work but hated this one.
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Strange how that goes, isn’t it? I prefer to think we were right, but the evidence of it being a UK #1 is hard to ignore!
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Wow! You are showering at 1 a.m., Jill? Do you have so hot weather conditions? 😉 A wonderful song. Thank you for sharing. xx Michael
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That was back when I originally published the post, but I do often shower at 1:00 a.m., sometimes even later! I keep odd hours, my friend. Glad you liked the song! xx
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Lol – You are sounding like a student. 😉 But honestly after a good shower its a better sleep. Enjoy your evening! xx Michael
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You too, Michael!!! xx
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Thanks, Michael!!!
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You are welcome, Jill. Thank you as well, for always best information. xx Michael
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