Finnginn's Festive Countdown: Number 3

In the minimal research that I conduct to lend this blog an air of credibility, I read that this song only reached number 40 in the UK charts. It has only become familiar because it is used as filler on so many Xmas Hits records, CDs and… er… festive countdowns.

Chris de Burgh may be best remembered for his saccharine ballads about rubbing cheeks with scarlet clad ladies, but we’re here to celebrate the strand of bonkers religiosity hiding in that falsetto croon. Spanish Train - in which the Devil outwits God by cheating at games of poker and chess over which they have wagered the souls of the dead - was a favourite of mine as a child. But this is a festive countdown so today’s song can only be:

Number 3: A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh

In my view, A Spaceman Came Travelling is a song in three parts:

Part One is the set-up: a grade one reimagining of the Nativity story in which the star that guides shepherd folk and wise men to Bethlehem is not a star at all but an alien spacecraft bearing a message for mankind to hear. This is brilliantly Christmassy - if there’s one Christmas song element that we are fans of here at the Finnginn blog, it’s reimaginings of the Nativity story. We love it when songwriters are like: The Greatest Story Ever Told? Nah, it would be better if it went like this...

Part Two is a bit of a letdown as the spaceman reveals that his message is:

“...blah blah blah blah, la-la, blah blah blah blah…” 

Lyrically, it’s like Chris thought, ‘I’ll write that bit later’ and then never did.

But the song is redeemed in Part Three when the stranger/spaceman character departs leaving only the cryptic hint that:

“...when 2000 years of your time has gone by,

 this song will begin once again…” 

That’s right! The twist is that you’re not listening to a Chris de Burgh festive pop song at all - you are actually hearing the interstellar music of the angel-being that blessed the birth of Jesus! 

It’s this incredible hubris that earns A Spaceman Came Travelling a prominent place in my Christmas playlist.