"A Spaceman Came Travelling" is a song by Chris de Burgh. It first appeared on his second studio album, '' Spanish Train and Other Stories'', which was released in 1975. It has been released numerous times as a single, becoming a popular Christmas song, and has appeared on many festive compilation albums.

Single release

The song was not an initial success in the UK and failed to chart. After its first release in 1975 it reached the top position of the Irish single charts staying 15 weeks in the Irish charts and climbed to number 22 in the Canadian airplay charts. However, in 1986, following de Burgh's huge success with " The Lady in Red", its reissue reached number 15 in Ireland charting for only 1 week. The song was also issued as a double A-side with the song "

The Ballroom of Romance ''The Ballroom of Romance'' is a 1982 film directed by Pat O'Connor, based on a short story by William Trevor, set in rural Ireland in the 1950s, Plot Bridie has been attending the local dance hall for years in the hope of finding a good husband ...

" and charted for the first time in the UK in 1986, reaching number 40 and staying on the chart for five weeks.David Roberts. ''

British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of ...

''. Guinness World Records Limited

Composition

De Burgh, who had just signed his first recording contract with

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, was broke and "staying at a friend's flat" when he read '' Chariots of the Gods?'' by

Erich von Däniken Erich Anton Paul von Däniken (; ; born 14 April 1935) is a Swiss author of several books which make claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, including the best-selling ''Chariots of the Gods?'', published in 1968. Von D ...

. The book made him think "what if the

star of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask hi ...

was a

space craft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to spaceflight, fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth ...

and what if there is a benevolent being or entity in the universe keeping an eye on the world and our foolish things that we do to each other?" A fan of Irish poet

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, whose work " The Second Coming" avers that every 2,000 years or so there would be a major cataclysmic event happening, de Burgh saw the

birth of Christ The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man n ...

as "such an event and then 2,000 years later there would be a similar" one. He imagined "the

nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects rep ...

, the thing hovering over and I could see the shepherds in the fields and this weird, ethereal music was drifting into the air and they were 'what the heck is that'?" But he "had no ideas about trying to write a hit record." The song failed to chart when it was first released as a single, but de Burgh says it's been "much better to have a regular recurring song than a hit for three weeks."The stories of the Christmas hits
by Liam Allen, BBC News, December 25, 2010. The space angle is reflected in the use of a string synthesizer on the track.

New versions

Following the success of "The Lady in Red", a reworked version of the song was released as a single for Christmas 1986, backed with a remixed version of "The Ballroom of Romance".

Certifications

Cover versions

* Austrian band Eela Craig covered the song on ''Hats of Glass'' in 1976. * Taiwanese singer

Chyi Chin Chyi Chin (; born 12 January 1960) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter and actor. Early life Chyi was born in Taichung, Taiwan. When he was young, his father had a strict daily regimen of study that started at 5 am. His studies varied fro ...

released "" (Until the end of the world) on his 1994 album . * Hong Kong singer,

Samuel Tai Samuel Tai (, born 6 November 1966) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese singer-songwriter. Tai debuted in 1988 and then released his first solo album ''Good Boys'' (理想男孩) in 1990. In 1993, he wrote the song "999 Roses" (九佰九拾九朶玫� ...

, covered the song in English on his album ''Looking for a word to replace''. * English rock band Smokie released a cover of the song on ''Light a Candle – The Christmas Album'' in 1996. * Icelandic singer

Páll Óskar Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson (born 16 March 1970), known internationally as Páll Óskar and Paul Oscar, is an Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey. He had a musical childhood, singing at private functions, with choirs and for media ...

and harpist Monika Abendroth covered the song on their 2003 Christmas album (''Lights at home''). * Polish dance singer

Mandaryna Marta Katarzyna Wiktoria Wiśniewska, professionally known as Mandaryna, born Marta Mandrykiewicz on 12 March 1978 in Łódź, Poland, is a Polish singer, dancer and actress. She rose to fame as the dancer of Polish pop group Ich Troje, and the p ...

released her version of the song on her 2005 album ''

Mandarynkowy sen ''Mandarynkowy sen'' is the second studio album by Polish singer and dancer Mandaryna, released in 2005. Background The album was also known in Poland as ''Mandaryna.com2me'' and its original Polish title translates ''Tangerine Dream''. The album' ...

'' and as a Christmas radio single. * Gregorian released a cover of the song on their '' Christmas Chants'' album in 2006. * Celtic Woman released the song as a bonus track on the German release of their 2010 album '' Songs from the Heart''. It also featured on their 2011 DVD, '' Believe'', performed by Lisa Lambe, as well as the soundtrack released in 2012. * An abridged version of the song was performed near the end of the ''

Mrs Brown's Boys ''Mrs. Brown's Boys'' is an Irish television sitcom created by and starring Brendan O'Carroll and produced in the United Kingdom by BBC Scotland in partnership with BOC-PIX and Irish broadcaster RTÉ. The series stars O'Carroll as Agnes B ...

'' 2012 Christmas special. * Akira the Don recorded a version of the song for his 2016 Christmas EP, ''Litmas''. *

John Gibbons John Michael Gibbons (born June 8, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Gibbons briefly played in the Major Leagues as a catcher with the New York Me ...

covered the song in 2018. The song charted at #58 on the Irish Singles Chart. * Singers

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

and

Russell Watson Russell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. He began singing as a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club. He came to attention in 1999 when he sang "God ...

released their version of the song as the lead single from their November 2022 album ''Christmas with Aled and Russell''.

References