A Spaceman Came Travelling



A spaceman came travelling on his ship from afar,
'Twas light years of time since his mission did start,
And over a village he halted his craft,
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star...

He followed a light and came down to a shed,
Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed,
A bright light of silver shone round his head,
And he had the face of an angel, and they were afraid...

Then the stranger spoke, he said "Do not fear,
I come from a planet a long way from here,
And I bring a message for mankind to hear,"
And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air...

And it went la la la la, la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la..
La la la la, la la la, la la la...
Peace and goodwill to all men,
and love for the child...
La la la la, la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la..
La la la la, la la la, la la la...
Oh oh oh...

This lovely music went trembling through the ground,
And many were wakened on hearing that sound,
And travellers on the road, the village they found,
By the light of that ship in the sky, which shone all round...

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky,
The stranger returned and said "Now I must fly,
When two thousand years of your time has gone by,
This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry..."

And it was la la la la, la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la, la la la...
Peace and goodwill to all men, and
love for the child...
And I hear la la la la, la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la...
La la la la, la la la, la la la...
This song will begin once again
to a baby's cry...

Oh the whole world is waiting, waiting to hear the song again,
There are thousands standing on the edge of the world,
And a star is moving somewhere, the time is nearly here,
This song will begin once again, to a baby's cry...
"This is just an imagination thing. If you can imagine that there's this benign planet keeping an eye on us, and this guy comes down from it and delivers a message of peace and goodwill... It is, I suppose, a wish fulfilment thing of 'Oh, wouldn't it be nice if there was someone up there watching over the planet earth?' And then there's the other aspect of 2,000 years going by and the whole thing starting again. A lot of people believe in the 2,000 year cycle - and that's what I slip in as well in the line 'A star is already on its way to planet earth...'"
The Getaway Gazette, January 1987

Albums

"A Spaceman Came Travelling" appears on the following albums:

Spanish Train & Other StoriesLive In South AfricaBest MovesThe Very Best of Chris de BurghSpark To A FlameHigh On Emotion Live From DublinThe Lady In Red (The Very Best Of Chris De Burgh)The Ultimate CollectionNotes From Planet EarthThe River SessionsLive In DortmundGoldNow And Then

Videos