Chrisdeburgh.net! - Chris de Burgh Interviews, Notes, And more...

Interviewer: "Can you talk us through the songs, one by one?"

Chris de Burgh: "With pleasure. Here they are..."

When Winter Comes: "This is the first time I've ever put a track that is completely instrumental on a record. It's very evocative, and very 18th Century, which leads then into the title track..."

The Road To Freedom: "A lot of people who have come to the more recent live shows have already heard me performing it, and it's almost immediately become a favorite. Certainly, people have told me via the website that they loved it. It's an extremely powerful song and is very much about a feeling of being in the West of Ireland, or the West of Scotland, in the 17th Century. Times are very hard and a father is grieving for his son, who may not be dead but who has definitely gone off to fight for freedom. The father wants his son back again, and he says 'Freedom doesn't change anything. I've lived a long life and I've seen that nothing really happens because of it. Does it make my crops grow? Does it bring the rain and the sun?' He is much more concerned about his crops and losing his son than he is about this slightly nebulous word, freedom. That's his point of view. I did three tracks with orchestra, including this one, and I was absolutely thrilled again to be performing live with an orchestra. It's such a buzz."

Snow Is Falling: "Hauntingly beautiful, with an Eastern European feel. Lyrically, it's to do with loved ones lost- quite literally so. Again, this is a song I've already performed a lot in concert. You'll only have to mention the title of this one and, I'm sure, people will remember it from my recent live shows. Once again, I performed and recorded this with an orchestra."

The Words 'I love you': "Starts off looking at a child-parent relationship and how, so often, particularly with sons and fathers, when they try to talk the knives come out before they have begun. I´m saying "Well, that was me", but I´ve actually learned to say "I love you". That´s actually a fact that happened to me; I got through all of that drame with my Dad by swallowing my pride and saying "Dad, I love you". And it meant the world to both of us. The song actually goes deeper and broader than that by saying if people around the world had more tolerance to each other´s religions and beliefs by saying the words "I love you" it would make for a different world. And I´m saying that the one that I believe in is the one who died upon the cross. So, it´s a deep look at religious and social tolerance around the world, as well as a personal look at father-son relationships."

Songbird: "A moving tribute to Eva Cassidy. It's my way of saying that this girl had an absolutely stunning voice."

Five Past Dreams: "For me, because I write in such a visual way-and I always saw 'The Lady In Red' as being an incident that happened one night - I often wonder what happened next, later that night, into the dawn. This song is the second part. Ever since I recorded 'The Lady In Red', I had such a strong picture in my mind of what happened preceding the party that these two people went to, and during the party. This song concerns the bit that happened after the party and, no, it's not all about the sexual connotations! 'Five Past Dreams' is about after everybody has gone home after the party. The guy singing it is actually pretty drunk. He admits that he's had too much to drink, but he doesn't want to let the moment go; he's having too much fun. The both of them are. It's coming up to dawn, the dawn is rising and the city lights are shining out in the distance. There's just the two of them and the song is about what happened. As I say, it's the second part of 'The Lady In Red'. There are some fairly interesting musical and lyrical references to that song, too..."

Here For You: "Written from the standpoint of a parent. It's the scene at the airport when the child who has grown up to their late teens, early 20s, is leaving for a couple of years to go to Australia or
America; somewhere far, far away. All the friends are there and there's lots of tears and great excitement from the child, the youngster, but also apprehension as well. The father is saying 'The time has come. I know you have to fly unaided but I'm here for you wherever you are and whatever you do.' That's a thoughtful one and, again, it´s performed live with an orchestra. There's a very positive feeling coming off it-and Rosanna sings on it. Long before she became interest in Miss Irelan or Miss World, incidentally. I decided that I wanted her on it, because the song is really about her growing up. Basically, with her being the eldest: this sort of situation was going to happen with her first. She sings a bit on the end, which is going to be of great interest to those interested in such stuff! Incidentally, the eye on the cover of the album also belongs to my daughter."

What You Mean To Me: "A fun, Spanish-style song - with Spanish lyrics in it, which I wrote. It's a co-write with Phil Palmer, the guitar player who has been playing on my records since 1982. It's a fun look at memories and a couple revisiting a place where they went when they were young lovers. This was their favourite place, and they're revisiting it. In a way, it almost links to 'Five Past Dreams'."

Rose Of England: "This is about the bittersweet life of Queen Elizabeth - and it has already become one of my personal favourites. It's the story of Elizabeth the First, and the fact that she had to put duty before love. Although she was in love before she acceded to the throne after her sister Mary died, she was unable to marry the man she loved because it wasn't the political marriage that everybody, all her advisors, were telling her to have. So, in fact, she married nobody. She married England and became the Virgin Queen. The words behind the song are 'Rose of England, sweet and fair, shining with the sun. Rose of England, have a care - for where the thorn is, there the blood will run.' It's the paradox of what a rose actually is; a rose is a gorgeous flower, but if you hold it wrong, it will prick your hand and the blood will flow. That's also the paradox of her life; it was in some ways so blessed, so beautiful, but there was also a lot of sadness and grief underneath it."

The Journey: "This one is about saying to someone who is passing into the next life 'Go with love upon your journey'. And all the things that this person has meant to them."

Read My Name: "We all have a chance to leave a mark in life and make something of ourselves. There's no point drifting through life and nothing happening. Every child that has been born, we have a chance in life to make a statement, to make a difference, to take part. And at the end of it all, to say 'I have been here, I have done something - read my name.' It's an exhortation, exhorting people to do something. It's a very up and...wild, almost like Gypsy Kings-style song."