{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Short description|1975 single by Chris de Burgh}}{{Infobox song | name = A Spaceman Came Travelling | cover = A Spaceman Came Travelling.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Chris de Burgh]] | album = [[Spanish Train and Other Stories]] | released = {{start date|1975}} | recorded = {{start date|1975}} | studio = | venue = | genre = [[Rock music|Rock]], [[Christmas music|Christmas]], [[art rock]] | length = {{duration|m=5|s=10}} | label = [[A&M Records|A&M]] | writer = Christopher Davison | producer = Robin Geoffrey Cable | prev_title = Turning Around | prev_year = 1975 | next_title = Just Another Poor Boy | next_year = 1975 }} {{Album ratings | rev1 = ''[[Record Mirror]]'' | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="RMreview">{{cite magazine |last=Brown |first=David |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/76/Record-Mirror-1976-11-26.pdf |title=Review: Chris de Burgh – "A Spaceman Came Travelling" |magazine=[[Record Mirror]] |date=26 November 1976 |access-date=25 September 2022 |page=14 |location=London |publisher=Spotlight Publications Ltd. |via=World Radio History |issn=0144-5804 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401233025/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/76/Record-Mirror-1976-11-26.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2022}}</ref> }}
"'''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 music|Christmas song]], and has appeared on many Christmas compilation albums.
==Single release== After its first release in 1975, the song saw minimal success in the UK. It eventually reached the top position of the Irish single charts, staying 15 total weeks<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement |title=The Irish Charts – All there is to know |website=Irishcharts.ie |access-date=11 October 2016}}</ref> and climbed to number 22 in the Canadian AC charts in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5515.pdf| title=RPM Top AC Singles – February 4, 1978}}</ref>
==Composition== De Burgh, who had just signed his first recording contract with [[A&M Records]], was broke and "staying at a friend's flat" in August 1974<ref>{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |author=Shaun Curran|website=inews.co.uk |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song | date=8 December 2025 |access-date=8 December 2025 }}</ref> when he read ''[[Chariots of the Gods?]]'' by [[Erich von Däniken]]. The book made him think "what if the [[star of Bethlehem]] was a [[Spacecraft|space craft]], 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 [[W. B. Yeats|William Butler Yeats]], whose 1919 poem<ref>{{cite web |author=Shaun Curran |date=8 December 2025 |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |access-date=8 December 2025 |website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> "[[The Second Coming (poem)|The Second Coming]]" suggested that every 2,000 years or so there would be a major cataclysmic event happening, de Burgh saw the [[Nativity of Jesus Christ|birth of Christ]] as "such an event and then 2,000 years later there would be a similar" one. He imagined "the [[nativity scene]], 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 Christmas song or a hit record." The space theme was enhanced by the then-novel use of a [[string synthesizer]] on the track.<ref>[https://forum.vintagesynth.com/viewtopic.php?t=34264 A Spaceman Came Travelling synths] Vintage Synth Explorer accessed 15 December 2020</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Shaun Curran |date=8 December 2025 |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |access-date=8 December 2025 |website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> The song was recorded at Air Studios in London.<ref>{{cite web |author=Shaun Curran |date=8 December 2025 |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |access-date=8 December 2025 |website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> It was "hugely popular" around the world, particularly in Germany, Canada and Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |author=Shaun Curran |date=8 December 2025 |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |access-date=8 December 2025 |website=inews.co.uk}}</ref>
"A Spaceman Came Travelling" failed to chart when it was first released as a single, but de Burgh has said it was "much better to have a regular recurring song than a hit for three weeks".<ref name="allen3">"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12049738 The stories of the Christmas hits]" by Liam Allen, BBC News, 25 December 2010.</ref> The song receives regular airplay on UK radio during the Christmas season. Among the many places de Burgh has performed "Spaceman" have been the [[Kremlin]] and in 2015, [[Bethlehem]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Shaun Curran |date=8 December 2025 |title=My Christmas hit wasn't meant to be a festive song |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/spaceman-came-travelling-chris-de-burgh-4081676?srsltid=AfmBOopRhup-h6TtPCkpchTNmArYqqsee8Z9ZnHpFeW-Y57piBSAaXGd |access-date=8 December 2025 |website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> In December 2023 he performed the song with a full backing band and a gospel choir in Stadtcasino, [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]].
==Reissues and later chart success==
In 1986, following de Burgh's huge hit "[[The Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh song)|The Lady in Red]]", "Spaceman" was reworked with a re-recorded vocal and reissued as a double A-side with the song "[[Into the Light (Chris de Burgh album)|The Ballroom of Romance]]". The new version charted for the first time in the UK, reaching number 40 and staying on the British charts for five weeks.<ref name="David Roberts">David Roberts. ''[[British Hit Singles & Albums]]''. Guinness World Records Limited</ref> It also reached No. 15 on the Irish charts. The reworked version appeared on the 1989 compilation album ''[[Spark to a Flame: The Very Best of Chris de Burgh]]'', although some later compilations reverted to the 1975 version. The newer version was later credited as ''A Spaceman Came Travelling – 89'' to differentiate between them.
Another newly recorded version, denoted by de Burgh's more mature vocal quality and different instrumentation, was released in 2010, titled "A Spaceman Came Travelling (2010)".
==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Chris de Burgh|title=A Spaceman Came Travelling|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2025|id=15396-1147-1|access-date=12 December 2025}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
==Cover versions== * Austrian rock band [[:de:Eela Craig|Eela Craig]] covered the song in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meurer |first=Juergen |date=22 August 2024 |title=Eela Craig – A Spaceman Came Travelling (3-CD Box) |url=https://www.betreutesproggen.de/2024/08/eela-craig-a-spaceman-came-travelling-3-cd-box/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240824220553/https://www.betreutesproggen.de/2024/08/eela-craig-a-spaceman-came-travelling-3-cd-box/ |archive-date=24 August 2024 |access-date=1 September 2024 |website=Betreutes Proggen |language=de-DE}}</ref> * [[John Gibbons (DJ)|John Gibbons]] covered the song in 2018. The song peaked at No. 58 on the [[Irish Singles Chart]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodds |first=Emma |date=30 November 2018 |title=LISTEN: Brand new cover of 'A Spaceman Came Travelling' released for Christmas |url=https://hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/entertainment/music/spaceman-travelling-john-gibbons-cover/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901174221/https://hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/entertainment/music/spaceman-travelling-john-gibbons-cover/ |archive-date=1 September 2024 |access-date=1 September 2024 |website=rayo}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=irishcharts.com – Discography John Gibbons |url=http://irish-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=John+Gibbons |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327170011/http://irish-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=John+Gibbons |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 March 2017 |website=irish-charts.com |access-date=28 May 2023}}</ref> * [[Kate Rusby]] included a version on her 2023 album ''Light Years''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Banham |first=Fiona |date=5 December 2023 |title=Kate Rusby – Light Years (Album Review) |url=https://klofmag.com/2023/12/kate-rusby-light-years-album-review/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901173034/https://klofmag.com/2023/12/kate-rusby-light-years-album-review/ |archive-date=1 September 2024 |access-date=1 September 2024 |website=KLOF Magazine |language=en-GB}}</ref> * Taiwan singer [[Samuel Tai]] covered the song on his 1993 album ''Find a Word to Replace''.<ref>Official Samuel Tai channel. (2020) ''A SPACEMAN CAME TRAvELLING''. YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM3aMHT7glw (Accessed: 25 February 2025). </ref> * Taiwan singer [[Chyi Chin]] included a version on his 1994 album Ruthless Rain, Ruthless You.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPKRus8NeG0 |title=齊秦 直到世界末日 |date=2007-10-05 |last=80sobsessed Kid |access-date=2026-01-04 |via=YouTube}}</ref> * Hong Kong singer [[Sam Hui]] covered the song in 1977. <ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgLQBkOSD0M |title=Spaceman |date=2018-07-28 |last=Sam Hui - Topic |access-date=2026-01-04 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
==See also== * [[1975 in music]] * [[Ancient astronauts]]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Chris de Burgh}} {{John Gibbons}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaceman Came Travelling, A}} [[Category:1975 songs]] [[Category:1976 singles]] [[Category:1970s ballads]] [[Category:A&M Records singles]] [[Category:British Christmas songs]] [[Category:Chris de Burgh songs]] [[Category:Mandaryna songs]] [[Category:Songs about Jesus]] [[Category:Songs about outer space]] [[Category:Songs about spaceflight]] [[Category:Songs written by Chris de Burgh]]