Your Favourite Chris de Burgh Song According to Facebook
What’s your favourite Chris de Burgh song of all time?
I fed the responses into Stata, removed duplicate entries and cleaned up typos etc. – and here is the final list:
SONG TITLE | VOTES ----------------------------------------+------- the lady in red | 138 ----------------------------------------+------- borderline | 62 ----------------------------------------+------- spanish train | 44 ----------------------------------------+------- in a country churchyard | 32 ----------------------------------------+------- carry me (like a fire in your heart) | 26 don't pay the ferryman | 26 ----------------------------------------+------- a spaceman came travelling | 25 missing you | 25 ----------------------------------------+------- the snows of new york | 23 ----------------------------------------+------- patricia the stripper | 20 ----------------------------------------+------- where peaceful waters flow | 19 ----------------------------------------+------- sailor | 17 the same sun | 17 ----------------------------------------+------- crusader | 15 ----------------------------------------+------- go where your heart believes | 14 ----------------------------------------+------- lonely sky | 13 separate tables | 13 the words i love you | 13 ----------------------------------------+------- satin green shutters | 12 ----------------------------------------+------- a woman's heart | 11 for rosanna | 11 the head and the heart | 11 ----------------------------------------+------- high on emotion | 10 revolution | 10 the tower | 10 transmission ends | 10 ----------------------------------------+------- diamond in the dark | 9 fatal hesitation | 9 the girl with april in her eyes | 9 up here in heaven | 9 ----------------------------------------+------- say goodbye to it all | 8 the last time i cried | 8 ----------------------------------------+------- sailing away | 7 the road to freedom | 7 the traveller | 7 ----------------------------------------+------- here is your paradise | 6 just a word away | 6 lebanese night | 6 natasha dance | 6 people of the world | 6 ship to shore | 6 the leader | 6 ----------------------------------------+------- carry on | 5 forevermore | 5 i'm not scared anymore | 5 leather on my shoes | 5 love of the heart divine | 5 songbird | 5 the journey | 5 ----------------------------------------+------- a rainy night in paris | 4 discovery | 4 eastern wind | 4 everywhere i go | 4 fire on the water | 4 here for you | 4 hold on | 4 so beautiful | 4 the getaway | 4 the simple truth | 4 why mona lisa smiled | 4 ----------------------------------------+------- always on my mind | 3 broken wings | 3 flying | 3 i'm counting on you | 3 last night | 3 living on the island | 3 moonlight and vodka | 3 perfect day | 3 raging storm | 3 read my name | 3 something else again | 3 the mirror of the soul | 3 the storyman | 3 ----------------------------------------+------- brother john | 2 every drop of rain | 2 footsteps | 2 have a care | 2 heart of darkness | 2 i love the night | 2 i'm going home | 2 it's me and i'm ready to go | 2 just another poor boy | 2 leningrad | 2 love is my decision | 2 man on the line | 2 moonfleet bay | 2 my heart's surrender | 2 old friend | 2 one more mile to go | 2 one world | 2 pure joy | 2 saint peter's gate | 2 seven bridges | 2 suddenly love | 2 tender hands | 2 the ballroom of romance | 2 the devil's eye | 2 the son and the father | 2 when i think of you | 2 where we will be going | 2 you'll never walk alone | 2 ----------------------------------------+------- africa | 1 all the love i have inside | 1 another rainbow | 1 brazil | 1 by my side | 1 crying and laughing | 1 danny boy | 1 don't look back | 1 every step of the way | 1 goodnight | 1 hotel california | 1 i'm not crying over you | 1 in love forever | 1 let it be | 1 much more than this | 1 my father's eyes | 1 oh my brave hearts | 1 old-fashioned people | 1 once upon in time | 1 one word (straight to the heart) | 1 riding on a rainbow | 1 rose of england | 1 shadows and light | 1 she means everything to me | 1 shine on | 1 sin city | 1 snow is falling | 1 sos | 1 spirit | 1 taking it to the top | 1 the grace of a dancer | 1 the painter | 1 the storyman theme | 1 there's a new star up in heaven tonight | 1 there's room in this heart tonight | 1 this song for you | 1 timing is everything | 1 two sides to every story | 1 waiting for the hurricane | 1 what's a nice guy like you doing in a...| 1 ----------------------------------------+------- Total | 956
That’s 142 different songs! I’m surprised – in a very pleasant way – about the variety of choices: old, new, hits, epics, ballads, love, stories, history, loss, war, peace, family. I’m also surprised that “The Lady in Red” is such a clear winner. On the other end of the list you find my favourite song – or at least my favourite song title as I have never heard “What’s a Nice Guy Like You Doing in a Face Like That?” – of course, I’m glad that other fans mentioned almost all my semi-favourite songs (“Transmission Ends”! “Crusader”! “The Last Time I Cried”! “A Spaceman Came Travelling”! “The Same Sun”!).
Notes: When multiple songs were mentioned I took the first one (unless another one was clearly labelled as favourite). I deleted a couple of songs that didn’t sound like anything Chris de Burgh every performed. Another 23 people indicated that they couldn’t or wouldn’t make a decision. This list is based in the responses I could see with my account; no idea if that’s all. Oh, and here’s the album statistics:
album | votes no. of songs ------------------------------+--------------------- into the light | 208 10 the getaway | 135 10 spanish train | 120 10 flying colours | 61 9 the road to freedom | 40 9 the storyman | 17 9 man on the line | 40 8 moonfleet | 36 8 the power of ten | 24 8 at the end of a perfect day | 47 6 quiet revolution | 43 6 crusader | 35 6 far beyond these castle walls | 21 5 this way up | 39 4 eastern wind | 29 4 timing is everything | 9 4 beautiful dreams | 7 4 footsteps 2 | 5 4 footsteps | 3 2 ------------------------------+----------------------- (single tracks) | 10 5 the love songs | 11 3 (unreleased songs) | 3 3 best moves | 3 2 spark to a flame | 9 1 notes to planet earth | 1 1