“The Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh

Chris de Burgh’s Lady in Red, despite being well received chart wise, was not a super-mega hit. But it is still one of the most memorable songs of the late 1980s, one those tunes that once it gets lodged in your brain never truly exits. 

Indeed, Chris’s sultry deliver and the way he drops that “cheek to cheek” line in the chorus is reminiscent of a time when vocalists were a bit more daring. And when we say daring, we are not talking about daring in terms of dropping NSFW language or saying anything offensive but rather in artistic delivery in the name of captivating the listeners’ attention. 

So it’s like even if the audience can’t make out any of the other words to “The Lady in Red”, for better or worse that “cheek to cheek” is going to stand out nonetheless.

And as implied by the statement, which conjures up images of the vocalist “dancing” closely with the addressee, this is a love song. But it isn’t simply based on the former admiring how the latter looks amazing in this red dress that she’s rockin’. Rather, the narrative reads like the two of them are already an item. And human nature, if you will, is such that after a relationship is firmly established we tend to take our partners for granted, so to speak.

Dang! I Forgot How Beautiful You Are!

In this case, it’s like Chris has actually forgotten just how beautiful his own lady is. But this evening they’re at some venue, presumably a party or some other event that encourages mingling and dancing. 

And it’s like all the dudes in the house are trying to pick up the addressee. So on top of being stunned by her beauty personally, well, the vocalist has solid evidence presented before him that he’s not the only one who feels this way.

Thesis Sentiment “The Lady in Red”

So basically, what the thesis sentiment boils down to is how fortunate he is to have such an attractive mate. It’s like being taken aback by her beauty, in addition to having all these other dudes sweat her, has caused the vocalist to fall in love with the addressee anew. Sometimes human psychology is funny like that.

So that would likely be why, from an artistic standpoint, instead of referring to his sweetheart in more intimate terms, De Burgh rather labels her “the lady in red”, because it’s as if he is seeing her again for the first time. 

And also, “the lady in red” would be what others in the venue who don’t actually know the addressee would likely refer to her as. Thus, as put forth earlier, the vocalist is taking their perspective into consideration also.

So the moral of the story, for lack of a better term, would be that having a partner who is attractive to others makes them more attractive to us also. Or at least theoretically this causes us to be more appreciative to have such a gorgeous partner.

Chris de Burgh

Chris de Burgh was actually born in Argentina though is of Western European descent and accordingly grew up in Ireland. He has a discography, which is quite lengthy by the way. It actually dates back to the mid-1970s. And his most recent studio album, “The Legend of Robin Hood”, was released this very year (i.e. 2021).

The 1980s was definitely Chris de Burgh’s heyday. During this period, virtually every single he dropped that decade, including “The Lady in Red”, managed to chart. But the fact that he has sold almost 50,000,000 albums to date, would likely speak to the fact that he’s a prolific musician. As of the writing of this post, he has 23 studio albums under his belt. But besides for this particular track, none of his other singles are necessarily what would be defined as classics.

“The Lady in Red”

“The Lady in Red”, which A&M Records released on 20 June 1986, is in fact Chris de Burgh’s signature piece. 

Chris wrote the song himself, with the track being produced by one of his steady musical partners, Paul Hardiman. 

And to note, the muse behind this piece is actually Chris’s wife, Diane, who he has been married to since the late-1970s.

“The Lady in Red” topped the UK Singles Chart. It also replicated such a feat in a number of other countries, including on Canada Top Singles. Also, it reached as high as number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact having charted in nearly two dozen countries overall, it made it onto the top 10 music charts in all of them except for France.

Chris de Burgh also showed some love to Spanish-speaking fans by releasing a version of “The Lady in Red” in said language, which in that case is called “La Dama de Ayer” (1987). 

And there is also a rendition of the song backed by a full orchestra as featured on his 1995 album “Beautiful Dreams”.

More Interesting Facts!

Yes, “The Lady in Red” is quite unforgettable. But to many listeners it is so for all the wrong reasons. That is to say that this track has been voted one of “the most annoying songs of all time”. It has been named amongst “the most-hated number-one singles in UK”.

Logic would dictate that Chris de Burgh’s wife is in fact a looker. And why? This is because the one daughter he and Diane produced together, Rosanna Davison, went on to win Miss World. She did so while representing Ireland in 2003.

As reported, Chris was originally leaning towards naming this piece “The Way You Look Tonight”, which definitely sounds a lot more 1980s by the way. However, he opted not to do so, as there was already a song out with the same title. Presumably the one dropped by the late Fred Astaire back in 1936 though covered many times over throughout the decades.

On Which Album is “The Lady in Red”?

It appears on Chris de Burgh’s “Into the Light” album of 1986. This studio album, which is Chris’ eighth, holds the distinction of being his first top-10 album in Britain. It actually reached number 2 in UK’s Official Albums Chart.