A spaceman came traveling 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
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, oh

This lovely music went trembling through the ground
And many were awakened on hearing that sound
And travelers on the road
The village they found by the light of that ship in the sky
Which shone all around

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 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
This song will begin once again to a baby's cry
And it goes 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

Oh the whole world is waiting, waiting to hear the song again (la la la la la la la la la)
There are thousands standing on the edge of the world (la la la la la la la la la)
And a star is moving somewhere, the time is nearly here (la la la la la la la la la)
This song will begin once again to a baby's cry


Lyrics submitted by Bobo192

A Spaceman Came Travelling Lyrics as written by Chris De Burgh

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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A Spaceman Came Travelling song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    First off, it never mentions a light year; it's "thousand years" not "light years". Misheard lyrics 4tw.

    As for 'two thousand years' being a prediction well... predictions don't generally come true. Especially not ones with a timer attached, unless they're self-fulfilling prophecies.

    Regardless, the idea isn't that "god" himself is an alien, but that the ANGEL that visted was. This's been explored many times before, since supposedly angels were made before humans, had a little war in their home, that kind of stuff. Now, since the universe supposedly wasn't even made until AFTER this war, that seems kind of odd; one would think they lived 'somewhere' right? Soooo an easy enough explaination is that it's just a misinterpretation and that it wasn't the universe that was created after the angels' war, but rather earth itself, which would mean that angels were just an alien race as the 'first attempt that went bad'. To be honest it makes more sense than the more literal translation that's generally accepted.

    Also, just in referance to redcoat, the big bang's not really all that disputed; there's more than enough evidence to pretty much say that's pretty likely where things started... the question then becomes, how did it start? If it was all the matter and energy in the universe existing compacted incredably tightly, even more dense than a black hole, then WHY did it just randomly explode? One could claim that the big bang was the equivilent to god dumping out a box of lego parts onto the ground to make stuff with, and that the big bang itself was divine in nature, rather than a natural occurance. Of course that doesn't neccesarily mean it's true either, though there's only a handful of theories which even make the most vague of sense in explaining how it could even happen. Even the whole m-branes don't make total sense as it still relies on a previously infinite amount of time wherein nothing happened at all before the big bang.

    So was the angel an alien? Was the big bang caused by god? Or is it all just a myth like everything else people used to believe and in a few thousand years we'll just look back on this in schools as foolishness? Guess we all find out eventually, shame by that point yeu're dead and it's not very useful information anymore XD

    Anyways, nice song, the angel's singing lines are very nicely done, haunting and etherial, quite beautiful in their own way. Shame the lyrics only briefly touch on the concepts given, rather than exploring them more fully. But that's why it's a song and not an essay I suppose, any thought provocation at all is better than whot most artists can claim, so even if it's a bit blunt, it works well enough.

    Katsunion August 06, 2009   Link
  • +1
    Lyric Correction

    No, whoever submitted these lyrics, he had the face of an angel, not an angle. Also, from what I can make out it's "love for a child" rather than "the child".

    But it seems a handful of lyrics sites, and even one YouTube video, have copied each other and so ended up with these errors in them.

    flashgon December 30, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    This powerful song was divinely inspired at a time when the general atmosphere was prickling with a sense of Christ's return. The meaning is absolutely clear. He speaks of the 2nd coming being born 'in the flesh' (a baby's cry) 2,000 years after the 1st coming. It WAS the case: The Messiah and 2nd coming was born 1920, and the marriage of the lamb took place in 1960. ...I leave the rest for those who want to do their homework to find out for themselves who I'm talking about and what is happening providentially.

    lastwordon August 23, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It's Christian science, claiming God is an alien hence the references to spacemen refering to the bible. Of course it's all aload of rubbish, BIG BANG RULES.

    Redcoat-Micon December 24, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "When two thousand years of your time has gone by, This song will begin once again" I'm still waiting.

    coruscatingmindon May 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    it's just a beautiful song. im glad it's christian friendly, more people can enjoy it.

    VGoldmineWildeon August 06, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    The great Monobrowed one getting high on 'La Bise' again whilst reading the bible.

    for further info see 'Lonely Sky' by de burgh.

    Wanderpopson November 13, 2004   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    "He followed a light and came down to a shed, Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed" is worthy of the great McGonagall. The whole lyric is so portentious and so deeply dreadful it brought me out in a thin sweat of embarassment. Also betrays basic ignorance of writer as a light year is a measurement of distance, not time.

    Mikeymike111on April 24, 2006   Link

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