Lyrics to
Spanish Train

This version of Spanish Train was released by Chris De Burgh in 1975.

Our Decade Lyrics Chris De Burgh profile has all of the Spanish Train lyrics from 1975 and many more songs from the Chris De Burgh discography that we have on file.

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There’s a Spanish train that runs between
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
and people hear she’s running still…

And then they hush their children back to sleep,
Lock the doors, upstairs they creep,
For it is said that the souls of the dead
Fill that train ten thousand deep!!

Well a railwayman lay dying with his people by his side,
His family were crying, knelt in prayer before he died,
But above his bed just a-waiting for the dead,
Was the Devil with a twinkle in his eye,
“Well God’s not around and look what I’ve found,
this one’s mine!!”

Just then the Lord himself appeared in a blinding flash of light,
And shouted at the Devil, “Get thee hence to endless night!!”
But the Devil just grinned and said “I may have sinned,
But there’s no need to push me around,
I got him first so you can do your worst,
He’s going underground!!”

“But I think I’ll give you one more chance”
said the Devil with a smile,
“So throw away that stupid lance,
It’s really not your style”,
“Joker is the name, Poker is the game,
we’ll play right here on this bed,
And then we’ll bet for the biggest stakes yet,
the souls of the dead!!”

And I said “Look out, Lord, He’s going to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, He’s going to win!..”

Well the railwayman he cut the cards
And he dealt them each a hand of five,
And for the Lord he was praying hard
Or that train he’d have to drive…
Well the Devil he had three aces and a king,
And the Lord, he was running for a straight,
He had the queen and the knave and nine and ten of spades,
All he needed was the eight…

And then the Lord he called for one more card,
But he drew the diamond eight,
And the Devil said to the son of God,
“I believe you’ve got it straight,
So deal me one for the time has come
To see who’ll be the king of this place,
But as he spoke, from beneath his cloak,
He slipped another ace…

Ten thousand souls was the opening bid,
And it soon went up to fifty-nine,
But the Lord didn’t see what the Devil did,
And he said “that suits me fine”,
“I’ll raise you high to a hundred and five,
And forever put an end to your sins”,
But the Devil let out a mighty shout, “My hand wins!!”

And I said “Lord, oh Lord, you let him win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is dead on time, many souls are on the line,
Oh Lord, don’t let him win…”

Well that Spanish train still runs between,
Guadalquivir and old Saville,
And at dead of night the whistle blows,
And people fear she’s running still…
And far away in some recess
The Lord and the Devil are now playing chess,
The Devil still cheats and wins more souls,
And as for the Lord, well, he’s just doing his best…

And I said “Lord, oh Lord, you’ve got to win,
The sun is down and the night is riding in,
That train is still on time, oh my soul is on the line,
Oh Lord, you’ve got to win…”

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Want more lyrics and songs by Chris De Burgh?

Chris De Burgh has released many songs over the years besides Spanish Train. Chris De Burgh released songs from 1975 to 2006 spanning across albums like Spanish Train And Other Stories, Far Beyond These Castle Walls, At The End Of A Perfect Day, Crusader, Eastern Wind, The Getaway, Man On The Line, Into The Light, Flying Colours, Power Of Ten, This Way Up, Beautiful Dreams, Quiet Revolution, Timing Is Everything, The Road To Freedom, and The Storyman. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Chris De Burgh.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1975 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Spanish Train by Chris De Burgh

The lyrics for Spanish Train are defined as the words making up the song released by Chris De Burgh in 1975. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Spanish Train have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Chris De Burgh and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Spanish Train by Chris De Burgh if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Spanish Train" means the words set to the music of Spanish Train, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Chris De Burgh. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Spanish Train and the lyrics to Spanish Train are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Chris De Burgh who came here looking just for the lyrics to Spanish Train, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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