Quotes from Chris de Burgh

I've got a room full of gold and platinum records, a lot of them are Canadian, and I've got a very soft spot for that country.

It's every songwriter's dream to come up with a standard.

I think that every songwriter would give their right arm to come up with a standard that is going to be played long after they're dead.

I have always had a long term view on records as I want them to be books and not magazines and newspapers that you discard very quickly.

I generally write the songs accidentally. They generally come out of nowhere.

I'm emotionally untouchable.

I always bring divining rods when I'm on tour because you can change energy streams by moving furniture around your hotel room.

As a song-writer I have always written with one instrument - either guitar or piano - because I believe that if a song is strong enough to be performed completely stripped down then it is a good one to go on and record.

I struggled for so many years.

I thought I would be an overnight star when I had a hit record in Brazil with my first album - but things didn't work out quite like that.

A lot of people think they can become world stars overnight.

People always try to pigeonhole you, especially the media, who are happy if they can label you as a particular kind of artist. But the spectrum of songs I write and record is vast.

I like to be subtle, without being too obvious.

My house is a very calm and beautiful place and is full of positive energy.

I studied French and English literature because I liked it.

My secondary schooling was at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, so I'm fond of that part of the world. It's quintessentially English, with village greens, pubs and cricket pitches, and resonates strongly with me.

I find it amazing when I get letters from people in Israel and people in Lebanon and they both love the music, but in real life they hate each other.

People just love stories.