Driving Home for Christmas

For the album by Lee Kernaghan, see Driving Home for Christmas (album).

"Driving Home for Christmas"
Single by Chris Rea
from the album New Light Through Old Windows
ReleasedNovember 1988
Recorded1986
GenrePop rock, Christmas
Length4:33
LabelMagnet
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea
Producer(s)
  • Rea
  • Stuart Eales
Chris Rea singles chronology
"Fool (If You Think It's Over) ('88 Remix)"
(1988) 		"Driving Home for Christmas"
(1988) 		"Working on It"
(1989)
Music video
"Driving Home For Christmas (2009 video in aid of Shelter)" on YouTube

"Driving Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written and composed by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea.[1] The first version was originally released as the B-side to his single "Hello Friend" in 1986. In October 1988, a re-recorded version served as one of two new songs on Rea's first compilation album New Light Through Old Windows. It was issued as the fourth single from the album in November 1988, where it peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart as the lead track of The Christmas EP.[2][3]

Despite its original modest chart placement, the song has made a reappearance on the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007 when it peaked at No. 33,[4] and is featured among the Top 10 Christmas singles.[5][6][7][8] It reached a new peak of number 10 on the UK Singles Chart in 2021.[1] In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted twelfth on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.[9]

The song has since been covered by numerous artists, including Engelbert Humperdinck. A 2011 version by Stacey Solomon peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

In interviews for the BBC Radio 4 programme Today in 2009, and The Guardian in 2016, Rea said he wrote "Driving Home for Christmas" many years before its first recording; this was in 1978 when Rea needed to get home to Middlesbrough from Abbey Road Studios in London. His wife had come down to drive him home in her Austin Mini to save money because it was cheaper to drive than travel by train. Rea was recently out of contract and the record company was unwilling to pay for the rail ticket. The inspiration for the song came as they were getting stuck in heavy traffic, while the snow was falling. He started looking at the other motorists, who "all looked so miserable. Jokingly, I started singing: "We're driving home for Christmas..." Then, whenever the streetlights shone inside the car, I started writing down lyrics". Rea said Driving Home for Christmas is a "car version of a carol",[10][11] and that he wrote it for Van Morrison but did not manage to get it to him.[12]

In the Guardian interview, Rea stated that he never played the song live until 2014 at Hammersmith Odeon; he recalls: "the gig was on 20 December, so the road crew kept badgering me to do it. I went, 'If I'm going to sing this fucking song, we're gonna do it properly.' So we hired 12 snow cannons. When we started the song, you couldn't hear it for the noise of the crowd, and we let go with the machines. We put three feet of artificial snow in the stalls. The venue charged me £12,000 to clean it up".[11][13]

It was used in Christmas commercials for supermarket chain Iceland in 1997, 1998 and 2011; the last featured a cover by Stacey Solomon. An alternative version of the single was released in Japan as part of an EP called 'Snow'.

Recording

Rea never planned to write a Christmas song. It was several years later that while testing pianos with keyboard player Max Middleton he found a tune that fit the lyrics. Initially, it was released as a B-side (to the 1986 single "Hello Friend"[14]), but afterwards was re-recorded with strings. Middleton played the distinctive jazzy intro, and together they produced a typical 1950s Christmas carol-type arrangement.[11]

Music video

A video clip was broadcast on 23 December 1986 by Dutch pop music TV show TopPop, interspersed with stock footage of the motorways around Hilversum.[15]

In 2009, 21 years after the song was first released, an original video was made in aid of Shelter; all proceeds from digital download were donated to the charity. The celebrities who featured in the video were Mike Read, David Hamilton, Martin Shaw, Kristian Digby, Gail Porter, Lizzie Cundy, Ewen MacIntosh, Carol Decker, Giles Vickers-Jones, and Lionel Blair. On the project, Rea stated: "I wanted to do something special this Christmas and what better way than to help keep a roof over people's heads when they need it most – at Christmas. By teaming up with Shelter we can hopefully make a difference".[16]

Critical reception

Upon its release as a single in 1988, David Giles of Record Mirror described "Driving Home for Christmas" as a "jaunty, happy song" with "the joys of the season and some lilting ripples of guitar".[17]

Track listings

Driving Home for Christmas (The Christmas EP): 7 inch, 1988
No.TitleLength
1."Driving Home for Christmas"4:33
2."Footsteps in the Snow" 
3."Joys of Christmas" 
4."Smile" (produced by Dave Richards[2]) 
CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Driving Home for Christmas"4:33
2."Hello Friend" (re-record)4:21

Chart performance

In recent years it charted as follows: In 2008 on Netherlands Digital Songs (No. 4), Euro Digital Tracks (No. 8), in 2009 on Norway Digital Songs (No. 3), on Billboard Japan Hot 100 in 2012 (No. 18) and 2014 (No. 23), while on Denmark Digital Songs in 2016 (No. 9) and 2017 (No. 5).[18] In 2022, the song entered the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart for the first time at number 10.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[55] 3× Platinum 270,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[56] Gold 15,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[57] Gold 20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] 3× Platinum 1,800,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Stacey Solomon version

"Driving Home for Christmas"
Single by Stacey Solomon
Released18 December 2011
Recorded2011
GenrePop
Length4:01
LabelConehead Management Ltd
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea

Singer and television presenter Stacey Solomon covered the song in 2011 and it was released on 18 December 2011 as her debut single. Originally intended to be used solely in commercials for supermarket chain Iceland and cabins, it was later released as a single due to popular demand, reaching number 27.[59]

Background

The single was released on 18 December 2011 on iTunes with all proceeds going to Alzheimer's Research UK and children's hospice charity Together For Short Lives.[60] She subsequently said that she was not disappointed that the single did not make it into the UK top 20.[61]

Track listing

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Driving Home for Christmas"3:55
2."Driving Home for Christmas" (Alternative version)3:16

Charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[62] 27

The Chris Rea and Stacey Solomon versions of "Driving Home for Christmas" were used in the Christmas adverts for supermarket chain Iceland in 1997 and 2011 respectively.[63][59]

In December 2020, a joke about Dominic Cummings' journey to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown, which referenced the song in the punchline, was announced as the winner of UK TV channel Gold's annual "Christmas Cracker Joke" competition. The joke read: "What is Dominic Cummings' favourite Christmas song? 'Driving Home for Christmas'".[64] The song was used for a Christmas montage on the show, Gavin and Stacey. It was played during interspersing scene of Stacey's family driving as Gavin's family, hosting Christmas, prepares for their arrival

References

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  4. ^ James Masterton (21 August 2013). Top 40 Annual 2012. James Masterton. ISBN 9781301260676.
  5. ^ Rob Hastings (13 December 2010). "All we want for Christmas is an old festive song". The Independent. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  6. ^ Media Monkey (2 December 2010). "Mariah Carey top of the tree at Christmas". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
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