"Driving Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written and composed by the English 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, and the fact Rea never performed it live on tour until 2014, 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] The 2004 single version started to receive certifications by BPI only since 2014, raising from Silver to 3x Platinum by 2023.[9]
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",[11][12] and that he wrote it for Van Morrison but did not manage to get it to him.[13]
Recording
Rea never planned to write a Christmas song. It was some years later, while testing pianos with keyboard player Max Middleton, Rea improvised a tune in a Count Basie style. Someone suggested he write it down, and he found that the melody fit the lyrics he had written for "Driving Home for Christmas". 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.[12]
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 feature in the video are 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]
First live tour performance (2014)
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".[12][17]
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".[18]
Track listings
Driving Home for Christmas (The Christmas EP): 7 inch, 1988
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).[19] In 2022, the song entered the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart for the first time at number 10.
Charts
Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for "Driving Home for Christmas"
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.[76]
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.[77] She subsequently said that she was not disappointed that the single did not make it into the UK top 20.[78]
Track listing
Digital download
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Driving Home for Christmas"
3:55
2.
"Driving Home for Christmas" (Alternative version)
It was used in Christmas commercials for supermarket chain Iceland in 1997, 1998 and 2011; the last featured a cover by Stacey Solomon.[80][76] An alternative version of the single was released in Japan as part of an EP called Snow.[81]
Chris Rea's version is used in the Season 2 Christmas special of the BBC series Gavin & Stacey, as the characters from Wales drive to Essex. One of the characters comments on his love of Rea's songs.
↑"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 50. týden 2025 in the date selector. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
↑"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 51. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
↑"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 51+52. týden 2023 in the date selector. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
↑"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 5152. týden 2018 in the date selector. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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