On December 8, 2023 Angelina Jordan Official/Republic Records/UMG released her new 5-song Christmas album, Driving Home for Christmas. I think the first song, Driving Home for Christmas, may have been recorded this year, while the other 4 holiday tunes were taken from her live-streamed Christmas Concert Dec 23, 2021 during the pandemic.
I hadn’t heard of this song before and loved it. This popular holiday tune was written and recorded by Chris Rea in 1986. I did some research and was surprised to discover he’d also written and performed the 1978 hit song, Fool (If You Think It’s Over), which I remembered and enjoyed.
Here are videos of Angelina Jordan and Chris Rea singing ‘Driving Home for Christmas’. Chris explained he wrote the song during a snowstorm on the drive home for Christmas. He misplaced it, forgot it, rediscovered and recorded it for fun, and surprisingly, without promotion, it later became a seasonal favorite. It was voted the UK’s favorite Christmas song, and is considered to be one of their top 10 Christmas singles. I can see why. It is a very catchy tune about people driving home for Christmas. Chris Rea and Angelina Jordan also sing this song on Spotify.
This song was broadcast Dec 25, 1986 in the UK appropriately on Christmas Day. Read the music video’s notes detailing the song’s release dates and ratings in different countries over the years. TopPop have now remastered it in HD and posted it Dec 19, 2023. Enjoy listening to Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas [REMASTERED HD] • TopPop
You can follow along with the words to the song. Chris Rea Official posted Official Lyric Video for Driving Home For Christmas by Chris Rea.
In Dec 4, 2014 TheOldrecordclub posted Chris Rea ~ Driving Home For Christmas (1986) with a video of a car driving over snow-covered roads. It’s quite popular with over 60M views!
To hear how this song was written, listen to this short explanation by Chris Rea on ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ in The Story Behind.
Here is a longer version: Rock ‘n’ roll survivor, slide player and all-round top guy Chris Rea tells The One Show how “Driving Home For Christmas” came about. Interesting how he first got the idea for the song at Abbey Road Studios and returned years later, successful, to record it with added strings. How Chris Rea wrote “Driving Home For Christmas”.
Throughout the interview they edit in clips from this later performance of the song: Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas – National Lottery Stars – 23rd December 2000.
For more on the story, read this informative article by Evie Barrett at Dig! Driving Home For Christmas: The Road To Chris Rea’s Seasonal Smash.
See my ongoing blog post on Angelina Jordan singing amazing covers and originals over the years, including the latest exciting developments.
Happy Holidays!
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
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