Stuck in traffic on the A1, where the late Chris Rea found himself in Christmas 1978, his wife behind the wheel of her Mini, he beside her as they tried to get from Abbey Road Studios in London to their home in Middlesbrough, 220 miles away. He wrote the song on a whim, scribbling down the lyrics whenever passing headlights illuminated the car interior, then put it away with his other unfinished scraps when he got home.
Eight years later, he paired his lyric with some jazzy chords he'd written and then a song was born. At first, he shoved it on a B-side, but in 1988 he re-recorded it for a compilation, put it out as a single, and nothing fantastic happened, it was not an instant hit, it was more like a slow burner that went from radio playlists and department stores into people's hearts throught the years.
It was a slow burner because it’s not grand, just a common track not packed with magnificent of the contemporary Christmas hits at the time, not a tremendous lyrics it's just about being trapped in the A1 and trying to get as much as possible home on Christmas eve, not other emotion or tenderness, just about being there sitting and awaiting in traffic, looking forward to getting home.
When the track was released during Christmas 1988, "Mistletoe And Wine" by Cliff Richard was the Christmas No.1 and then nothing else but others related songs and "Driving Home For Christmas" was at 53, and there you go, nothing happens and the song was there as another useless attempt to capture the No. 1 for Holiday Season, in fact, I never heard about this track until Christmas 2019 and curiously I was trapped in traffic too trying to get home as soon as possible, but inmeadiately caught my attention because it sounds older maybe vintage, like the way Christmas songs used to be and doesnt sound like this anymore, and here's the key part of everything.
"Driving Home For Christmas", is a common Christmas song but not a one that impose and use the usual sounds many Xmas songs use and do like sonic bells, whistles, Santa's Ho Ho, and even thought the song emerged in the late 80s., it's not dated because it was created to sound like that, nostalgic and in some ways tender and magic cause it alludes a common thing everyone of us have experienced once in while, being sat in an unmoving car for Christmas as a way to comfort us and make our stance easy and less complicated just like the way it was 35 years when were kids and Christmas had a different meaning, and that's why this anthem hits hard, not only because Chris' death but also because captures the season's true spirit as no other song do.
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