Last night we learnt that Chris Rea, had died, aged 74. He’s the musician behind ‘Driving Home for Christmas’, which tells the story of a weary traveller making his way home in heavy traffic.
He explained: ‘It was 1978, coming up to Christmas. It was all over for me: I was just about out of my record contract, and my manager had just told me he was leaving me.
‘I just needed to get home to Middlesbrough from London, but the record company wouldn’t pay for a rail ticket, and I was banned from driving.’
‘My wife got in our old Austin Mini, drove all the way down from Middlesbrough to Abbey Road studios to pick me up, and we set off back straight away. Then it started snowing. We had £220…’
Rea wrote ‘driving home of Christmas’ facing an uncertain future… I’ve been reflecting on friends whose health, financial situation, employment and family circumstances mean that their future is uncertain.
Our Sunday church nativity service, singing carols, seeing Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds and wise men, was familiar and comfortable.
The story, however is far from comfortable – a young couple face an insecure, unknown future… the shepherds’ still, quiet night is shattered by unexpected sights and noises… wise men leave home on a long, uncertain journey.
Chris Rea continued: ‘We eventually got home at 3am. It was so cold inside the house that the snow tumbled on to the doormat and didn’t melt.’
‘There was one letter – from PRS America. My song Fool (If You Think It’s Over) had been a hit in the US, so there was a cheque for £15,000. We went from being down to our last £220 to being able to buy a house.’
Rea discovered security, certainty, home – and a successful song. Parents, shepherds and wise men found understanding and meaning in a small baby.
Today that small baby continues to bring me security and hope in my insecurities and uncertainties. I hope and pray that my friends discover this too.
(The interview with Rea was recorded in the Guardian in 2016)
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