Song of the Day 12/19: Chris Rea, “Driving Home for Christmas”

One source of Christmas music overload: Too much repetition. Even the best songs start to chafe when you’re hearing them for the hundredth time this month, no matter how different the arrangements.

British holiday music provides some relief. Songs that are overplayed in England sound fresh to American ears. This tune by blues slide guitarist Chris Rea, who broke through on the UK charts in the ’90s after 20 years in the business, was released in 1986. He had written it 10 years with Van Morrison in mind. It first charted two years later at No. 53 but it keeps growing in popularity, charting every year since 2007, peaking (so far) at No. 10 last year.