DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

CHRIS REA

SONGWRITER: CHRIS REA

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: ON THE BEACH

LABEL: MAGNET RECORDS

GENRE: CHRISTMAS SONG

YEAR: 1986

 

          Christopher Anton Rea (/ˈriːə/REE-ə; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in Middlesbrough, he is of Italian and Irish descent. He is known for his distinctive, husky-gravel voice and slide guitar playing, and the Guinness Rockopedia described him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".

              British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s" and "already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with the release of the single "The Road to Hell (Part 2)", which was his 18th chart entry." Two of his studio albums, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. Rea was nominated three times for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist: in 1988, 1989 and 1990. His other hit songs include "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "Josephine", "On the Beach", "Let's Dance", "Driving Home for Christmas", "Working on It", "Tell Me There's a Heaven", "Auberge", "Looking for the Summer", "Winter Song", "Nothing to Fear", "Julia", and "If You Were Me", a duet with Elton John.

                In the United States he is best known for the 1978 song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", which reached Nº. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at Nº. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. This success earned him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1979. As of 2009, he had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

           "Driving Home for Christmas" is a Christmas song written and composed by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea. The first version was originally released as the b-side to Hello Friend in 1986. In October 1988, a re-recorded version served as one of two new songs on Rea's first compilation álbum New Light Through Old Windows. It was issued as the fourth single from the album in December 1988, where it peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart as the lead track of The Christmas EP.

                Despite its original modest chart placement, the song has made a reappearance on the UK Singles Chart every year since 2007 when it peaked at Nº. 33, and is featured among the Top 10 Christmas singles. It reached a new peak of number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in 2018. In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted twelfth on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.

              A 2011 version by Stacey Solomon peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart.

I'm driving home for Christmas

I can't wait to see those faces

I'm driving home for Christmas

Yeah, well I'm moving down that line

And it's been so long

But I will be there

To sing this song

To pass the time away

Driving in my car

I'm driving home for Christmas

It's gonna take some time

But I'll get there

Top to toe in tailbacks

Oh, I got red lights on the run

But soon there'll be a freeway

Get my feet on holy ground

So I sing for you

Though you can't hear me

When I get trough

And feel you near me

Driving in my car

I'm driving home for Christmas

Driving home for Christmas

With a thousand memories

I take a look at the driver next to me

He's just the same

Just the same

Top to toe in tailbacks

Oh, I got red lights on the run

I'm driving home for Christmas, yea

Get my feet on holy ground

So I sing for you

Though you can't hear me

When I get trough

Oh I feel you near me

Driving in my car

Driving home for Christmas

Driving home for Christmas

With a thousand memories

I take a look at the driver next to me

He's just the same

Driving home

Driving home

Driving home for Christmas

Driving home for Christmas.

LAST CHRISTMAS

WHAM!

SONGWRITER: GEORGE MICHAEL

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: NOW – THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM

LABEL: EPIC RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1985

 

            Wham! were an English pop music duo consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, formed in Bushey in 1981. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to 1986. Influenced by funk and soul music and presenting themselves as disaffected youth, Wham!'s 1983 debut album Fantastic addressed the United Kingdom's unemployment problem and teen angst over adulthood. Their second studio album Make It Big in 1984 was a worldwide pop smash hit, charting at number one in both the UK and the United States. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, the singles from the album—"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Everything She Wants" and "Careless Whisper"—all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1985, Wham! made a highly publicised 10-day visit to China, the first by a Western pop group. The event was seen as a major watershed moment in increasing friendly bilateral relations between China and the West.

             "Last Christmas" is a song by English pop duo Wham!, released on Epic Records, and internationally on MCA Records in December 1984, on a double A-side with "Everything She Wants". It was written and produced by George Michael, and has been covered by many artists since its original release.

              The song reached Nº. 1 in Denmark, Slovenia, and Sweden and Nº. 2 in nine countries: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, New Zealand and United Kingdom. Wham! donated all of their royalties to relief efforts for the Ethiopian famine. In a UK-wide poll in December 2012, it was voted eighth on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song. It was the most-played Christmas song of the 21st century in the UK until it was overtaken by "Fairytale of New York" in 2015.

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away

This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away (you gave it away)

This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special (special)

 

Once bitten and twice shy

I keep my distance but you still catch my eye

Tell me baby, do you recognize me

Well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me

 

Happy Christmas

I wrapped it up and sent it

With a note saying: I love you

I meant it

Now I know what a fool I've been

But if you kiss me now

I'll know you've fool me again

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away (you gave it away)

This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special (special)

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away (you gave it away)

This year to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special (special)

Oh, oh my baby

 

A crowded room, friends with tired eyes

I'm hiding from you and your soul of ice

My God I thought you were

Someone to rely on

Me, I guess I was a shoulder to cry on

 

A face on a lover with a fire in his heart

A man undercover but you tore me apart

Now I've found a real love

You'll never fool me again

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away (you gave it away)

This year to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special (special)

 

Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day

You gave it away (you gave it away)

This year to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special (special)

 

Face on a lover with a fire in his heart

A man undercover but you tore him apart

Maybe next year

 

I'll give it to someone

I'll give it to someone special

Someone.

ENQUANTO HOUVER SOL

TITÃS

COMPOSITOR: SÉRGIO BRITTO

PAÍS: BRASIL

ÁLBUM: COMO ESTÃO VOCÊS?

GRAVADORA: BMG RECORDS

GÊNERO: ROCK AND ROLL

ANO: 2003

 

              Titãs é uma banda de rock formada na Cidade de São Paulo, Brasil, em 1982. Embora originalmente tocassem pop-rock alternativo em seus primórdios, o grupo também já utilizou diversos outros gêneros ao longo de quase 40 anos de carreira, como new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB e música eletrônica.

            É uma das bandas de rock mais bem sucedidas no Brasil, tendo vendido mais de 6,3 milhões de álbuns e fazendo parcerias com vários artistas brasileiros de renome e diversos cantores internacionais. Eles receberam um Grammy Latino em 2009 e ganharam o Troféu Imprensa de Melhor Banda por quatro vezes.

              A formação inicial contava com um número de integrantes bastante incomum. Eram nove membros, sendo que seis eram vocalistas. Arnaldo Antunes, Branco Mello e Ciro Pessoa cantavam e faziam vocais de apoio. Sérgio Britto, Nando Reis e Paulo Miklos, além de cantarem, se revezavam entre os teclados e o baixo. O restante do grupo era formado por André Jung, na bateria, Marcelo Fromer na guitarra rítmica e Tony Belloto na guitarra solo. Ciro Pessoa rapidamente deixou o grupo, antes mesmo do lançamento do primeiro álbum da banda, em 1984. André Jung era o baterista inicial, mas foi substituído por Charles Gavin no início de 1985, estabelecendo a formação clássica da banda.

          Desde então, a banda perdeu outros cinco membros que nunca foram substituídos oficialmente: em 1992, Antunes deixou o grupo para seguir carreira solo. Em 2001, Fromer morreu após ser atropelado por uma motocicleta em São Paulo. No ano seguinte, Nando Reis também deixou a banda para se concentrar em seus projetos solo. As mudanças mais recentes foram as saídas de Charles Gavin, em 2010, e Paulo Miklos, em 2016, ambas por motivos pessoais. Após a morte de Marcelo e a saída de Nando, o grupo passou a se apresentar com alguns guitarristas e baixistas eventuais (Emerson Villani, André Fonseca e Lee Marcucci). A partir do lançamento do álbum Sacos Plásticos (2009), Branco Mello e Sérgio Britto tornaram-se baixistas definitivos (com Britto tocando apenas quando Mello canta) e Miklos como guitarrista até sua saída do grupo. Em 2010, a banda voltou a usar músicos de apoio, com a entrada do baterista Mario Fabre no lugar de Charles Gavin; algo que se repetiria em 2016, após a saída de Paulo Miklos, com a entrada do guitarrista Beto Lee.

             Como Estão Vocês? é o décimo segundo álbum de estúdio da banda brasileira de rock Titãs, lançado em 2003. O disco possui ainda faixa multimídia com vídeos e fotos da banda. É o primeiro disco sem o vocalista/baixista Nando Reis e também o primeiro sem nenhuma participação do guitarrista Marcelo Fromer.

              Marcelo morreu após ser atropelado na noite do dia 11 de junho de 2001, mas ideias suas foram aproveitadas no álbum A Melhor Banda de Todos os Tempos da Última Semana que viria a ser gravado poucos dias depois. Já Nando deixou o grupo em 2002 devido ao fato de não se sentir preparado para gravar mais um disco com a banda, alegando que as mortes do guitarrista Marcelo Fromer e também da cantora Cássia Eller, sua amiga, ainda o abalavam muito.

             É também o primeiro lançamento da banda pela BMG, após a falência da Abril Music.

Quando não houver saída

Quando não houver mais solução

Ainda há de haver saída

Nenhuma ideia vale uma vida

 

Quando não houver esperança

Quando não restar nem ilusão

Ainda há de haver esperança

Em cada um de nós

Algo de uma criança

 

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

Ainda haverá

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

 

Quando não houver caminho

Mesmo sem amor, sem direção

A sós ninguém está sozinho

É caminhando

Que se faz o caminho

 

Quando não houver desejo

Quando não restar nem mesmo dor

Ainda há de haver desejo

Em cada um de nós

Aonde Deus colocou

 

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

Ainda haverá

Enquanto houver Sol

 

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

Ainda haverá

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

 

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol

Ainda haverá

Enquanto houver Sol

Enquanto houver Sol.

O CHRISTMAS TREE

ARETHA FRANKLIN

SONGWRITERS: ERNST ANSCHÜTZ; PUBLIC DOMAIN & JÖRGEN ELOFSSON

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS 2

LABEL: A & M RECORDS

GENRE: CHRISTMAS SONG

YEAR: 1992

 

              Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, pianist, and civil rights activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she embarked on a secular-music career as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While Franklin's career did not immediately flourish, she found acclaim and commercial success after signing with Atlantic Records in 1966. Hit songs such as "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Chain of Fools", "Think", and "I Say a Little Prayer" propelled her past her musical peers. By the end of the 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as the "Queen of Soul".

            Franklin continued to record acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976) before experiencing problems with her record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. She appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers before releasing the successful albums Jump to It (1982), Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985), and Aretha (1986) on the Arista label. In 1998, Franklin returned to the Top 40 with the Lauryn Hill-produced song "A Rose Is Still a Rose"; later, she released an album of the same name which was certified gold. That same year, Franklin earned international acclaim for her performance of "Nessun dorma" at the Grammy Awards; she filled in at the last minute for Luciano Pavarotti, who canceled his appearance after the show had already begun. In a widely noted performance, she paid tribute to 2015 honoree Carole King by singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors.

            Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries, and 20 number-one R&B singles. Besides the foregoing, Franklin's well-known hits also include "Ain't No Way", "Call Me", "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", "Spanish Harlem", "Rock Steady", "Day Dreaming", "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "Something He Can Feel", "Jump to It", "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who", and "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (a duet with George Michael). She won 18 Grammy Awards, including the first eight awards given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975). Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.

           Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time"and number nine on its list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2019 awarded Franklin a posthumous special citation "for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades". In 2020, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

                Ernst Gebhard Salomon Anschütz (28 October 1780 in Goldlauter near Suhl, Electorate of Saxony; 18 December 1861 in Leipzig) was a German teacher, organist, poet, and composer. He is also known for his account of the death of Johann Christian Woyzeck[de] in 1824 (see: Georg Büchner's play Woyzeck). Anschütz worked as a teacher in Leipzig for 50 years.

                 "O Tannenbaum" (German: [oː ˈtanənbaʊm]; "O fir tree", English: O Christmas Tree) is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song which was unrelated to Christmas, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree by the middle of the 19th century and sung as a Christmas carol.

                The modern lyrics were written in 1824, by the Leipzig organist, teacher and composer Ernst Anschütz. A Tannenbaum is a fir tree. The lyrics do not actually refer to Christmas, or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Instead, they refer to the fir's evergreen quality as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness.

            Anschütz based his text on a 16th-century Silesian folk song by Melchior Franck, "Ach Tannenbaum". August Zarnack in 1819 wrote a tragic love song inspired by this folk song, taking the evergreen, "faithful" fir tree as contrasting with a faithless lover. The folk song first became associated with Christmas with Anschütz, who added two verses of his own to the first, traditional verse. The custom of the Christmas tree developed in the course of the 19th century, and the song came to be seen as a Christmas carol. Anschütz's version still had true (true, faithful) as the adjective describing the fir's leaves (needles), harking back to the contrast to the faithless maiden of the folk song. This was changed to grün (green) at some point in the 20th century, after the song had come to be associated with Christmas.

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

How are thy

Leaves so verdant

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

How are thy

Leaves so verdant

Weeee

 

Not only

In the summertime

But even in winter

Is thy prime

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

How are thy

Leaves so verdant

 

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Much pleasure

Doth thou bring me

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Much pleasure

Doth thou bring me

 

For every year

The Christmas tree

Brings to us

All both joy and glee

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Much pleasure

Doth thou bring me

 

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Thy candles

Shine out brightly

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Thy candles

Shine out brightly

 

Each bough doth

Hold it's tiny light

That makes each toy

To sparkle bright

O Christmas tree

O Christmas tree

Thy candles

Shine out brightly.