COVER TIME: Holiday Road

National Lampoon is an American national treasure, a comedy magazine, radioshow and theatre comedy show. In Europe, we got to know National Lampoon thanks to the movie spin-offs, with comedians Chevy Chase and John Belushi. The most prolific (in the 70s and 80s) were Animal House and the Vacation-series, see the movie list here. A long introduction to the song Holiday Road, written and performed by Fleetwood Mac-member Lindsey Buckingham, in 1983. Holiday Road was his fist attempt to a soundtrack, the song was used first in National Lampoon's European Vacation, and later in other ... Vacation-films. But NOT in the Christmas edition (so to speak).

Somehow, the track became a Christmas Holiday classic. Though Christmas isn't mentioned in the lyrics, and Christmas isn't a factor in the first movie. The song is a pop version of a rockabilly tune, with it's galloping rhythm and easy singalong choir. At first, it became a staple among acapella-groups, as you can see in this list of cover versions. Here's an early example:

I guess the EP Santa's Sack by Delorean, according to Soundcloud released in July 2003, was the first time that Holiday Road was tapped as a Christmas song. Delorean added a lot of fury to Lindsey's song:

Delorean · Holiday Road

Sidenote: am I the only one who feels the urge to sing The Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated to the rhythm of Holiday Road?

Matt Pond PA, singer-songwriter par excellence, made a more atmospheric winter version of Holiday Road in 2005:


After these two versions, Holiday Road cover versions get released either in July, or December. Here's a cool, organ-driven winter version (2010) by a duo from Washington:


From 2014, pumped up rockabilly from this Dutch-English combo:

This version (December 2016) could be labeled as a shoegaze choir remake:


Nope, not a blackmetal version, but a giddy folk version (2020) with violons:


This Kesha-cover from 2024 took some sonic tips from Kim Wilde's Kids In America. I like this version a lot:

Kesha · Holiday Road

A more ska-punky version:


Great band name, verrry loosely rocking version, recorded in a basement (but cool, from 2023):

Darker, slower, more Springsteen-ish:


And finally (there are way more versions) this soulful version with Christmas bells:
EXTRA EXTRA:
This very charming version by Tennis is also a pleasure:

Holiday Road, family style, by Roadside Graves. They uploaded it on BC, thanks to Jon Solomon! Love the piercing organ on this: