The 1994 hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey continues to top the holiday charts.

It’s best to stay away from malls right now if anything about Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” irritates you. or the radio. Perhaps even music in its entirety.

Nothing compares to the dominance of her 1994 carol in holiday music.
It is reasonable to assume that 2023 will be no different for the Christmas colossus, as it has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for the past four years in a row. This chart measures the most popular songs each week by airplay, sales, and streaming, not just the holiday-themed ones. According to one expert, its earnings will soon surpass $100 million. Millions of its ringtones have been sold.

The sixteen-time Grammy-winning composer and producer David Foster claims that “that song is just embedded in history now.” It is a part of Christmas.

That song comes to mind when you think of Christmas right now.

The Wall Street Journal featured an article about retail employees who become insane from hearing Carey’s hit song so often in their stores. One employee even hides in the stockroom whenever he hears the store’s signature opening bells.
However, there is more to the tale of “All I Want for Christmas is You” than just mistletoe and holly.

Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the song’s co-authors, are embroiled in an enigmatic conflict. The same-titled song’s writers have filed a lawsuit, requesting $20 million in damages. Carey attempted to trademark the title “Queen of Christmas,” but her attempt was unsuccessful.

CAREY’S SIGNAL ENDS HIBERNATION EVERY YEAR

To make the announcement, this year’s message showed her emerging from a block of ice.

According to musicologist and professor at Berklee College of Music Joe Bennett, “the song was perfectly engineered for success in both music and lyrics.”

The majority of newly released holiday music at the time came from performers who had reached the end of their careers and were trying to find new fans. However, Carey was at the pinnacle of her career in 1994.

The romantic and festive song “All I Want for Christmas is You” is appropriate. Carey establishes the scene: she has just one person on her mind and doesn’t give a damn about the holiday trimmings. Whether it’s a lover or someone she yearns for is left unclear.

Bennett claims that the song “works narratively and is a wishing song.” “Whether you are together or not, you can sing it to your significant other.”

The Christmas tree, gifts, Santa Claus, a stocking on the mantle, reindeer, sleigh bells, kids singing, and, of course, mistletoe are just a few of the holiday allusions she makes.

Phil Spector’s 1965 album “A Christmas Gift for You,” which is considered a holiday classic, is reminiscent of the instruments and lively arrangement. Finally, Bennett notes that a portion of the melody subtly alludes to “White Christmas.”

“I wanted to create something classic that didn’t feel like it was from the 1990s,” Carey said in a recent interview with “Good Morning America.”

On the podcast “Hot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild” from the previous year, he remarked, “It was like a game of ping-pong” (Afanasieff did not return messages from The Associated Press). “She would hit the ball back to me after I hit it to her.”

Later, Carey finished the lyrics by himself, and Afanasieff recorded every instrument.

Then things started to get tricky. At the time, Carey was wed to Sony Music CEO Tommy Mottola. Her relationship with Afanasieff, who continued to work for Mottola, suffered as a result of their 1997 breakup.

Afanasieff informed Rothschild that Carey had not spoken to him for roughly twenty years before she called him to request permission to use the song’s co-writer around the time of its 25th anniversary.