If anything about Mariah Carey91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� annoys you, best to avoid shopping malls now. Or the radio. Maybe music altogether, for that matter.
Her 1994 carol dominates holiday music like nothing else.
The Christmas colossus has reached No. 1 on Billboard91裸聊视频檚 Hot 100 chart the past four years in a row 91裸聊视频� measuring the most popular songs each week by airplay, sales and streaming, not just the holiday-themed 91裸聊视频� and it91裸聊视频檚 reasonable to assume 2023 will be no different. One expert predicts it will soon exceed $100 million in earnings. Even its ringtone has sold millions.
91裸聊视频淭hat song is just embedded in history now,91裸聊视频� says , the 16-time Grammy-winning composer and producer. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 embedded in Christmas. When you think of Christmas right now, you think of that song.91裸聊视频�
Yet the story behind 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� is not all holly and mistletoe.
The song91裸聊视频檚 co-authors, Carey and Walter Afanasieff, are in a mystifying feud. The authors of a different song with the same title have sued seeking $20 million in damages. While Carey calls herself the Queen of Christmas, her bid to trademark that title failed.
Every year on Nov. 1, the song91裸聊视频檚 hibernation ends when Carey posts on social media that 91裸聊视频渋t91裸聊视频檚 time91裸聊视频� to play it again. This year91裸聊视频檚 message depicted her being freed from a block of ice to make the declaration.
In both music and lyrics, the song was perfectly engineered for success, says , musicologist and professor at the Berklee College of Music. And it came from an artist who was at the top of her game at the time.
91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� works as a love and holiday song. Carey sets it up: She doesn91裸聊视频檛 care about all the holiday trappings, she has one thing 91裸聊视频� one person 91裸聊视频� on her mind. She sprinkles in specific holiday references, from Santa Claus to mistletoe.
The instruments and brisk arrangement recall Phil Spector91裸聊视频檚 1965 album, 91裸聊视频淎 Christmas Gift for You,91裸聊视频� itself a holiday classic. To top it off, part of the melody slyly references 91裸聊视频淲hite Christmas,91裸聊视频� Bennett says.
91裸聊视频淭hat was my goal, to do something timeless,91裸聊视频� Carey explained in a recent 91裸聊视频淕ood Morning America91裸聊视频� interview.
Billboard has produced lists of top seasonal hits since 2010, and 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� has been No. 1 for 57 of the 62 weeks it has run, said Gary Trust, chart director. Will Page, Spotify91裸聊视频檚 former chief economist and author of the book 91裸聊视频淧ivot,91裸聊视频� estimates the song will exceed $100 million in earnings this holiday season.
91裸聊视频淏y most objective measures,91裸聊视频� Bennett says, 91裸聊视频渋t91裸聊视频檚 the most successful Christmas song of all time.91裸聊视频�
As Afanasieff has told it, much of the work on 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� was done by him and Carey working in a rented house in the summer of 1994. The team had a history, working on Carey91裸聊视频檚 albums 91裸聊视频淓motions91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淢usic Box.91裸聊视频�
He started with a boogie-woogie piano, tossing out melodic ideas that Carey would respond to with lyrics, he said on , 91裸聊视频淗ot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild91裸聊视频� (Afanasieff did not return messages from The Associated Press). Later, Carey completed the lyrics herself and Afanasieff recorded all the instruments, he said.
Then things became complicated. Carey was married at the time to Tommy Mottola, head of Sony Music. They broke up in 1997 and her relationship with Afanasieff, who kept working for Mottola, became a casualty of that fractured marriage. Afanasieff said they91裸聊视频檝e spoken once in more than 20 years, and it his contributions have been written out of Carey91裸聊视频檚 telling of the song91裸聊视频檚 creation.
On 91裸聊视频淕ood Morning America91裸聊视频� last month, she said, 91裸聊视频淚 was working on it by myself so I was writing on this little Casio keyboard, writing down words and thinking about, 91裸聊视频橶hat do I think about Christmas? What do I love? What do I want? What do I dream of?91裸聊视频� she says. 91裸聊视频淎nd that91裸聊视频檚 what started it.91裸聊视频�
Afanasieff sounds almost bewildered by the turn of events. He that every holiday season he has to defend himself against people who don91裸聊视频檛 believe he co-wrote the song.
91裸聊视频淢ariah has been very wonderful, positive and a force of nature,91裸聊视频� he told Variety. 91裸聊视频淪he91裸聊视频檚 the one that made the song a hit and she91裸聊视频檚 awesome. But she definitely does not share credit where credit is due.91裸聊视频�
Last month, songwriters Andy Stone and Troy Powers in federal court in California, seeking $20 million in copyright infringement and citing their own 1989 country song, 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You.91裸聊视频�
Their song has a similar theme, with a narrator desiring a love interest before Christmas comforts. The writers cite an 91裸聊视频渙verwhelming likelihood91裸聊视频� the Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song.
The two songs have no musical similarities, Berklee91裸聊视频檚 Bennett says, and the theme is hardly unique. He pointed out Bing Crosby91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檙e All I Want for Christmas,91裸聊视频� Carla Thomas91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� and Buck Owens91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas, Dear, is You.91裸聊视频�
Says the musicologist: 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 nonsense.91裸聊视频�
In his podcast appearance, Afanasieff noted how Foster once told him that 91裸聊视频淎ll I Want for Christmas is You91裸聊视频� was the last song to enter the Christmas canon and 91裸聊视频渢hat vault is sealed.91裸聊视频�
Foster told AP he exaggerated a little, but not a lot. Writing a new holiday song is brutally hard, since you91裸聊视频檙e competing with not just current hits but hundreds of years of songs and memories. The old classics never go away.
91裸聊视频淚 just stay away from them, because they scare me,91裸聊视频� Foster says. 91裸聊视频淟yrically, it91裸聊视频檚 sort of all been done before 91裸聊视频� better than I can ever do.91裸聊视频�
While he appreciates Foster91裸聊视频檚 compliment, Afanasieff told Rothschild that he hoped others don91裸聊视频檛 take it to heart.
91裸聊视频淚 urge songwriters every year,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 time to write the next 91裸聊视频楢ll I Want for Christmas is You.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
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David Bauder writes about media, music and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at
David Bauder, The Associated Press
