All I Want for Christmas Is You

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a hit song written and produced by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey and composer Walter Afanasieff. It was released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994 as the lead single from her first holiday album and fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. "Christmas" is an uptempo love song that includes bell chimes and heavy back-up vocals, as well as use of synthesizers. The song's lyrics declare that the narrator does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be with her lover.

Two music videos were commissioned for the song, which were both being filmed during December 1993. The song's primary music video features grainy home-movie-style footage of Carey, her dogs and family during the holiday season, as well as Carey dressed in a Santa suit frolicking on a snowy mountainside. Carey's then-husbandTommy Mottola makes a cameo appearance as Santa Claus, bringing Carey a gift and leaving on a red sleigh. The second video was filmed in black and white format, and features Carey dressed in 1960s style in homage to The Ronettes, alongside back up singers and female dancers. Carey has performed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in a slew of live television appearances and tours throughout her career.

So So Def released a remix version in 2000, and a dance mix in 2009. In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You, titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)". Carey also re-recorded the song as duet with Justin Bieber for his 2011 album Under the Mistletoe, titled "All I Want for Christmas for You (SuperFestive!)". The song has also been covered by many artists over the years, including Shania Twain, Lady Antebellum, Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, Cee Lo Green, The Electrical Fire, Atomic Tom, Miranda Cosgrove with Big Time Rush, Demi Lovato and Fifth Harmony.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" has been widely regarded as a holiday classic, with the song surging in popularity every year. The New Yorker calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon".[1] The song was commercially successful, reaching the number-two position on the singles charts of Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, and the top 10 in several other countries.[2] The Daily Telegraph hailed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" as the most popular and most played Christmas song of the decade in the United Kingdom.[3] Rolling Stone ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."[4] With global sales of over 14 million copies, the song remains Carey's biggest international hit and one of the best-selling singles of all time.[5]

As of 2013 the song was reported to have earned $50 million in royalties.[6]

Contents
[hide]
 * 1 Background and writing
 * 2 Composition
 * 3 Critical reception
 * 4 Commercial performance
 * 5 Remixes and re-releases
 * 6 Music videos
 * 7 Live performances
 * 8 Cover versions
 * 9 Chart performance
 * 9.1 Weekly charts
 * 9.2 Michael Bublé version
 * 9.3 Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey version
 * 9.4 End-of-decade charts
 * 9.5 Sales and certifications
 * 10 See also
 * 11 References
 * 12 External links

Background and writing[edit]
After a string of commercially successful albums, Carey's label Columbia Records began considering the idea of the singer releasing a Christmas album. They felt that up until that point, Carey had been viewed as a pop singer. With the record, Columbia intended to broaden Carey's target market, and have her perceived more as an entertainer, not just a singer. Having been brought up as Christian and always celebrating Christmas, she agreed to create a holiday-themed album.[7] With Walter Afanasieff, Carey co-wrote "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and carved out the chords, structure and melody for the song in just a quarter of an hour while recording the album in mid-1994.[6] In an interview, Carey explained the inspiration behind the song:

Ostensibly, the song was inspired by Carey's romantic sentiments toward her then-husband Tommy Mottola. After the album's release, many promotional singles were released; while other songs were sent to Christian airplay radio stations, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was sent to pop and Top 40 channels. Author Chris Nickson described the song as "fun and mellow", and he felt its uptempo beat contrasted with the album's strong religious theme, broadening the album's appeal to teenage audiences.[8]

Composition[edit]
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is an uptempo song, composed in a pop, soul, R&B, gospel, dance-pop and rhythmic adult contemporary style.[9][10][11] Its lyrics declare that the singer does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to spend time with her lover. The song incorporates various instruments, including bell chimes, bass effect, and cowbells. The song layers background vocals throughout the chorus and sections of the bridge.[10] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is set in common time and in the key of G major. Carey's vocal range in the song spans from the note of G3 to the high note of A5.[11] Carey wrote the song's lyrics and melody, while Walter Afanasieff arranged and produced the track. Many of the instrumentals were synthetically created with computerized equipment.[10] According to Roch Parisien from AllMusic, the song contains "The Beach Boys-style harmonies, jangling bells, and a sleigh-ride pace, injecting one of the few bits of exuberant fun in this otherwise vanilla set."[12]

Critical reception[edit]
"All I Want for Christmas Is You" was critically acclaimed by music critics. Parisien called the song "well-crafted", complimenting its instrumentation and melody.[12] Steve Morse, editor of The Boston Globe, wrote that Carey sang with a lot of soul.[13] According to Barry Schwarz from Stylus Magazine, "to say this song is an instant classic somehow doesn't capture its amazingicity; it's a modern standard: joyous, exhilarating, loud, with even a hint of longing." Schwartz praised the song's lyrics as well, describing them as "beautifully phrased," and calling Carey's voice "gorgeous" and "sincere."[14] Kyle Anderson from MTV labeled the track "a majestic anthem full of chimes, sleigh bells, doo-wop flourishes, sweeping strings and one of the most dynamic and clean vocal performances of Carey's career".[15] While reviewing the 2009 remix version, Becky Bain from Idolator called the song a "timeless classic" and wrote, "We love the original song to pieces—we blast it while decorating our Christmas tree and lighting our Menorah."[16] In his review for Carey's Merry Christmas II You, Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times called the song "a simple, well-crafted chestnut and one of the last great additions to the Christmas pop canon".[17] Shona Craven of Scotland's The Herald, said, "[it's] a song of optimism and joy that maybe, just maybe, hints at the real meaning of Christmas."[18] Additionally, she felt the main reason it was so successful is the subject "you" in the lyrics, explaining, "Perhaps what makes the song such a huge hit is the fact that it's for absolutely everyone." Craven opened her review with a bold statement: "Bing Crosby may well be turning in his grave, but no child of the 1980s will be surprised to see Mariah Carey's sublime All I Want For Christmas Is You bounding up the charts after being named the nation's top festive song."[18] In a 2006 retrospective look at Carey's career, Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker said, the "charming" song was one of Carey's biggest accomplishments, calling it "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon".[1] Dan Hancox, editor of The National, quoted and agreed with Jones' statement, calling the song "perfection".[19] In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked "All I Want for Christmas Is You" fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard."[4]

Commercial performance[edit]
In the United Kingdom, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 5 during the week of December 10, 1994.[20] The following week, the song peaked at No. 2, staying there for the final three weeks of December.[21] As of December 5, 2010, it had spent fifty weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[22][23] It is Carey's best-selling single in the UK, with sales of 1 million units as of December 2013.[24] In 2010, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was named the No. 1 holiday song of the decade in the United Kingdom.[25] The song peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units.[26] During its sixth and seventh week on the 2009 singles chart, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the Ultratop charts in Wallonia and Flanders.[27][28] In Denmark, it peaked at No. 4, staying in the chart for sixteen weeks and being certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[29][30] "All I Want for Christmas Is You" became Carey's best-selling single in Japan. It was used as the theme song to the popular drama 29-sai no Christmas (29才のクリスマス?, lit. "Christmas in 29 Years, 29th Christmas"),[31] and was titled Koibito-tachi no Christmas (恋人たちのクリスマス?, lit. "Lovers' Christmas").[8] It sold in excess of 1.1 million units in Japan, and became the best-selling Japanese single of 1994.[32] Due to strong sales and airplay, the song re-charted in Japan in 2010, peaking at No. 6 on the Japan Hot 100.[33] The single has been certified the Million award by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) on two different formats (compact disc and ringtone), in 1994 and 2008, respectively.[34][35] With global sales of over 14 million copies, the song remains Carey's biggest hit globally one of the best-selling singles of all time.[5]

In the United States, in the first week of January 1995, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary and at No. 12 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.[36] The song placed on these two charts again in December 1995 and in December 1996.[36] The song was ineligible for inclusion on the Billboard Hot 100 during its original release, because it was not released commercially as a single. This rule lapsed in 1998, however, allowing the song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at No. 83 in January 2000). The song topped the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart in December 2005, but it was unable to attain a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100 chart because it was considered a recurrent single and was thus ineligible for chart re-entry.[33] Every December from 2005 to 2008, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 Re-currents chart. In 2012, after the recurrent rule was revised to allow all songs in the top 50 onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the single re-entered the chart at No. 29 and eventually attained a new peak of No. 21 on the week ending January 5, 2013. In December 2013, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 26. It has become the best-selling holiday ringtone, and it is the first holiday ringtone to be certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[37] Additionally, of songs recorded before the year 2000, it is the nineteenth best-selling digital single and the best-selling digital single by a woman, and is also the overall best-selling holiday digital single.[2][38] As of December 17, 2012, Nielsen SoundScan estimated total sales of the digital track at 2,311,000 downloads.[39]

Remixes and re-releases[edit]
When the song was first released as a single in 1994, no remixes were commissioned except the instrumental version. The instrumental version as well was not released on the single cover that year. Carey re-released the song commercially in Japan in 2000, with a new remix known as the So So Def remix.[40] The remix contains new vocals and is played over a harder, more urban beat; it features raps by Jermaine Dupriand Bow Wow. The remix appears on Carey's compilation album Greatest Hits (2001) as a bonus track.[40] In 2009, a remix produced by Carey and Low Sunday, called "Mariah's New Dance Mix", was released. The mix laid the original 1994 vocals over new electronic instrumentation. The remix garnered a positive response. MTV's Kyle Anderson wrote that "it's difficult to improve perfection," but that the remix "does dress up the song in a disco thump that should make your office Christmas party 28 percent funkier than it was last year."[15] Idolator's Becky Bain praised the song's catchiness.[16]

In 2010, Carey re-recorded the song for her thirteenth studio and second holiday album, Merry Christmas II You. Titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)", the new version featured re-recorded vocals, softer bell ringing and stronger drumming, and an orchestral introduction that replaced the slow vocal introduction.[41] Steven J. Horowitz from Rap-Up wrote that the new version "sound[ed] just as enjoyable as it did in 1994."[42] While the song was praised, it drew criticism for being too similar to the original. Thomas Connor from the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the new version "just seems to add a few brassy backup singers to the exact same arrangement."[17] Caryn Ganz from Rolling Stone agreed, writing that it was "hard to figure out what's 'extra festive'" about the new version.[43] Dan Hancox, editor of The National, also felt the new version was unnecessary.[19] In 2011, Justin Bieber also recorded a version of the song as a duet with Carey on his holiday album, Under the Mistletoe.[44]

Music videos[edit]
"I wanted to do something really special and traditional for the video. I already had the concept and idea, all I needed was a good director's lead. We kinda did this thing with Tommy as Santa Claus, and he spends pretty much the entire video with me in the snow. I really liked the way the video turned out. It was very cute and smooth, and I feel like it easily captured the song's soft and yearning message."[45]

—Mariah Carey

There are three music videos for "All I Want for Christmas Is You". The first, primary video was shot in the style of a home video; it was directed and filmed by Carey during the Christmas season of 1993.[45] The video begins with Carey placing holiday ornaments on aChristmas tree and frolicking through the snowy mountainside. Outdoor scenes were shot at the Fairy Tale Forest in New Jersey, where Carey's then-husband Tommy Mottola made a cameo appearance as Santa Claus.[10] It continues with scenes of Carey getting ready for her album cover photo shoot and spending time with her dog Jack. It concludes with Santa Claus leaving Carey with a bag of presents and waving goodbye.[8] In the song's alternate video, inspired by The Ronettes, Carey dances in a 1960s-influenced studio surrounded by go–go dancers. For a 1960s look, the video was filmed in black and white, with Carey in white boots and teased up hair. This video was also directed by Carey. There are two edits to this version of the video.[45]

Another video was created for the So So Def remix, but it does not feature Carey or the hip-hop musicians that perform in the song.[40] Instead, the video is animated and based on a scene in the video from Carey's "Heartbreaker" (1999). It features cartoon cameo appearances by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bow Wow, Luis Miguel (Carey's boyfriend at the time), Carey's dog Jack, and Santa Claus. Kris Kringle is credited with directing the music video.[40] Since 2009, the song has been included in a music video accompanying ESPN's (and their sister station, ABC) Christmas Day coverage of the NBA.[46][47] The music video for the duet featuring Bieber was filmed in Macy's department store in New York, and features Bieber shopping with his friends whilst Carey is seen singing in the background.[44]

Live performances[edit]
A pregnant Carey performing the 2010 version of the song live at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida on December 3, 2010

Carey has performed the song during concerts as well as live televised performances.[10] It was part of the set-list during the Japanese shows of Carey's Daydream World Tour (1996), Butterfly World Tour (1998), Rainbow World Tour (2000), Charmbracelet World Tour (2002–03) (also sung during the December leg of the tour) and The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006).[10][48] Additionally, Carey performed the song at the 2004 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC.[49] Carey sang the So So Def remix version at the opening night of her Angels Advocate Tour on New Year's Eve.[50] On November 9, 2010, Carey taped a live Christmas Special featuring the song, which aired on December 13, 2010 on ABC.[51] Additionally, Carey performed the song alongside "Oh Santa!" airing on ESPN and ABC throughout the day on Christmas Day of 2010. On December 3, she performed both songs at the Walt Disney World Resort theme park, Magic Kingdom, in a performance that was taped and aired part of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade on ABC.[52] She performed them again in a music video promoting the day's NBA games that aired on both networks.[47]

Cover versions[edit]

 * Shania Twain performed the song live on The Today Show in December 1998, alongside other holiday tunes.[53]
 * "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2003 British film Love Actually, where it was covered by Olivia Olson.[54]
 * My Chemical Romance performed the song on the 2004 Kevin and Bean Christmas compilation "Kevin & Bean's Christmastime in the 909."[55]
 * In 2004, Swedish pop group Play covered the song for their Christmas album, Play Around the Christmas Tree.[56]
 * At the 2007 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in Anaheim, California, Miley Cyrus performed the song.[57]
 * Singing duo Same Difference performed the song during the season finale of the fourth season of the UK TV show The X Factor.[58]
 * American country music artist Whitney Duncan covered the song on November 2008, which was featured as a digital single.[59]
 * John Mayer performed an acoustic version of the song in New York in 2008.[60]
 * During a British televised Christmas Special, Alexandra Burke, winner of the fifth series of The X Factor, performed the song on November 24, 2009.[60]
 * A Japanese band, Suemitsu & the Suemith, covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on their 2008 compilation album Best Angle for the Pianist - Suemitsu & the Suemith 05-08.[61]
 * In 2010, Celtic Thunder covered the song for their Christmas album Celtic Thunder Christmas.[62]
 * Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy also covered the song in 2010 for the Christmas album, All I Want For Christmas, an album which features Christmas songs from various Australian artists.[63]
 * Country music band Lady Antebellum covered "All I Want for Christmas Is You" for their 2010 holiday EP A Merry Little Christmas.[64] Their version entered Billboards Country Songs Chart at No. 57 on December 8, 2010.[65]
 * American music group Big Time Rush covered the song for their 2010 EP Holiday Bundle in two versions: solo and duet with Miranda Cosgrove[66]
 * In 2011, the song was covered in musical TV series Glee in episode "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" and the album Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2 performed by Amber Riley as her characterMercedes Jones.[12]
 * Michael Bublé included a cover of the song on his 2011 holiday album, Christmas.[67]
 * In 2010, Nota, an a cappella group of six male vocalists, released an a cappella version for their album Nota's A Capella Christmas.[68]
 * Crushanda from Idols (South African TV series) performed the song on the Idols Top 10 Christmas Album in 2011.[69]
 * The South Korean group Girls' Generation performed the song in the music show Girls' Generation’s Christmas Fairy Tale on December 24, 2011
 * Cee Lo Green covered the song for his 2012 holiday album Cee Lo's Magic Moment.[70]
 * Demi Lovato covered the song during the performance of Christmas in Washington on December 21, 2012.
 * Boston electro-rock band The Electrical Fire released their version in 2013 on their first holiday EP.[71]
 * Japanese voice actress Ayahi Takagaki covered the song on her cover album, melodia 2.[72]
 * Member Park Bom of South Korean girl group 2NE1 and South Korean soloist Lee Hi performed the song as a new subunit, BH, and released the song digitally online on December 20, 2013 and pre-released on Samsung Music on December 17, 2013.[73]
 * L.A. band Atomic Tom released a cover video on YouTube on December 18, 2013.[74]
 * In 2014, Broadway singer Idina Menzel included a cover on her album Holiday Wishes. The recording was produced by the song's co-writer Walter Afanasieff.
 * The songwriter and pianist of pop music Jim Brickman, covered the song for his album On a Winter's Night.[75]
 * Pop group Fifth Harmony covered the song for the Christmas compilation, I'll Be Home For Christmas.[76]
 * Australian country music band The McClymonts covered the song in the single "Forever Begins Tonight".[77]
 * French singer Sonia Lacen covered the song in swing version.[78]
 * Pop singer Nikki Flores covered the song.[79]
 * In 2014, electropop artist The Jellyrox covered the song.[80]
 * In 2014, the Oxford University a capella group Out of the Blue released the song as a medley with "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" as a charity download to benefit Helen and Douglas House[81]

Chart performance[edit]
{| class="multicol"

End-of-decade charts[edit]
1 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (So So Def Remix)  (featuring Jermaine Dupri and Bow Wow) 2 "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (Mariah's New Dance Mix)  (remixed by Low Sunday)

Sales and certifications[edit]

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