If anything about Mariah Carey鈥檚 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� 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 Billboard鈥檚 Hot 100 chart the past four years in a row 鈥� measuring the most popular songs each week by airplay, sales and streaming, not just the holiday-themed 鈥� and it鈥檚 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.
鈥淭hat song is just embedded in history now,鈥� says , the 16-time Grammy-winning composer and producer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 embedded in Christmas. When you think of Christmas right now, you think of that song.鈥�
Yet the story behind 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� is not all holly and mistletoe.
The song鈥檚 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 song鈥檚 hibernation ends when Carey posts on social media that 鈥渋t鈥檚 time鈥� to play it again. This year鈥檚 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.
鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� works as a love and holiday song. Carey sets it up: She doesn鈥檛 care about all the holiday trappings, she has one thing 鈥� one person 鈥� on her mind. She sprinkles in specific holiday references, from Santa Claus to mistletoe.
The instruments and brisk arrangement recall Phil Spector鈥檚 1965 album, 鈥淎 Christmas Gift for You,鈥� itself a holiday classic. To top it off, part of the melody slyly references 鈥淲hite Christmas,鈥� Bennett says.
鈥淭hat was my goal, to do something timeless,鈥� Carey explained in a recent 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥� interview.
Billboard has produced lists of top seasonal hits since 2010, and 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� has been No. 1 for 57 of the 62 weeks it has run, said Gary Trust, chart director. Will Page, Spotify鈥檚 former chief economist and author of the book 鈥淧ivot,鈥� estimates the song will exceed $100 million in earnings this holiday season.
鈥淏y most objective measures,鈥� Bennett says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the most successful Christmas song of all time.鈥�
As Afanasieff has told it, much of the work on 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� was done by him and Carey working in a rented house in the summer of 1994. The team had a history, working on Carey鈥檚 albums 鈥淓motions鈥� and 鈥淢usic Box.鈥�
He started with a boogie-woogie piano, tossing out melodic ideas that Carey would respond to with lyrics, he said on , 鈥淗ot Takes & Deep Dives with Jess Rothschild鈥� (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 they鈥檝e spoken once in more than 20 years, and it his contributions have been written out of Carey鈥檚 telling of the song鈥檚 creation.
On 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥� last month, she said, 鈥淚 was working on it by myself so I was writing on this little Casio keyboard, writing down words and thinking about, 鈥橶hat do I think about Christmas? What do I love? What do I want? What do I dream of?鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what started it.鈥�
Afanasieff sounds almost bewildered by the turn of events. He that every holiday season he has to defend himself against people who don鈥檛 believe he co-wrote the song.
鈥淢ariah has been very wonderful, positive and a force of nature,鈥� he told Variety. 鈥淪he鈥檚 the one that made the song a hit and she鈥檚 awesome. But she definitely does not share credit where credit is due.鈥�
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, 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You.鈥�
Their song has a similar theme, with a narrator desiring a love interest before Christmas comforts. The writers cite an 鈥渙verwhelming likelihood鈥� the Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song.
The two songs have no musical similarities, Berklee鈥檚 Bennett says, and the theme is hardly unique. He pointed out Bing Crosby鈥檚 鈥淵ou鈥檙e All I Want for Christmas,鈥� Carla Thomas鈥� 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� and Buck Owens鈥� 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas, Dear, is You.鈥�
Says the musicologist: 鈥淚t鈥檚 nonsense.鈥�
In his podcast appearance, Afanasieff noted how Foster once told him that 鈥淎ll I Want for Christmas is You鈥� was the last song to enter the Christmas canon and 鈥渢hat vault is sealed.鈥�
Foster told AP he exaggerated a little, but not a lot. Writing a new holiday song is brutally hard, since you鈥檙e competing with not just current hits but hundreds of years of songs and memories. The old classics never go away.
鈥淚 just stay away from them, because they scare me,鈥� Foster says. 鈥淟yrically, it鈥檚 sort of all been done before 鈥� better than I can ever do.鈥�
While he appreciates Foster鈥檚 compliment, Afanasieff told Rothschild that he hoped others don鈥檛 take it to heart.
鈥淚 urge songwriters every year,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to write the next 鈥楢ll I Want for Christmas is You.鈥欌��
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David Bauder writes about media, music and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at
David Bauder, The Associated Press
