Story: Jakkrit Siririn
This is Christmas Eve, and as Christmas Day arrives, we will joyfully exclaim “Merry Christmas” to each other, extending the wishes until the phrase “Happy New Year” resonates, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new one.
This atmosphere is a time of genuine happiness. Certainly, during the Christmas season, the sound of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” will be harmoniously accompanied by “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” echoing prominently in various media, especially at events and shopping malls.
Of course, this article does not overlook the timeless classics like “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” However, we are specifically talking about “All I Want for Christmas is You,” a song that has intrigued, confused, and annoyed many, yet has resurged in popularity every Christmas for over a decade.
In reality, “All I Want for Christmas is You” is a single released in 1994, making it a classic, especially within the Christmas celebration genre. Since 1994, it has evolved into a song that dominates every speaker during the season of joy, a type of song that “no one dares to topple.”
The moral of the story is that “All I Want for Christmas is You” has consistently held a top position on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for an extended period in the past four years. It reflects that the song has been the most popular Christmas song on radio waves, in terms of tape and CD sales, as well as streaming downloads and ringtones. It is estimated that in 2023, “All I Want for Christmas is You” will bring an additional $100 million to Mariah Carey’s pocket.
David Foster, a songwriter and 16-time Grammy-winning producer, notes that “All I Want for Christmas is You” is now part of a new era of Christmas. “Since the new millennium, whenever people think of Christmas, they automatically think of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You,'” says David Foster.
Nevertheless, the popularity of “All I Want for Christmas is You” during Christmas has reached a point where many cannot resist it. Several years ago, there was an article in The Wall Street Journal interviewing numerous convenience store employees who couldn’t bear “All I Want for Christmas is You” to the extent that they had to escape into the store every time they heard the song playing.
However, Billboard has compiled a list of “holiday hits” starting from 2010, or 13 years ago, and “All I Want for Christmas is You” has been consistently ranked in the top 1 to 57 positions for 62 weeks.
Luminate, a data storage company, states that “All I Want for Christmas is You” was streamed over 387 million times on various platforms in 2019, the 25th year of its release.
The song is the lead single from Mariah Carey’s fifth studio album, “Merry Christmas,” released in December 1994. It narrates a woman who desires nothing for Christmas except for her loved one to return, reaching the top 10 charts simultaneously in multiple countries.
The New Yorker describes “All I Want for Christmas is You” as one of the few valuable things of the modern era that has emerged during the extended holiday season.
“All I Want for Christmas is You” has been covered by various artists, including John Mayer, Shania Twain, Miley Cyrus, My Chemical Romance, The Cheetah Girls, Samantha Mumba, and even a new rendition by Olivia Olson in the movie “Love Actually.”
In late 2006, “All I Want for Christmas is You” became the highest-selling Christmas ringtone of all time in the United States, topping the Ringtone Chart during the holiday season for three consecutive years with a total of 1.8 million downloads.
In recent years, Mariah Carey has earned the title “Queen of Christmas” for her enduringly popular Christmas songs. In 2017 alone, she earned over $60 million in royalties from “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
TIME magazine states that there are several reasons why “All I Want for Christmas is You” has become so popular. One undeniable factor is that the song has influenced popular culture and serves as an excellent example of a pop song that can create a massive wave of impact on listeners, especially the artist herself.
