There are thousands of catchy christmas songs that get played every year you may be familiar with. Some examples would be “This Christmas” by Chris Brown, “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt, “Let It Snow!” by Dean Martin, “Jingle Bell Rock” by Bobby Helms, “Last Christmas” by Wham!, “Rudolf The Rednosed Reindeer” by Gene Autry, and “Silent Night” by The Rainers. Now all these songs have something in common. They all are classics and share a special place in someone's heart that also may have a deep meaning to someone out in the world. But the one difference these songs have compared to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey is that they lack the intense amount of popularity. Between all those classics, Mariah Carey’s acclaimed “All I Want For Christmas Is You” song still takes the #1 spot at the top of the charts. 

     Although, it was not always like that. When the song was first released in December of 1994, it peaked at the #2 spot. Despite this, it has sat in the Top 40 for 70 weeks since then, making it the charts every year since 2007 with the advent of streaming. It is guaranteed that this song will be played at every holiday/Christmas event you may attend this year and then next after that one. No matter what the age group is. It will be enjoyed and listened to. There is no escaping it. This song brings you a joyful mood that introduces you to the jolly Christmas spirit along with Carey’s outstanding vocal capability to hit the remarkable high notes, since Carey happens to be a genius vocalist, and has a smooth melodic instrumental in the background of the song.
     Not to mention, this song has been played in Christmas movies as well, such as 2003’s “Love Actually" movie which sparked much success as well. This song has earned 50 million in royalties. But makes at least 2.5 million each year now making 60 million each year. Nonetheless, the real question that everyone wants to know the answer to: How is this song still popular after approximately 20 years? Standing in the year of 2023? Well, that is really up to the public to answer. Without the public supporting this song after practically two decades later it would have no success and would be forgotten with a quickness just to be considered a failure marked in history. But, thankfully, that did not happen and all is well. Along with Carey still doing  Christmas shows performing, appearing on holiday ads and commercials, and even welcoming her very own children to the music business as they help her promote her songs. Along with all her other great hits, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” still withstands with the most recognition.

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     For the duration of the past 22 years, 2000-2022 “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has been on the charts annually with no downfall at all whatsoever. On January 8, 2000 it had a peak chart position of 83. On December 22, 2012 it had a peak chart position of 21. But further into the continuing on years, the song’s peak chart position just kept gradually decreasing and decreasing falling on a peak chart position of 1. Yes, it is true that the song is still well known and popular in the United States by millions, but its hype and anticipation is not how it used to be in the former years. Maybe this is the start of the song’s decline? Or will this year be different for everyone and it will somehow rise back up to earn people's interest as it once did long ago? What do you think? And how can the public as a whole make the song's charts spiral back up? Is the song’s potential capable enough to carry on its legacy and pick back up where it left off? Who knows. Until then, Christmas still awaits. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is still waiting for its time to shine again. Not only that, but to bring every soul joy and make them reminisce over happy memories before they are neglected forever.

     Next, a little background behind the song and breaking down its lyrics. The song basically displays a need for the one thing that is needed while on Christmas, not wanted. That one person or thing that brings you joy. That person who makes you forget all your life problems in life. That person you want to make memories with and spend the rest of your life with. When times are rough, that person you need to trust and confide in. That is someone that Carey refers to. However, people have different perceptions of the song. That person for you could possibly be a best friend, or your mother figure, a father figure, or even your childhood pet. Family is the moral message of the song. Things like presents that come and go are temporary but family will always be there for you disregarding the unfortunate circumstances. Considering that people tend to forget what Christmas is all about and get too obsessed with the unimportant materialistic things. Christmas is all about giving, not receiving. Carey further on in the song says, “I don't want a lot of Christmas. I don't care about the presents under the tree. I just want you for my own. All I want for Christmas is you.” 

     Due to the song coming to the audience on a relatable level it gained quite a bit of positive feedback because everyone loves to connect with and share something they can relate to so no one feels like an outcast. Now you may be wondering, “Who wrote such a classic?” And possibly “Are they getting the attention they deserve?” since the song spiraled out of control with triumph and prosperity. Well, it wasn’t Carey entirely if that’s who you were thinking of. Carey wrote bits and pieces of the song while Co-Writer, Walter Afanasieff did the other half of the song. As Afanasieff once said, “We just did whatever the hell we wanted, including this totally slow intro-verse that ends in the title of the song,” Afanasieff had said. “There’s no rhyme or reason, it just worked out, even though it broke certain rules. I think that’s part of the reason it’s lived so long.”

     Additionally, it’s claimed the core of the song took just 15 minutes to create, and lives on as, arguably, the western world’s favorite festive song. Carey had once said the idea for the song came to her while alone at a house in New York, listening to It’s a Wonderful Life and toying around on a Casio keyboard. 

Alternatively, believe it or not, unfortunately this song hasn’t always gained positive results. This song had a lawsuit filed over it and custody of who wrote/owned it on behalf of the creators comparing it to a song recorded by Vance and the Valiants in 1989. Even though All I Want for Christmas Is You is exceedingly popular in the United States it sparked other countries' attention at best as well. Japan, Europe, the United Kingdom, Oceania, Canada, The Netherlands etc. have made their own translated versions of the original song. As this song has reached worldwide known status, multiple remix features all around the world have been produced. Made from upcoming musicians wanting to show their talent to the world and took the perfect opportunity to do it on a popular classic such as this.

     To conclude, after reading this news story you should have learned the basics behind the history of the world wide known song, “All I Want For Christmas is You” and hopefully learned something new to carry on this knowledge to a peer, friend, or family member. And also solved the long anticipated mystery of how Mariach Carey keeps her hit still popular after 2 decades later.