A Composer Breaks Down The Music Theory Behind Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

Brace yourself. It’s that time of year, which means Mariah Carey’s enduringly popular Christmas tune is back in your life, either by invitation or not. Unquestionably, this 1994 song has joined the time-honored canon of Christmas standards, alongside classics like Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” (1945) and Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmas Time is Here” (1965). In fact, Billboard now ranks Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” as the #1 holiday song of all time — and as of this week it’s the #1 song in America for the fourth straight December. Stereogum’s Chris DeVille once rhetorically asked if this song is the only true Christmas standard to have been written in the last 30 years. I believe the answer is “yes.” Why has this particular song managed to achieve such status? Let’s figure it out.