Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Was Originally a Rock Song

Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the most famous Christmas pop song. It was originally a rock song. Here’s a look at how the track came to be.

Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ was inspired by a ‘boogie woogie’

Carey gets a lot of credit for her amazing vocals. She deserves to get more credit for her songwriting. She co-wrote the vast majority of her hits, including awesome tunes like “Hero,” “Touch My Body,” and “Obsessed.” Carey wrote “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with help from Walter Afanasieff. He also penned other hits with Carey like “Butterfly” and “Dreamlover.”

During a 2014 interview with Billboard, Afanasieff discussed writing with the pop star. “It was always the same sort of system with us,” he said.  We would write the nucleus of the song, the melody primary music, and then some of the words were there as we finished writing it. I started playing some rock ‘n’ roll piano and started boogie woogie-ing my left hand, and that inspired Mariah to come up with the melodic [Sings.] ‘I don’t want a lot for Christmas.’”

Mariah Carey’s co-writer called the song ‘formulaic’

Apparently, the original version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was a rock song. “And then we started singing and playing around with this rock ‘n’ roll boogie song, which immediately came out to be the nucleus of what would end up being ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’” he said. “That one went very quickly. 

“It was an easier song to write than some of the other ones,” he added. “It was very formulaic, not a lot of chord changes. I tried to make it a little more unique, putting in some special chords that you really don’t hear a lot of, which made it unique and special.”

‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ has been No. 1 for 14 weeks so far

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” became one of the biggest hits of all time. So far, the tune has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, lasting on the chart for 66 weeks. It’s the most popular song of Carey’s career in the United States. For some time now, it recharts every Christmas season. It’ll probably hit No. 1 again before the year is out.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” appeared on the album Merry Christmas. That record peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 127 weeks. The record was big enough to inspire a sequel called Merry Christmas II You. That album is largely comprised of new material, but it includes a redux of Carey’s signature hit called “All I Want For Christmas Is You — Extra Festive.” Who knows what makes it “extra festive.” All that matters is that people will want to hear “All I Want for Christmas Is You” until the human race destroys itself.

“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is a classic song — and it wouldn’t be the same without the influence of classic rock.