All I want for Christmas is to not hear
“All I want for Christmas is You”
By August Humphreys, Reporter
It’s no secret that ever since Mariah Carey’s hit single “All I Want for Christmas is You” was released, she has had a long reigning hold on Christmas music. But this begs the question: What made it such a hit? And more importantly, Why does it get stuck in your head so easily? For the most part, I think it is because it has the same four chords that most pop songs have, which is a common tool pop song writers use to make them extremely catchy.
Another reason it goes continuously viral is because it is extremely corporate-friendly as the entire song is completely clean, annoyingly positive, and contains no sexual undertones. You can easily take the song at face value because there’s nothing else to it. All of this means that corporations can easily use it in advertisements or play it in their stores. This tactic is used by pop artists a lot; it pays to make songs that are corporate-friendly. Artists make their songs corporate-friendly and use their already acquired fame and connections to have their songs put in ads and played in stores. A few fairly recent examples of this are “Dream girl” by Anna Of The North ” and “Sunroof” by Nicky Youre and Daisy. All of these songs are extremely friendly on purpose so advertisers can use them without damaging their family-friendly image.
Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” fits this perfectly. The rest of her album fits this as well, but it’s also no surprise that “All I Want for Christmas is You” stood out and went viral. The rest of the songs on the album are much more religious and considerably slower than “All I Want for Christmas is You.” This hit single struck the perfect balance that other songs on the album seemed to miss. Whether you like it or not, “All I Want for Christmas” is commercially brilliant. People hear it in stores and enjoy it which makes them want to hear it on their own time, which then makes them buy it. This cycle occurs every year, and Mariah Carrey just gets richer every year due to it.