It’s that time of year. All is peaceful and beautiful. The holidays are nearing, the weather loses its biting chill, and you can almost smell the ocean. Not to mention, the approaching holiday season. But besides all of these beautiful things that come with the end of the year, there is one more thing that comes along beside them. In the Northern Hemisphere, they may be freezing, but in Australia the warm weather defrosts us. Just like the Christmas period defrosts Mariah Carey and the song almost synonymous with the holidays – “All I want for Christmas is you.” 

While Christmas music isn’t typically a polarising subject that you can write an opinions piece about, “All I want for Christmas is you,” is a unique case. You walk into any store after the 31st of October, and all you can hear is the pop melody accompanied with sleighbells and chimes. And maybe it’s your favourite sound in the world. Maybe it doesn’t bother you whatsoever. Maybe it ignites a burning rage. But it begs the question, how could such a popular, well-received holiday song be so controversial? Why is there a split between those who enjoy the song and those who despise it with the entire essence of their being? Agreeing with the second category myself, I set out to write this article determined to find out what others thought. Is my opinion justified? Let’s find out.  

I took a bit of a dive into the depths of the internet, trying to see what the great masses thought, but all I managed to uncover were images of “The Graph.” 

Seeing it in front of you, you don’t need to imagine how popular the song is around Christmas. Not to mention, the trademarked Queen of Christmas rakes in the cash every December, with it earning her more than $60 million in royalties in the year that it was released. 

In 1994, Mariah Carey didn’t want to record a Christmas song but did so anyway. This was probably the best decision she could have made because she capitalised on the Christmassy cheer and became the 11th most streamed song, just after another famous song: Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. 

Even I must admit, Mariah’s dedication to Christmas is one rarely seen. Not only does she defrost, she also recently published a book called, “The Christmas Princess,” co-written with Michaela Angela Davis and illustrated by Fuuji Takashi. Along with that, she often speaks on the topic – in an interview with USA Today, Mariah Carey said, “There are rules that I set. I don’t care who it is – the kids, if I have guests, whatever – nobody is allowed to play or watch anything other than a Christmas-related thing. If I wake up in the middle of the night and walk into the living room and the music isn’t playing and the lights aren’t on, I just can’t handle it.” 

Yet, the masses on the internet aren’t enough to justify anyone’s opinions on “All I want for Christmas is you,” so I looked into what William Clarke thought about the hit song. 

AJ from Year 12 said: “Carey’s Christmas music is pretty interesting. It’s good in a sense that it brings joy, but on a deeper scale her Christmas songs are just used as a seasonal profit for her since she just makes a newer version each year with enhanced vocal effects. It’s an amazing song of joy, but I find the business aspect of her songs much more interesting, though overall I enjoy it.”  

Someone who wished to be anonymous commented, “I think most people were accustomed to the song early on in their childhood which could have changed their view on the song. I think that’s probably a huge reason that people enjoy the song. I guess it is a good song but only at Christmas time.” 

Christmas song lovers could probably relate to, “I don’t mind the song it’s pretty catchy i just don’t understand why she defrosts only to play this song lol. Also, she’s an icon,” from someone who wanted to be anonymous. 

Christmas song lovers could also probably relate to Janice, from year 9, in her comment, “it is my favourite holiday song, it’s just so clear it’s holiday-themed and it’s such a meme that everyone dreads but I love it.” 

However, I find that Shari from year 12 agrees a bit with me in her comment,” I’m not a huge fan of her song, but then again, I’m not a huge fan of most of Christmas songs. Call me a Grinch if you must, it’s just not really my style of music.” 

“‘All I want for Christmas is you’ is of course one of the most famous and popular Christmas songs, and it has had such a long tradition. This makes it a really cool song because it is known to basically everybody and everyone knows the lyrics. On the other side, this makes it also really annoying because during December you can hear it everywhere you go. And it stays stuck in the head much too quickly. So, I am sitting on the fence a little bit…” a commentator who wanted to remain anonymous debated their answer, which is a bit more nuanced.  

Seeing the answers of both students from William Clarke and the depths of the internet, I feel that my opinion is valid, and anyone opposed is welcome to change my mind.  

So, as we travel into 2023 and enjoy the (hopefully) warm weather and summer holidays, let’s try and remember those who enjoy Mariah Carey and those who do not whenever we enter a store and hear the opening xylophone lines.