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One of Britney Spears‘ most underrated songs is her Christmas single “My Only Wish (This Year).” Meghan Trainor completely rearranged the song and ruined it in the process. Here’s a look at why you can’t just replace the Princess of Pop with Trainor.

Meghan Trainor changed the genre of Britney Spears’ Christmas song

Many pop and rock stars have worked their way into the Christmas canon. Turn on the radio in December, and you are bound to hear Mariah Carey, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Ariana Grande, and other chart-toppers sing about a certain holiday. Spears, however, generally doesn’t show up on those playlists.

That’s a real shame. Spears’ Christmas song, “My Only Wish (This Year),” is a fun cross between Phil Spector’s lush Christmas songs and the teen pop of Spears’ early career. “My Only Wish (This Year)” is a lot better than many of the rancid Christmas novelty hits that get played incessantly. 

That’s what makes it so sad that Trainor ruined the song. She decided to make it more of an R&B tune. Trainor has made some R&B songs, but that genre is not her strength. The beat of her “My Only Wish (This Year)” sounds like it features a malfunctioning drum machine.

Britney Spears added extra layers to ‘My Only Wish (This Year)’

Also, part of the appeal of “My Only Wish (This Year)” is Spears herself. On the original song, the “…Baby One More Time” singer straddles the line between sounding innocent and sounding mildly suggestive. Trainor doesn’t seem to know that such a line exists. 

Spears’ signature vocals helped make “My Only Wish (This Year)” stand out from other Christmas songs. Meanwhile, Trainor’s voice is so much more generic. I’m sure someone could figure out how to cover “My Only Wish (This Year)” well. Trainor didn’t, but her version still appeared on the album A Very Trainor Christmas.

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Why Meghan Trainor covered the song

During a 2020 interview with Lady Gunn, Trainor discussed the origin of her album A Very Trainor Christmas. “Once we realized we would be in quarantine for a while, we knew it was a good time to start working on the Christmas album,” she said. “We wanted to do everything we could to bring a little happiness to the world.” 

A Very Trainor Christmas includes six original songs as well as many covers of Christmas classics. Tunes on the record include often-covered songs like Gene Autry’s “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and Wham! ‘s “Last Christmas.” It feels a little odd that Trainor decided to add “My Only Wish (This Year)” to the tracklist, considering that the original song rarely gets airplay.

Trainor was asked what inspired her to cover “My Only Wish (This Year).” “The Queen Britney herself!” she replied. “That was one of my favorite Christmas songs growing up. I remember the first time I heard it and fell in love. I have always loved her version, and I wanted to try my own version. Nothing will ever be better than Britney’s!” Trainor was right about that!

Trainor has made a career out of singing bubblegum pop songs, but she doesn’t have the same handle on the genre as Spears did.

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