The Sad Inspiration Behind Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
Mariah Carey’s pop masterpiece “All I Want For Christmas Is You” may be one of the best holiday songs in history. 25 years after its release, the single continues to dominate radio waves, make headlines, and break records. It’s a feel-good record that fans can’t get enough of. But they might be shocked to learn the true inspiration behind the song.
Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ was inspired by her rough childhood
Carey told Out magazine in 2014 that she had a “tough-as-nails” childhood in Long Island, New York. She was born to an Irish mother and a black and Afro-Venezuelan father, who divorced early on. As a kid, Carey experienced poverty and struggled with her racial identity.
She told Pitchfork in November 2018: “My mom chose to live in predominantly white neighborhoods, where people had more money than us, and I didn’t fit in there. Or in an all black neighborhood when my parents were together; as a mixed couple, they had problems there. So there was not one safe place.”
She also said, “A lot of intense stuff happened to me when I was a kid, that people who grew up with money or with families that weren’t fully dysfunctional will never quite understand. And then being biracial on top of it, and having no place to really fit in.”
Mariah Carey gets candid about ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’
Carey opened up to USA Today on Nov. 1 about how her childhood shaped the song. She said she always dreamed of having the perfect Christmas and “put every ounce of longing for that perfect moment” in the record.
“I really started with thinking, ‘What are all the things I think about at Christmas?’ Lights, presents, stockings, fireplaces,” Carey explained. “I’ve always loved Christmas so much my entire life, but I grew up not having a lot of money and not being able to experience it like the other kids did.”
“I wanted Christmas to be perfect, but for a lot of different reasons, it didn’t always end up working out well, coming from such a dysfunctional family,” she continued. “So I think when I wrote it, I just put every ounce of longing for that perfect moment in it.”
Mariah Carey creates and releases ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’
Carey teamed up with co-writer Walter Afanasieff and penned the song.
“I wrote the melody and lyrics; he played and did additional writing, which is great, but it’s my baby. It was my thing,” Carey explained to USA Today. “When we got together, I was like, ‘You know, I think it should start out slow, and then the music should come in and sort of have a Jackson 5, Phil Spector-type moment,’ if that makes sense. It was inspired by those songs from the ’50s and ’60s.”
The single appeared on her 1994 album, Merry Christmas. It’s since become one of the biggest holiday records of all time.
In hindsight, Carey had no idea the song would become the behemoth that it is.
“I wanted it to feel like a classic, but I didn’t know that it was going to actually become a classic,” she added to USA Today. “I say that humbly because Christmas music is something that’s really special to me, so to see the song’s popularity grow over the years has been something that’s been kind of amazing. I couldn’t have expected it.”
We bet. But it’s great that she was able to turn something so negative into something so special and sentimental to others. Here’s wishing her (and you) a happy holiday season!
