For many at San Luis Obispo High School and around the world, it’s Christmas time, which means that students are busting out all the classic Christmas jams. Experts have estimated that there are around one million Christmas songs out there, with more coming out each year. But among these one million, only one stands out. What is this diamond in the rough, this shining piece of coal, this symphony of sound?
Why, it is none other than “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey.
“‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ is the best Christmas song because we have all listened to it since we were children, so we know it by heart and it is a beloved childhood memory that will carry on with us into adulthood,” said senior Ruby Houghton.
Some people might have the audacity to believe that there could be any other carol more iconic than this industry changing ballad we have all come to know and love. These misguided souls simply have not taken the time to contemplate the depth of Carey’s passioned lyrics, and the extent to which she pours her heart out for this mysterious lover.
Carey explains in great detail throughout the song a list of things she would give up just to be with this person who has stolen her heart. She doesn’t want any presents, she doesn’t want snow, she won’t even hang her stocking. Carey is expressing the most precious and deepest kind of love there is, that of the sacrificial nature.
She would essentially give up celebrating the biggest holiday of the year, and that is no little thing to give up. Carey’s lyrics go beyond the basic Christmas rhymes, and into a more complex emotional narrative, which is what sets this anthem of love apart from all the other unworthy Christmas songs.
Listen to the song right now, using the link below!