All I Want For Christmas Is Memes…
A Look at the Cultural & Memetic Impact of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
People joking that the Christmas season starts earlier and earlier each year has itself become something of a meme. Still, for many, the Christmas spirit is heralded in when Christmas music starts playing on the radio, in stores and even at home. However, there is one song that has become so ubiquitous with the holidays that its singer has been dubbed the “Queen of Christmas” over the years. This is none other than Mariah Carey, all thanks to her 1994 classic Christmas carol, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
The song originates from Carey’s fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. While filled with classic Christmas carols, the song is one of Carey’s more original tracks. The song proved to be popular, even at the time of its release, but it would take a few years for it to reach its eventual meme status.
Radio stations naturally include the song if they have an annual tradition of transitioning into Christmas content. In fact, stations have been known to use the song to start off the Christmas season. A 2024 study even found the song has a bit of a rivalry when it comes to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” when it comes to which song starts the Christmas season.
The internet eventually took notice of the song. Much like these radio stations, a common joke people make online is to have the song represent the start of everyone getting ready for the Christmas season. Often, videos and pictures online will have Carey, presented as some force of nature, appearing out of the blue to usher in the season’s greetings.
On YouTube, some users jokingly like to use the song in mock horror trailers, playing up Carey as some unstoppable force. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has taken on such a life of its own that videos don’t even need to play the song to keep the meme alive. One recent viral trend has YouTube shorts of people stepping outside with a simple warning: “She’s coming.” Some of these videos sample the song. Others don’t, as if the viewer’s fully expected to know what’s coming.
Of course, there’s some chicken-or-the-egg debate on whether the radio stations inspired these memes or if it’s the other way around. Another group that has become known for regarding the song with infamy are retail workers, who often have to hear the song on repeat as each year draws to a close. By at least the late 2010s, online petitions had even popped up, asking the song to be kept out of stores.
Mariah Carey has even acknowledged the song’s reputation herself… However, she’s also developed her own little Christmas tradition over the years: the “It’s Time” videos.
Still, when it comes to memes, the song can still be used in different ways. Some memes are a bit more complimentary, showing people enjoying the song and starting their Christmas season early, while everyone else around them is more concerned about Halloween and Thanksgiving. There are also memes that specifically focus on what it must be like for retail workers.
While there is some debate on just when people should start preparing for Christmas, many of these memes, if they even give a date, as well as radio stations, settle on the first of November, marking the day after Halloween. Of course, this is sometimes itself a subject of debate, with some, at least in the States, thinking Thanksgiving is due some consideration.
In fact, back in 2012, a bar in Dallas made headlines when a note appeared on its jukebox demanding that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” only be played in November. It also stipulated that once December rolls around, the song could only be played once a night. A photo of the note eventually went viral after being shared by a National Review critic on Twitter, now known as X.
Carey herself even responded to the viral message, sharing a photo of herself dressed for battle. Eventually, the bar offered to take down the note in exchange for Carey visiting for a drink.
Mariah Carey has even acknowledged the song’s reputation herself. Obviously, the singer has rereleased the song multiple times over the years. However, she’s also developed her own little Christmas tradition over the years: the “It’s Time” videos.
Starting in 2019, Carey usually releases a video showing her Christmas season getting started as soon as the clock strikes midnight on October 31. Naturally, most of these videos start out with a Halloween theme before Mariah proclaims the start of the Christmas season. The first video started simply enough, with Carey going to bed in her Halloween costume. With the start of November, Carey gets a call from Santa, now wearing her Christmas pajamas. The following year, a masked killer breaks into Carey’s house, only to find her in a room decorated like a winter wonderland.
Over the years, the videos have gotten a bit more ambitious. In 2022, Carey appeared dressed like the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” even riding a bicycle like her alter-ego, Miss Gulch. However, as the calendar days pass by, she suddenly appears as her familiar self in a Santa dress, riding atop a reindeer. The following year, a bunch of masked trick-or-treaters tries to thaw Carey out as she’s trapped within a giant block of ice. Christmas starts once she cracks it open.
2024 probably saw the most elaborate one yet. Mimicking the Addams Family, possibly as a nod to Netflix’s “Wednesday,” Carey appears dressed like Morticia, dancing a deadly dance with “Gomez.” Of course, fine-eared listeners might notice their little danse macabre is actually set to a gothic reimagining of Carey’s Christmas carol. However, once November starts, Carey reappears in her Santa suit as the dark mansion turns into a cheery, winter palace. “Gomez” even transforms into a jolly snowman.
What connects all of these videos is Carey saying, or, in the later videos, singing, “It’s Time!” Everything soon ends with her famous song playing, ushering in the holiday season.
In the end, Carey might not want a lot for Christmas. She might not even wish for snow. Still, these days, it seems hard to imagine the holidays without her.