Mariah Carey and the Holiday Haunting: Merry Christmas at 30

It’s not even November yet, and I’m already being inundated with Christmas kitsch every time I dare to leave the apartment. Grafton Street, Dublin’s humming hive of commercial activity, is already bedecked with Christmas lights and massive chandeliers—though at least they have the good sense not to light them yet. Shops are selling dainty snowflake garlands and tasteful felt stockings to hang above the fireplace with care. This early, blatant cash grab is enough to turn even the most festive among us into cold-hearted Scrooges—especially when you’re a massive Halloween fan like myself. 

However, I have to admit, I haven’t heard those ominous twinkling opening notes yet, that bright-eyed, terrifyingly cheerful harbinger of the Christmas season: Mariah Carey’s unstoppable hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” This is an extra special year for the holiday mainstay as well, since Carey’s album Merry Christmas—the record on which that song first appeared—turned 30 on October 28. Yes, we’ve had three decades with a track that, depending on your perspective, is either a miracle or a monstrosity. 

1994 was a hell of a year by any measure. On January 6 (what a cursed date), an attacker clubbed Olympian Nancy Kerrigan’s knee, and the ensuing legal fallout essentially ended Tonya Harding’s ice skating career. In March, a little baby boy named Justin Bieber opened his eyes for the first time. Friends premiered and Pulp Fiction hit theaters, both destined to become college dorm poster fixtures. And before kids could even break out their Halloween costumes, Mariah Carey released an album that would transform her from a pop artist to a global superstar. 

Merry Christmas followed 1993’s Music Box, which is by no means a mind-blowing album; it’s less than 50 minutes of bland ‘90s pop and R&B that shows off Carey’s thoroughly impressive vocals but not much else. From noticeably tinny synth to an unabashed sappiness, this is a record that sounds dated from pretty much the first note. Carey has one of the most distinctive voices of our time, but the songwriting here is so trope-y that she somehow slips into anonymity. And yet, this is one of the best-selling albums ever, with a staggering 28 million copies sold. Cliches endure because they’re based on kernels of truth, and therefore it’s no wonder that Music Box spoke to so many listeners. There’s a spark of genius in the collaboration between Carey and co-writer Walter Afanasieff that came to full fruition on the holiday record: the realization that expertly executed simplicity—both in terms of lyrics and melody—wins out above all else. 

For those unfamiliar with Afanasieff, this is a man whose stamp is all across ‘90s music pop culture. Afanasieff produced “My Heart Will Go On” of Titanic fame as well as Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) soundtracks. He also produced and arranged Hercules‘ standout song, “Go the Distance.” Afanasieff is a two-time Grammy winner and has written for the likes of Savage Garden, Kenny G, Santana, Michael Bolton, Josh Groban, Vanessa Hudgens, New Kids on the Block, Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand and many more. That’s not to mention the legends he’s played with over the years, including Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie, Patti LaBelle and Natalie Cole. And yes, he has a songwriting credit on “She Bangs” by Ricky Martin.

Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff started working together in 1990, and Merry Christmas sees the pairing at the peak of their commercial power. Three out of the album’s 10 tracks are originals, including the (in)famous “All I Want for Christmas Is You”—which, for the record, ranks 40th on our list of the 50 greatest Christmas songs. That single has sold 16 million copies worldwide, and Afanasieff credits its success to its unique standing as an uptempo love song as well as a Christmas song—although it’s not that unique anymore, as artists try to attain the same level of success as Carey. She came to Afanasieff looking for a Phil Spector-type number with a wall of bright sound, and you can hear it in the ebullient sleigh bells and vocalists backing Carey’s joyous performance. It should come as no surprise then that Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”—written in part by Spector—also appears on Merry Christmas (with none other than Randy Jackson of American Idol fame playing bass on the track). 

At first Afanasieff didn’t like how overly simple the central melody was, comparing it to a “practice interval,” but that simplicity is how “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has become one of the most popular modern Christmas standards. The fact that the song doesn’t distinguish whether Carey is singing to a romantic partner or a platonic loved one lends it even broader appeal. And now that the single has turned 30, well, it’s become clear that contemporary pop artists haven’t been exactly pulling their weight in terms of crafting something just as irresistible (even if lesser-known acts have been putting out brilliant holiday tunes).

But what about the other songs on Merry Christmas? Gospel music is the string connecting these fairy light tracks; a gentle, humming chorus of voices join in on opener “Silent Night” ahead of Carey even uttering the first words of the album (but not before some lithe vocalizing on her part). In fact, choirs and background vocalists are prominent on nearly every track, with the exception of “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time),” which is a cheesy original ballad showcasing Afanasieff’s penchant for swelling, sincere arrangements that would be right at home in some ‘90s rom-com—preferably one in which they’re all wearing chunky sweaters. 

For the most part, Mariah Carey’s employment of gospel sounds and some other strategic sonic choices make Merry Christmas more than your typical pop artist’s holiday album. A playful zing of organ kicks off an otherwise fairly straightforward rendition of “O Holy Night,” which also sees Carey indulging in her signature vocal runs. Carey’s version of “Joy to the World” starts as a rather conventional affair, until a choir and a barrage of drum machine turn it into an unexpected dance track. It’s aural tinsel: sparkly, tacky and undeniably fun. Brahms’ “Lullaby” attempts to rock us to sleep before “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” truly hits with sleigh bells and fervid piano, and it’s a welcome bait-and-switch. Carey strays from the typical pop Christmas path with her final original track on the LP, “Jesus Born on This Day.” Most mainstream artists’ holiday songs stick to the secular, in order to avoid alienating potential consumers—I mean listeners. However, in the context of this being a gospel-heavy album, the reverence of “Jesus Born on This Day”—which builds towards a triumphant, if trite, crescendo at the very end—makes sense. Don’t borrow from the tradition without paying proper respect to it.  

And yet, at the end of the day, we keep hearing that one track. It follows you, creeping into your ears until it’s stuck in your head. Every year, like clockwork, it comes back around to haunt us for a month or more, before returning to its sepulcher to slumber. People like to use the word enduring to describe music that’s timeless in its sound, but in the instance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” it’s more the indefatigable stagger of a brain-dead zombie. Maybe, now that I think about it, Mariah Carey wrote the ultimate Halloween song.

Clare Martin is a cemetery enthusiast and Paste’s associate music editor. Go harass her on Twitter @theclaremartin.