"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song written and produced by American singer Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and recorded for Carey's fifth album Merry Christmas (1994). Its protagonist declares that she does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be with her lover. It is unrelated to the 1989 Christmas hit single by novelty act Vince Vance and the Valiants. It was released as the album's first single in December 1994 (see 1994 in music) and reached the top ten in several countries, and it is one of the most commercially successful Christmas singles of the modern era.
According to The New Yorker, it is "one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon". Despite the common misconception that Carey covered this song, the fact is that this track is an original song written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. It has been covered by singers such as Shania Twain and Samantha Mumba, bands such as My Chemical Romance, and girl group The Cheetah Girls. It was performed by Olivia Olson in the film Love Actually (2003). By late 2006, it had become the best-selling holiday ring tone of all time in the U.S. blank">"Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' Is Best-Selling Holiday Ringtone Ever". _PR Newswire. December 13 2006. Retrieved December 14 2006. In the end of 2007, the song had huge popularity worldwide.
"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" is a Christmas song that was written by Donald Yetter Gardner. Gardner wrote the song in 1944 while teaching music at public schools in Smithtown, New York. He asked the class what they wanted for Christmas, and noticed that almost all of them had at least one front tooth missing as they answered in a lisp. Gardner wrote the song in 30 minutes. In a 1995 interview, Gardner said, "I was amazed at the way that silly little song was picked up by the whole country."
The song was originally recorded by Spike Jones & His City Slickers on December 6, 1948 (that version reached the top of the charts in early 1949). The song has also been recorded by numerous other singers and performers, including George Strait, Danny Kaye with The Andrews Sisters, The Platters, Nat King Cole, The Chipmunks, the Hampton String Quartet, Amanda Sollum and the cast of Sesame Street.
Country music parodist Cledus T. Judd parodied the song on his 2002 Christmas album Cledus Navidad. Titled "All I Want For Christmas Is Two Gold Front Teef", Judd's parody is performed in rap.