The 50 Best Original Christmas Songs Since ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( snow jams [The 50 Best Original Christmas Songs Since ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’]( Queen of Christmas, meet your disciples. Illustration: Carolyn Figel In 2017, Berklee musicologist Joe Bennett [published a lighthearted study](on commonalities in the music and lyrics of Christmas songs. Written with a Santa-like wink, Bennett posited that the “ultimate Christmas song” would likely include some variation of his findings: A whopping 95 percent of the surveyed tracks were in a major key, and 90 percent were in the 4/4 time signature that echoes clopping horses and jangling sleigh bells. Home, romance, family, and the usual trappings of Christmas were also in the lyrical mix with words like snow, party, and Santa cropping up. Unsurprisingly, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” considered the peak of modern Christmas music, checks all of Bennett’s boxes. Combining the vibe of a lost track from 1963’s A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector with the production of a mid-’90s pop song, the lovelorn open letter helped land the octave-vaulting Carey the unofficial title of “Queen of Christmas.” The single has since become synonymous with the season, and has topped the Holiday 100 for 52 weeks, since the chart began in 2011. (It’s already re-entered the Hot 100 this year, [landing at No. 25]( on the November 26 chart.) Meanwhile, Carey has so embraced the Queen of Christmas ideal — this despite a [recent legal ruling]( denying her a trademark of the title — that her[November 1 videos]( where she trills “It’s tiii-iimmme!” have become the unofficial seasonal kickoff. [Read More]( Cyber Week Sale: [Subscribe for 75% off]( and unlock unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. Plus, get exclusive access to The Strategist’s Incredibly Exhaustive Gift Guide. The Latest TV Recaps • Dangerous Liaisons: [The Sex Dungeon]( • Yellowstone: [As Good As Gone]( • The White Lotus: [Whoopsie]( • The Real Housewives of Potomac: [Take It to da House]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [My Coffee With Stanley Kubrick In 1964, a professor wrote to Kubrick about Dr. Strangelove’s structural “duplication of sexual intercourse.” He wrote back — and asked to meet.]( [Natasha Lyonne and Abbi Jacobson Are Ready to Burn Down TV The showrunners and friends discuss saying no to mainstream, formulaic comedy onscreen.]( [Leo Woodall Needed Some Time to Digest That White Lotus Reveal “I’d been told I might have a rumble and tumble with a couple of characters, but I didn’t know who.”]( By Jackson McHenry [KPOP Offers a Not-Actually-All-Access Pass A musical about making it big feels neutered by its own backstage process.]( [The White Lotus ‘Kill or Be Killed’ Report: Two Can Keep a Secret Well, a couple of names just shot to the top of the lists of suspects and victims.]( By Jessica M. Goldstein [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 21-Down, Five Letters: Movie that gave us the term chestburster. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by CBS via Getty Images, HBO and Daniele Venturelli/Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images [Vulture Recommends]( We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo: Lionsgate Movies/YouTube In our recurring series “Underrated,” we chat with writers and performers from the comedy world about an unsung comedy moment of their choosing that they think deserves more praise. [In this edition](, Fortune Feimster recommends 2021’s [Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar](, a relentlessly silly film that focuses on best friends Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Kristen Wiig) getting their groove back at a middle-age-friendly luxury hotel. [Read more from Vulture]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved