# What is with the hate for Mariah Carey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 13, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437 "2022-12-13T02:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/81 "2022-12-16T03:19:00Z")
Santa’s sleigh is taking flight It’s full of pies and vegemite Eat sausages and giant prawns While playing cricket on the lawn… Not sure this would be a bestselling Christmas song in Canada, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/82 "2022-12-16T03:29:02Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OnJ8jsw4BSo/hqdefault.jpg "Aussie Jingle Bells - Bucko & Champs - THE ORIGINAL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnJ8jsw4BSo) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/83 "2022-12-16T05:47:26Z")
I endorse this heartily. “Last Christmas” in particular is fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/84 "2022-12-16T18:14:33Z")
Yes. If you’re going for an ex-Beatles Christmas tune, I have to stick with Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)”. I don’t mind MC’s song all that much. At least when they’re playing that, they are _not_ playing that damned Andy Williams standard. I could go from here to the end of the universe and Milliways’ floor show before I heard that piece of garbage again. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/85 "2022-12-19T20:29:56Z")
As people have talked about these hypersexualized Christmas songs becoming ubiquitous and joining more traditional songs in the repertoire of banal unending Christmas tunes you’ll hear no matter where you flee to, I wonder if it’s time for this song to join them: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Bo0w_mA5CJc/maxresdefault.jpg "Santa's My Boyfriend - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo0w_mA5CJc) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/86 "2022-12-19T20:34:31Z")
As I was watching that, I was wondering when the three of them would turn on each other, because even if he left Mrs. Claus, which of them would he go to, and don’t they realize he ain’t gonna stop seeing the other two, besides the other hundreds of girls who’s “chimney” he gets into. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/87 "2022-12-19T20:35:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > these hypersexualized Christmas songs becoming ubiquitous and joining more traditional songs in the repertoire of banal unending Christmas tunes This song is actually quite retro. I can imagine it being released in the 1960s. Think “Santa Baby.” The musical structure is even more retro, like 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/88 "2022-12-19T20:38:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The musical structure is even more retro, like 1950s. I always thought it sounded like this song: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YoWom0CCRKM/maxresdefault.jpg "Little shop of horrors - Dentist! (Old upload)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoWom0CCRKM) Or at least the chorus sounds a lot like it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/89 "2022-12-19T20:39:56Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I always thought it sounded like this song: You don’t notice the retro in a 1980s musical bathed in 1950s imagery and style? It even has the Elvis talking bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/90 "2022-12-19T20:41:31Z")
Every time I hear that song, all I can think is “That poor, poor man; he’s probably going to believe her”. Because you just know that if he does not, in fact, give her anything for Christmas, he’s going to be sleeping on the couch for a month. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/91 "2022-12-19T20:44:15Z")
Oh no clearly, everything about Little Shop of Horrors is 50s retro, from the music to the hairstyles and clothes to the cars. It is, after all, a film adaptation of a stage musical which itself was an adaptation of a 1960 film (and one of Jack Nicholson’s earlier film appearances). So it has its roots (heh) in the late 50s/early 60s. But I mean, the melody seems like a direct imitation to my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/92 "2022-12-19T21:48:34Z")
I just get her mixed up with Paula Abdul all the time. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/93 "2022-12-19T21:50:20Z")
I have an issue of Paul The Samurai where a marketing exec says he is “Ethnic, but not too ethnic. Like Paula Abdul.” I really want to get that issue signed by her. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/94 "2022-12-19T22:03:40Z")
Ok, I don’t like Mariah Carey much, and I listen to Paula Abdul’s music more, but vocally, that’s like mixing up a trained opera singer with a high school musical performer. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/95 "2022-12-19T22:08:00Z")
I actually hate everything by the likes of Mariah Carey and her ilk (to me her ilk includes every Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Michael Jackson etc etc) but I actually don’t mind her Xmas song. I hate the Paul McCartney thing with a passion, however. I think the only Xmas music that I actually enjoy is Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and Joni Mitchell’s “River”. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/96 "2022-12-19T22:10:48Z")
Obligatory train wreck video: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eOf5rSGLOJg/hqdefault.jpg "Mariah Wails For Christmas") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOf5rSGLOJg) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/97 "2022-12-19T22:25:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I think I have an even greater hatred of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” That one must be from when, as Dave Barry speculates, Paul’s brain was assimilated by aliens from Planet Weenie. Then again, “modern” Pop Xmas maybe is simply tough to do straight. Gotta admit none of these guys are exactly Irving Berlin… (\*) But yeah, both that and Mariah’s are more victims of an excessive overplay issue, IMO. (\* Hey, for two decades the _second_ best-selling Christmas single ever —since displaced— was just the same 19 words repeated over and over and over…) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/98 "2022-12-20T07:58:26Z")
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is pretty much the only reason I have any use for Mariah Carey. I got quite a charge out of the fact that, finally, someone of my approximate age had produced a stone-cold holiday classic that could slide in comfortably next to all of the well-known stuff from decades past. (I couldn’t tell you why “Last Christmas” didn’t evoke the same response in my mind even though it more or less checks the same boxes.) ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/99 "2022-12-21T19:49:24Z")
I hate most Christmas music. I especially hate Barbra Streisand’s “Jingle Bells”. I avoided it until this morning. My favorite is the Drifter’s version of “White Christmas.” Clyde Mcphatter’s vocal gymnastics don’t bother me anywhere near as much as Mariah Carey’s do. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GfZPtkqXQIA/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGF4gXiheMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCrPrnUl-XAJw_v5vs1LYj7mflqEQ ""White Christmas" - The Drifters") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfZPtkqXQIA) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437/100 "2022-12-24T04:13:33Z")
Speaking of Mariah being self-promoting…. > **[Mariah Carey’s Story About Writing ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ Is...](https://deadline.com/2022/12/mariah-careys-story-about-writing-all-i-want-for-christmas-is-you-humbug-cowriter-claims-1235206394/)** > > The co-writer and co-producer of one of the all-time great Christmas songs – Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” — can only go “ho, ho, ho” wh… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-the-hate-for-mariah-carey/976437.md?page=4)