Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey Just Ranked All Her Songs, And Her Choices May Surprise You
Breaking: Queen of Christmas, pop, and five-octave extraordinaire Mariah Carey just ranked her own songs for Buzzfeed, and her picks have us shaking.
Decked out in red velvet with a full Christmas-themed backdrop behind her, including a lit tree, presents, and stockings on the fireplace, Carey was given the major task of picking between her most famous songs. Saying the game was “so wrong” and “so hard” because she wrote all her tracks, the songstress initially refused to take part in it altogether. Pleading with the crew and asking them to pick the songs instead, Carey finally agreed, stating she would “do the best” she could, but that it still wasn’t fair.
The “Always Be My Baby” singer, 52, is known for being hilarious, posting an immediately-iconic video last month showing her smashing jack-o-lanterns and finally ringing in the Christmas season in a glittery Mrs. Santa costume.
Christmas is when the “Songbird Supreme” comes alive, and yes, when we all play her song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on repeat. But Carey is so much more than just a holiday queen, releasing her eponymous first album “Mariah Carey” in 1990, and penning countless hit tracks like “Fantasy,” “Dreamlover,” “Hero,” “Emotions,” and “We Belong Together.”
With a career that extends over thirty years, the vocalist is a music legend — so it’s no wonder ranking her songs left her near-speechless, making very meme-able expressions we can’t get over.
We feel Carey’s pain, because honestly, we can barely rank her songs either — they’re all too good.
Reminding everyone that she writes her songs herself, it makes sense that picking between them is like picking between children — or as the singer puts it, choosing between Mutley or Chacha, her adorable dogs sleeping next to her on the couch.
Another completely iconic quote from the video? When made to choose between her holiday songs “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Fall In Love At Christmas,” she asks the crew to change the latter for “Oh Santa.” Carey quips, “I hate to be the one creating my own game, but that’s what I do.” Is it weird we now want that quote tattooed?
So what did the Songbird Supreme pick? Between the aforementioned Christmas songs, Carey says she “can’t not choose ‘All I Want’ as a song,” because she “can’t fight with it.” Honestly? We get it — it’s inescapable, and we like it that way.
Next up, Carey chose “Fantasy (Remix)” featuring O.D.B. over her hit “Heartbreaker (Remix)” with Missy Elliot and Da Brat, saying she goes back with “Fantasy” like babies and pacifiers. 2005 powerhouse hit “We Belong Together” wins over “My All,” even though she says “My All” is “very much from a real place” as per her memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”
What does she mean by that, you may ask? The song is actually about her 1997 “fling” with baseball player Derek Jeter, specifically when she met up with him in Puerto Rico while on the rocks with husband Tommy Mottola. Still, “We Belong Together” takes the cake.
As the game goes on, Carey gets more comfortable picking between her babies — we mean, songs — quickly choosing “The Roof” over “Fourth of July,” and saying she’s working on a “big moment” when it comes to the former.
“Obsessed” goes over “Shake It Off,” “Outside” has more “significance” to her than “Can’t Take That Away,” and “Hero” wins over “One Sweet Day,” partially because Aretha Franklin recorded it (you know, no biggie). In the lightning round, Carey ranks “Melt Away” over “Through the Rain,” “Underneath the Stars” over “With You” (we can’t believe this pick, either), “Breakdown” tops “Crybaby,” “Emotions” wins “Dreamlover” (we have to agree), “Honey” goes over “8th Grade,” “Loverboy” wins “You Got Me,” and “Fly Like a Bird” shockingly wins “Always Be My Baby” — our reaction to that was an audible gasp, but okay.
Saying all her songs “are a part of [her],” the chanteuse just can’t choose between “Touch My Body” and “Don’t Forget About Us.”
In an iconic move ingrained in our minds forever, she says, “how can I pick them? I wrote them. These other people that didn’t necessarily write their other songs, they can pick them really easily, like oh that was great. I’m like, hi, I spent time on it!” Yes, the true G.O.A.T.
Another tie is “Vision of Love” and “Make It Happen,” while her final favorite list is: “The Roof, “Outside,” “We Belong Together,” and “Underneath the Stars.”
And very much on brand, if the queen of the holidays had to pick just one song to sing for the rest of her life, it would be “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Excuse us while we go play it a hundred times today, and watch Carey’s new special Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues on Apple TV+.
