Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” is no longer the #1 Christmas song

It seems that, whether you want it to be true or not, you will be hearing slightly less of the soaring beautiful dolphin-like vocals of Mariah Carey whilst shopping for holiday goodies this year. We have very mixed emotions about this announcement, which comes to us from music-compilation giant PlayNetwork via Paste.

According to the site, PlayNetwork, which works with retail brands to create in-store music playlists, Ms. Carey has been kicked off her snowcapped Christmas throne for the first time in decades. On the one hand, her perennial “All I Want for Christmas,” has been earworming us for — hang on to your cocoa for a second — 21 years. With writing partner Walter Afanasieff, Mariah wrote the song in 1994 as part of a Christmas album for Columbia records. It was considered an instant classic by critics and music fans alike, and got further boosts throughout the years from inclusion in Christmas blockbuster Love, Actually, as well as a in variety of remixes and even dance versions.

So maybe it’s time for us all to get a bit of a break from wanting you for Christmas; that’s an understandable need to move on. However, PlayNetwork’s replacement at the top of their list is a very, very polarizing thing: The Shins cover of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”

Released in 2012 as part of a holiday compilation album, the cover is a somewhat slower, modernized version of McCartney’s tune, blessedly free of that strange underwater fish-organ sound that haunts the original rendition. Like the original, however, reactions are split between fans and people who would rather have Rudolph chew their own ears off before hearing it again.

Whatever your personal feelings on both songs, you’ll still be likely to hear lots of them as you venture outside for holiday shopping. Occupying the number one and two spots on PlayNetwork’s list, they may prove impossible to avoid. We are tentatively okay with this list, mostly given that Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is at #8 which means a significantly lower chance of us weeping in a Target this year. (Image via Columbia Records.)