Where Are You Christmas?

"Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" is a song written by Mariah Carey, James Horner and Will Jennings for the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 2000.[1] In the film, it is first sung by Taylor Momsen, who played Cindy Lou Who.[2]

"Where Are You Christmas?"
Single by Faith Hill
from the album How the Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack
ReleasedDecember 11, 2000
Recorded2000
Genre
Length4:07
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Faith Hill singles chronology
"Let's Make Love"
(2000)		 "Where Are You Christmas?"
(2000)		 "If My Heart Had Wings"
(2001)

Mariah Carey wrote a full-length version of the song with additional lyrics, renamed "Where Are You Christmas?", for the film's soundtrack. The song was originally recorded by Carey, but because of a legal case with her ex-husband Tommy Mottola, it could not be released, so it was re-recorded and released by Faith Hill.[2] A CD single of Hill's rendition was released December 11, 2000.[3] A video was released featuring Hill singing from the Grinch's mountaintop home, interspersed with clips from the film and a cameo appearance by Momsen as Cindy Lou Who.

Composition

"Where Are You Christmas?" is a power ballad written by James Horner and Will Jennings, with additional lyrics provided by Mariah Carey.[2] The song is composed in the key of B♭ major and set to a slow tempo of 56 BPM.[4] Hill's vocals range almost two octaves, from F3 to E♭5.[4]

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of Taste of Country ranked "Where Are You Christmas?" at number 6 on a list of the top 50 country Christmas songs, writing that the song was "touching" and that "Hill performs it like a woman at the top of her game, which she certainly was."[5] Describing the song as underrated, Pip Ellwood-Hughes of Entertainment Focus praised Hill's vocal performance, writing that "[she] sounds incredible as she unleashes the full range of her powerful voice."[6]

Conversely, The Atlantic labeled the song as one of the top ten "most annoying" holiday songs. "She sounds like a crazy person asking after an imaginary friend," writes Cameron Martin.[7] Steve Simels of TV Guide was critical of "Where Are You Christmas?" in his review of the Grinch film, writing that "none but the thoroughly perverse of hearing should stick around for the closing credits and Faith Hill warbling" the song.[8]

Commercial performance

"Where Are You Christmas?" peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in January 2001, becoming Hill's fifth top ten single at that format.[9] The song experienced crossover success at radio, peaking at number 26 on the Hot Country Songs chart and at number 40 on the Adult Pop Songs chart, in addition to reaching a peak position of 65 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2013, "Where Are You Christmas?" peaked at number 15 on the seasonal Holiday 100 chart,[10] on which it has continued making appearances throughout the 2010s.[2] The song has never entered the Canadian Hot 100, but did reach a peak position of 38 of the Hot Canadian Digital Songs component chart in 2018.[11]

"Where Are You Christmas" was placed seventh[lower-alpha 1] on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history in 2016.[12] As of December 2019, total digital sales of the Faith Hill recording has reached 1,002,000 downloads according to Nielsen SoundScan.[13]

Chart positions
Chart (2000–18) Peak
position
Canada Hot Digital Songs (Billboard)[14] 38
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 37
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 35
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 65
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[9] 10
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[18] 40
US Holiday 100 (Billboard)[10] 15
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[19] 26

Other versions

"Where Are You Christmas?" has been covered by a variety of artists since its release, including Ali & Theo, The Blenders, Charlie Miller, The Country Piano Players, Dominik Hauser, Elizabeth South, Jim McDonough, John Tracy, Mannheim Steamroller, Nick Lachey, Steven C, and Sue Keller.[20]

In 2008, the song was performed by Kaitlyn Maher in a live show at The White House, at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on December 4, 2008, which was attended by President George W. Bush.

In 2009, "Where Are You Christmas"[21] was covered by Hollie Steel, the child soprano from Britain Got Talent finals.

On October 29, 2009, Then There Were None released a cover of the Christmas single.

During a Christmas concert in 2011, a cover of the song was performed by The Piano Guys (Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson),[22] featuring Jon's young daughter Sarah Schmidt.

The album version of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical features a bonus track of the song, performed by Tori Feinstein, who played Cindy Lou Who in a touring production of the musical.[23]

Pentatonix covered the song for their 2018 album Christmas Is Here!.

JoJo Siwa covered the song for her 2020 EP JoJo's Rockin' Christmas.

Notes
  1. At the time of the article's publication in November 2016, the song ranked at number seven with a sales figure of 897,000. With certified sales of 977,000 as of December 2018, the song should now ostensibly rank at number six ahead of "Christmas Canon".

References
  1. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  2. "Where Are You Christmas? Mariah Carey's Unsung Holiday Classic". Established in 1997. 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
  3. "Where Are You Christmas ?". Amazon UK. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  4. "Faith Hill "Where Are You Christmas?" Sheet Music in B♭ Major". Universal Music Publishing Group via Musicnotes.com. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  5. Dukes, Billy (November 19, 2012). "No. 6: Faith Hill, 'Where Are You Christmas' - Top 50 Country Christmas Songs". Taste of Country. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  6. Ellwood-Hughes, Pip (December 5, 2017). "EF Country Advent Calendar Day 5: Faith Hill – Where Are You Christmas?". Entertainment Focus. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  7. Martin, Cameron (December 7, 2010). "The 10 Most Annoying and Ubiquitous Holiday Songs". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  8. Simels, Steve. "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  9. "Faith Hill Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  10. "Faith Hill Chart History (Holiday 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  12. Billboard Staff (November 25, 2016). "What Are the Top-Selling Holiday Songs?". Billboard. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  13. Bjorke, Matt (December 8, 2019). "Top 30 Digital Country Tracks - Pure Sales: December 9, 2019". Rough Stock. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  14. "Faith Hill Chart History (Hot Canadian Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  15. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Faith Hill" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Faith Hill – Where Are You Christmas?" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  17. "Faith Hill Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  18. "Faith Hill Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  19. "Faith Hill Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  20. "Where Are You Christmas - Faith Hill | Cover Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  21. "Where Are You Christmas?: Hollie Steel: Music". Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  22. "ThePianoGuys.com:Where are you Christmas? (Live in concert)". ThePianoGuys.com.
  23. "HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! Album Track List Revealed; Out 10/29!". Broadway World. 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.