Herewith, an annotated version of the selected text, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” an attempt to unpick its profound and resonant commentary on the nature of desire in our time.

1. I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

The author carefully sets out her premises. There exists an entity, “I,” representing conscious selfhood. This entity exists in relation to material space (“a lot”) and seasonal time (“for Christmas”). The entity expresses this relationality through the vocabulary of desire, or “want,” and though its desires could theoretically be expansive, they are not. Here, we have the author’s thesis: Desire, rather than general, is specific; instead of many things, it is “just one thing.”

Heretofore, let the subject be known as “I/Carey”; the object, “You.”

2. I don’t care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

Yet how could we understand the author’s examination of Christmas as anything but an implicit critique of capitalism? Carey deftly communicates via symbols: “Presents” and “Christmas tree” clearly indicate the author’s hostility toward the ever-present signifiers of capital’s all-consuming power.

3. I just want you for my own

An artful cutaway from a full deconstruction of the nature of power. I/Carey posits its/her ability to possess “You”; though this might seem at first to be an alarming and unabashed endorsement of human ownership over another (presumably) human entity, it alludes to the mysterious object of desire. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is not, it seems, an exploration of anodyne egalitarianism; narratives of dominance and power-holding feed the connection between I/Carey and “You.”

NB: Evidence suggests that “You” could plausibly be puppies. The author leaves this tantalizingly ambiguous.

4. More than you could ever know

This line suggests skepticism of the realization of knowledge; the tangible limits of apprehension (e.g., “more”); and, again, the assertive narrative dominance of subject over object.

5. Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

Here, though, the implicit narratives of power are upended: The author appeals to “You” as the agent of wish-granting, simultaneously reiterating the singularity of her desire.

There is a darker context to this narrative. The apocryphal story of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is that it was written in 15 minutes in 1994, while Carey was married to Tommy Mottola, her manager. It was reportedly an unhappy and abusive union, lasting only four years. Mottola lurks, implicit/explicit, sinister Santa, monitoring as Carey expresses her desire.

6. Yeah

Uh-huh. And you thought this was just a cheery love song.

7. I don’t want … Christmas tree

(See above.)

8. I don’t need to hang my stocking

There upon the fireplace

Santa Clause won’t make me happy

With a toy on Christmas Day