There is, however, one song – one diva – who can: Underneath the Tree by Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson’s fizzy bop explores similar emotions to All I Want For Christmas, and, like its predecessor, is an upbeat, infectious, joyful hit of dopamine. It’s easy to dance to, sing along to (in your own head, if not out loud), and wrap a mountain of presents to. And there’s one crucial, key point of difference: it is not, in fact, overplayed. If anything, it’s underplayed. Sure, it is popular, but until it unseats All I Want For Christmas as the ultimate holiday song, it is not popular enough. Because not only is it as good as All I Want For Christmas — it’s better. There, I said it. Underneath the Tree deserves the number one spot for Christmas more than Billy Mack and his sad manager did in Love, Actually.
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The only other recent Christmas song that comes close to being as good as Underneath the Tree is Santa, Can’t You Hear Me – which, not coincidentally, is also by Kelly Clarkson, this time with an assist from Ariana Grande. It says something about the power of Underneath the Tree that the combined powers of not one but two Carey heirs still can’t knock it from its place in the line of succession. But it also says something that Clarkson is involved – it’s just another point in favour of the fact she should, in fact, be the new queen of Christmas. Everyone clamours for Clarkson to cover their fave pop songs in Kellyoke; meanwhile, she’s already gifted us with two Christmas albums full of not just new bangers like those I’ve mentioned, but also her own takes on classic carols that rival the originals.
So if, like me, all you want for Christmas is a break from All I Want For Christmas is You, perhaps think about giving Underneath the Tree some time to shine. Put it on, and raise your voice loud– just be sure to turn the music up even louder because Kelly Clarkson’s range is as hard to match as Mariah Carey’s.
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