“All I Want This Christmas” – Behind the Lyrics

I’m so beyond excited that my original Christmas song, “All I Want This Christmas,” is finally out! You can download and stream it here.

The Inspiration Behind “All I Want This Christmas”

The story of how “All I Want This Christmas” came to be is an interesting one when it comes to my songwriting process. Typically, I start with a lyrical idea and write the lyrics and melody simultaneously. I don’t prefer to start with a chord progression or any kind of instrumental accompaniment before getting a solid draft of a song because I feel that this restricts my creativity. I always tell people that it’s important that the chords support the melody and lyrics instead of forcing the melody to fit with a chord structure.

That all being said, I surprised myself when I did the opposite while writing “All I Want This Christmas.” One day, during the summer of 2019, I was improvising on my piano. Out of the blue, I came up with a pretty piano accompaniment that I knew I wanted to use for something. Since I was writing songs for my pop album at the time, I initially decided to use the piano accompaniment for a new album song. After playing around with different melodic and lyrical ideas for a few days, nothing seemed to fit. Then, I realized why. I really listened to the piano and suddenly, I knew it was meant to be for a Christmas song. After that, the song fell into place.

The Message of the Song

I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas song, so I wanted to make my first original Christmas song extra special. After writing so many pop songs, I imagined I’d write an upbeat Christmas song, not a ballad. Because of the feeling that the piano accompaniment creates, I wanted the song to have a meaningful message. 

The song is about the true magic of Christmas. It’s easy to get caught up in the snow, decorations, presents, and many other exciting parts of the holiday season. Especially when I was younger, I was so wrapped up in the Christmas fantasies, like any child would be. Now, I realize that Christmas is special because it’s spent with loved ones. My family has Christmas traditions, like getting the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, baking cookies, and opening presents on Christmas Day in our pajamas. These moments are what make Christmas so magical, and I hope you can reflect on what makes your Christmas so special through listening to “All I Want This Christmas.”

Also, I filmed a festive acoustic version of the song in front of my tree.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas this year!