The advent of music streaming has led to renewed success for the single, which now annually re-enters charts worldwide in the weeks before Christmas and has reached number one in over 30 countries.

Initially, Afanasieff admitted that he was puzzled and "blanched" as to where Carey wanted to take the melody and vocal scales, though she was "adamant" in her direction for the song.

He was unhappy with the results of the recording and subsequently scrapped the effort and used his original, personal arrangement and programmed all the instruments heard on the song (with the exception of the background vocals) including the piano, effects, drums and triangle.

While Carey continued writing material in her rented home in The Hamptons, Afanasieff completed the song's programming and awaited to rendezvous with her a final time in order to layer and harmonize the background vocals.

"[16] "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is an uptempo song, composed with pop, soul, R&B, gospel, dance-pop and adult contemporary influences and stylings.

[17][18][19] By early August, Carey already had two original songs written alongside Afanasieff including the "sad and ballad-y" "Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)" and the "Gospel-tinged and religious" "Jesus Born on This Day".

[13][15] The song begins with a "sparkling bit of percussion" chimes played by celesta, resembling "an antique music box or a whimsical snow globe.

These sounds echo religious and secular musical touchstones, without veering blatantly too much in either direction, and give the song an upbeat, joyous tone.

With infinitely more economy of expression and undoubtedly catchier lyrics, 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' is a sort of Hegelian dialectic of Christmastime desire, taking the conflicting notions of abundance and specificity and packaging them neatly into an earworm for the generations."

"[13] Lyrically, the song describes the singer not caring about the usual material aspect of the holiday season such as ornamental lights, trees, snow and presents, as long as they are with their lover for Christmas.

The song incorporates various instruments, including piano, drums, violin, oboe, flute, bell chimes, bass effect, and cowbells.

"[21] According to Roch Parisien from AllMusic, the song contains "Beach Boys–style harmonies, jangling bells, and a sleigh-ride pace, injecting one of the few bits of exuberant fun in this otherwise vanilla set.

"[26] Additionally, she felt the main reason it was so successful is the subject "you" in the lyrics, explaining, "Perhaps what makes the song such a huge hit is the fact that it's for absolutely everyone."

Craven opened her review with a bold statement: "Bing Crosby may well be turning in his grave, but no child of the 1980s will be surprised to see Mariah Carey's sublime All I Want For Christmas Is You bounding up the charts after being named the nation's top festive song.

"[27] Kyle Anderson from MTV labeled the track "a majestic anthem full of chimes, sleigh bells, doo-wop flourishes, sweeping strings and one of the most dynamic and clean vocal performances of Carey's career".

[28] Music & Media commented, "Phil Spector's Christmas album has been the main inspiration for this carol in a "Darlene Love against the wall of sound" tradition.

[31] According to Barry Schwartz from Stylus Magazine, "to say this song is an instant classic somehow doesn't capture its amazingicity; it's a modern standard: joyous, exhilarating, loud, with even a hint of longing."

[51] On the chart dated December 21, 2019, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" topped the Hot 100 for the first time with 45.6 million streams and 27,000 digital sales sold.

[68] On December 3, 2021, "All I Want for Christmas is You" was certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling 10 million units, becoming the first holiday song to achieve this, and making Carey the second female artist in history to have both a Diamond-certified single and album, following Taylor Swift.

In Germany, as it spent 21 weeks at number one, it tied the record with Caterina Valente and Kurt Edelhagen's "Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe", Freddy Quinn's "Heimweh" and Margot Eskens' "Cindy, Oh Cindy" for the longest-running number-one single; it was certified two-times Platinum, selling a million units, making it one of the best-selling singles in Germany.

In Austria, it spent 18 weeks atop the charts, tying Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" as the longest-running number one song in the country.

It also reached number two in South Korea; and entered the top-ten in Lebanon, Malaysia and the Philippines; the top-twenty in Hong Kong and Taiwan; and the top-thirty in Vietnam.

MTV's Kyle Anderson wrote that "it's difficult to improve perfection," but that the remix "does dress up the song in a disco thump that should make your office Christmas party 28 percent funkier than it was last year.

[118] Fellow singers Adele, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Elton John, Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani, Chris Martin and the band Red Hot Chili Peppers were featured in the video.

Outdoor scenes were shot at the Fairy Tale Forest in New Jersey, where Carey's then-husband Tommy Mottola made a cameo appearance as Santa Claus.

[18] It continues with scenes of Carey preparing for the Christmas season of 1994, getting ready for her album cover photo shoot and spending time with her dog Jack.

[135] Time writer Cady Lang stated that there are multiple reasons for the song's popularity, the first being the "powerhouse vocals of the beloved elusive chanteuse.

Ross suggested that the vast majority of new Christmas records that were breaking through now had a sound reminiscent of Carey or Spector, making programming the format to avoid over-repetition more difficult.

[161] In 2018, Judy Greer, Saara Chaudry, Jaiden Canatelli and Shayle Simons covered the song for the PBS Christmas special of Let's Go Luna!

[400] The music video for the duet was filmed in Macy's department store in New York City, and features Bieber shopping with his friends whilst Carey is seen singing in the background.