The clocks had barely struck midnight on Halloween night when the internet’s favourite holiday tradition arrived right on schedule. Mariah Carey posted her annual “It’s Time” video at the start of November 1, officially declaring the Christmas season open.
This year’s version came with a twist. Here is what happened, based on reporting from Just Jared and Variety India.
From dive bar to Christmas tree
The video opens with the words “New York City… October 31st” and a countdown at 11:58 p.m. The camera heads into a dive bar for a punk rock show, where Carey is on stage in colourful makeup and a full punk look.
She stage-dives into the crowd, the screen cuts to black, and the countdown hits midnight. Then comes the transformation. Carey reappears, sings her signature “It’s time,” and switches into her holiday look, perched atop a giant Christmas tree as a very glamorous tree-topper. Cue “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
“IT’S TIME!!!!” she captioned the post.
The secret grunge album Easter egg
The punk opening wasn’t random. According to Variety India, the song Carey performs in the dive bar is “Hermit,” a track from “Someone’s Ugly Daughter,” a little-known grunge album she recorded in the mid-1990s under the band name Chick, with her friend Clarissa Dane.
Carey wrote, produced and sang background vocals on that record, while Dane handled lead vocals on the released version. Carey revealed her involvement in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.” A version with Carey’s own lead vocals has never been released.
That is why fans got so excited. During a Reddit AMA on October 30, marking the 25th anniversary of her “Glitter” album, Carey was asked whether she would ever release it. “I get asked this about once a week,” she wrote, adding, “my answer is…#notyet (this is a hint!)”
Why everyone waits for this video
Carey’s November 1 video has become a pop culture event in its own right. Each year she finds a new way to make the jump from Halloween to Christmas, and the internet treats it as the unofficial starting gun for holiday music, decorations and memes.
It works because it’s self-aware. Carey leans fully into her “Queen of Christmas” image, and fans love being in on the joke. Every year, the post sets off a fresh round of “she’s defrosted” jokes, and this one was no different.
The song that won’t quit
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” was first released in 1994 on Carey’s album “Merry Christmas,” and it returns to the charts every holiday season.
The song spent 22 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which made it the longest-running chart-topper in the chart’s history at the time. As both sources note, that record has since been surpassed by Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” which has spent 25 weeks at No. 1. But with the season now officially open, the classic is about to start its annual climb again.
How to join in without overdoing it
- Start small: one holiday playlist, not the full decorations yet.
- Rotate in some lesser-known holiday songs so the classics stay fun.
- Respect the holdouts in your house or office who want to wait until December.
Is it really time?
Opinions differ on whether November 1 is too early for Christmas music. Some people start the playlist the moment the video drops, while others hold out until after Thanksgiving. Either way, Carey’s video has become the moment the debate starts each year.
The wrap-up
Mariah Carey has defrosted once again, this time by way of a punk dive bar and a secret 1990s grunge record. Whether you’re ready for jingle bells or not, the Queen of Christmas has spoken: it’s time.
Image: 2019 Capitol Christmas Tree with Lights (49203966896) by USCapitol from Washington, D.C., United States of America via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Mark 1.0
