"My Gift Is You" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

for her fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' You Make It Feel Like Christmas'' (2017). It was released digitally on October 6, 2017, along with the rest of the parent album, through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. The track was written by Stefani,

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

, and

Busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record label executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his work in both po ...

while production was handled by Busbee and Eric Valentine. Musically, the track is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

that contains elements of pop-soul music. The lyrics revolve around Stefani's relationship with boyfriend Blake Shelton and deal with choosing true love over materialism during the holiday season. Several music critics listed "My Gift Is You" as one of the highlights included on the parent album. Commercially, it peaked at number six on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Holiday Digital Song Sales chart in the United States. "My Gift Is You" was performed during the 2017 NBC television special '' Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas''.

Background and recording

Throughout 2017,

recorded new music with various musicians. In July of the same year, the singer announced in a press statement that she planned to release the new music in the near future. The title of several tracks first leaked on August 2, 2017 when they appeared as published works on the official website for GEMA, a German music database. Due to some of the revealed song titles that mistakenly appeared, multiple music critics suggested that the singer's new music may be among material for a

holiday album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

. "My Gift Is You" was included on the list of leaked titles, in addition to album tracks "Christmas Eve" and " You Make It Feel Like Christmas". The song was officially revealed as part of the parent album on September 18 when Stefani unveiled its title, '' You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', in addition to its track listing and the lead single. "My Gift Is You" was written by Stefani,

, and

while production was handled by Busbee and Eric Valentine. Stefani had expressed interest in collaborating with Busbee, who also serves as an executive producer for the parent album, ever since she had heard his work on Pink's " Try" in 2012. Tranter was also enlisted as a songwriter for the album due to his ability to "write a hit". The song was made available for purchase as a digital download on October 6, 2017, along with the rest of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', through

Composition and lyrics

"My Gift Is You" is a Christmas and pop-soul song that lasts two minutes and 51 seconds. Musically, it is a blend of the sound of classic Christmas songs with the contemporary style of more modern ones. According to Janine Lano from ''

The Highlander ''Highlander'' is a British film and television franchise created by American screenwriter Gregory Widen. The series began with a 1986 fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert, who played Connor MacLeod, the titular Highlander. Born in Glenfin ...

'', the song's beat is similar in sound to the one found in Ben E. King's 1961 single " Stand by Me", due to the similarities in "poignant bass notes" that help create a sense of the holiday season. As a whole, ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'' contains various songs alluding to Stefani's relationship with boyfriend Blake Shelton. Rachel McRady from ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

'' suggested that even when considering their previously released duet ("You Make It Feel Like Christmas"), "My Gift Is You" may be the "most telling tune" on the parent album. Stefani sings: "I can't wait to give all my lovin' to my best friend / All I want is you to take my love and give it back again". While crooning, she says: "Don't need no money. Don't need a thing / I don't even need a wedding ring / All I need is love and the truth / And I got it, my gift is you". In these lyrics, Stefani "disregards material possessions

n favor of N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

Christmas" and "flaunts her newfound love with

helton Helton may refer to: * Helton, Cumbria, a village in England * Helton, Kentucky, United States * Helton, Missouri, United States * Helton Township, Ashe County, North Carolina, USA ** Helton, North Carolina, an unincorporated community in Helton To ...

Reception

"My Gift Is You" was selected as a standout track by several music critics. Sal Cinquemani from ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' singled out the track as a highlight on ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', describing it as "Stefani's obligatory entry in the canon of contemporary holiday songs in which the singer eschews all things material". Furthermore, he called the track "surprisingly capable" and wrote "like the album as a whole, tat least makes it feel like Christmas". Additionally, Lano listed "My Gift Is You" as one of the four best tracks on the record. AllMusic's

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

noted that the song, in addition to album tracks "Never Kissed Anyone with Blue Eyes Before You" and "When I Was a Little Girl", is too modern in order to be reminiscent of a Christmas tune: "'My Gift Is You' is a love song bearing the faintest hint of mistletoe". "My Gift Is You" appeared on one seasonal ''

'' component charts in the United States. On the Holiday Digital Song Sales chart, which tracks the best-selling digital holidays songs of the week, it entered and peaked at number six during the week of October 28, 2017. Out of all of the songs that appear on ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', "My Gift Is You" was the highest peaking song on the chart, with the exception of "You Make It Feel Like Christmas", which reached number four.

Live performances

Stefani first performed "My Gift Is You" during NBC's live two-hour special, Christmas in Rockefeller Center on November 29, 2017. For the show, she wore a silver-and-black triangle-pattered dress. She also performed it during her '' Gwen Stefani's You Make It Feel Like Christmas'' television special, which premiered on NBC on December 12, 2017. The special contained various songs from her holiday album and was accompanied by holiday-themed comedy sketches and skits. For the performance, men dressed as gingerbread man cookies and several background dancers wearing holiday-themed aprons and carrying mixing bowls and wooden spoons joined Stefani on stage.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas''. * Background vocals – Erica Canales, Laura Mace, Monet Owens, Dolly Sparks * Bass – Sean Hurley * Cello – Alisha Bauer, Richard Dodd, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith * Drums – Aaron Sterling * Electric guitar – Greg Camp, John Storie * Lead vocals – Gwen Stefani * Lyrics – Gwen Stefani, Justin Tranter, Busbee * Percussion, timpani – Matt Musty * Piano – Patrick Warren * Production – Eric Valentine, Busbee * Viola – Matthew Funes, Leah Katz, Darrin McCann, Kathryn Reddish * Violin – Charles Bisharat, Daphne Chen, Mario DeLeon, Eric Gorfain, Songa Lee, Natalie Leggett, Robin Olson, Joel Pargman, Michele Richards, John Wittenberg

Charts

References

{{authority control 2017 songs American Christmas songs American soul songs Gwen Stefani songs Songs written by busbee Songs written by Justin Tranter Songs written by Gwen Stefani Song recordings produced by busbee