"Secret Santa" is a song by American singer

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 the 2018 reissue of 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 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. The song was sent to Italian radio stations for airplay on November 30, 2018 as the second single in Italy and the album's third overall. It serves as one of two previously unreleased original tracks on the reissued album. "Secret Santa" is a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

accompanied by an acoustic guitar and castanets. It contains flirtatious lyrics and metaphors that reference the Christmas tradition of

Secret Santa Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift giver is to remain a secret and should not be revealed. Deriving from the ...

. Critically, "Secret Santa" was noted as an adult-oriented Christmas song; Stefani compared the song to the 1953 single " Santa Baby". One music critic felt it helped enhance the parent album's track listing and was a Christmas crowd pleaser. In the United States, "Secret Santa" was the deluxe edition's most successful song 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 component chart. It debuted and peaked at number 17 in November 2018 and became one of sixteen consecutive top 40 entries for Stefani. Italian singer-songwriter Tiziano Ferro released a cover of "Secret Santa" to his

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account on Christmas Eve in 2018.

Background and recording

In October 2017,

released her first Christmas album, '' You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', a collection of six original songs and six covers of Christmas standards. Before the holiday season, the singer took to her social media accounts in September 2018 to announce a deluxe version of the album due for release on October 26. According to Stefani, the 2017 release was successful enough to warrant the addition of new tracks. Handled by

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 reissue features five new songs, including two originals – "Cheer for the Elves" and "Secret Santa" – composed by Stefani,

, 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 ...

. Alongside the deluxe edition release of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', "Secret Santa" was made available for digital consumption on October 26, 2018. In Italy, the song was marketed as a single and distributed for nationwide airplay on November 30 of the same year. It serves as the second Italian single and third overall from ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas''; in Italy, her cover of “ Santa Baby” served as the album's lead single, whereas the title track was marketed as the first in the United States. On December 24, 2018, Italian singer-songwriter Tiziano Ferro released a cover of "Secret Santa" to his official

account. The video's caption read: "Times change, but my love and gratitude for y fansdoes not. My friends, I hope you have a fantastic Christmas."

Composition and lyrics

"Secret Santa" is a romantic

. The song's beat contains overlays of an acoustic guitar and castanets arrangements. The production was handled by Busbee and Eric Valentine, the two producers for the entirety of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas''. Additional instrumentation for the song was provided by a full orchestra, consisting of instruments such as drums, keyboards, trombones, trumpets, strings, violas, and violins. "Secret Santa" was engineered by Valentine and mixed by Dave Clauss. Jonathan Sterling served as assistant engineer whereas Busbee and Dave Way served as lead vocals engineers with assistance from Peter Chun. Laura Mace, Monet Owens, and Dolly Sparks provided background vocals for the track with arrangements from Grace Potter. During the songwriting process, Stefani was determined to create a "classic Christmas carol" that would become a repeat listen year after year; from her sessions with Tranter and Busbee, she created eight original songs, with "Secret Santa" being one of them. Lyrically, the song tells the story of a couple who are preparing to exchange Christmas presents with each other as part of the

Christmas tradition, but have decided to complete the swap intimately and at midnight. When interviewed during a ''

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

in 2018, Stefani herself described the song as better suited for adults. She said: " Secret Santa'sort of reminds me of like a 'Santa Baby' lane ... in the sense of like a little sexy song." Within the chorus, Stefani sings: "Let's play Secret Santa in the dark / Don't tell anybody where we are / There's no limit to the ways that we can celebrate / A midnight gift exchange of heart".

Reception

Giulia Ciavarelli, from the Italian magazine ''

TV Sorrisi e Canzoni ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' (''TV Smiles and Songs'') is an Italian weekly listings magazine published in Segrate, Italy. History and profile ''TV Sorrisi e Canzoni'' was established in 1952. Based in Segrate, Milan, the magazine is published by ...

'', described "Secret Santa" as the perfect Christmas party anthem. In regards to its addition on the deluxe edition of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'', Ciavarelli suggested that it does not change the album's tone, but rather enriches it. Keith Caulfield and Katie Atkinson, both writers for ''Billboard'', described "Secret Santa" as the exact opposite of the deluxe edition's other new song ("Cheer for the Elves"), writing that it "goes in a more grown-up direction". In the United States, "Secret Santa" did not enter ''Billboard''s

Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally sta ...

chart, but rather the Holiday Digital Song Sales component chart. On the edition for the week ending November 10, 2018, the song debuted and peaked at number 17, becoming the highest new entry from the 2018 deluxe edition of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas'' and one of five tracks to be ranked on that particular issue. It was her seventh highest-peaking song and one of sixteen consecutive top 40 hits on the chart.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''You Make It Feel Like Christmas''. * Gwen Stefanilead vocals, lyrics * Justin Tranterlyrics * busbeelyrics, production * Eric Valentineengineering, production * Peter Slocombebaritone saxophone, tenor saxophone * Sean Hurleybass * Ryan Dragonbass trombone, tenor trombone * Matthew Mustydrums * Greg Campguitar * John Storieguitar * Patrick Warrenkeyboards, synth strings * Blair Sintapercussion * Eric Hughestrombone * Daniel Fornerotrumpet * Dave Richardstrumpet * Mike Rochatrumpet * Rob Mooseviola, violin * Adam Ayanmastering * Dave Claussmixing * Laura Macebackground vocals * Monet Owensbackground vocals * Dolly Sparksbackground vocals

Charts

Release history

References

{{Gwen Stefani songs 2010s ballads 2018 singles 2018 songs American Christmas songs Gwen Stefani songs Interscope Records singles Pop ballads Song recordings produced by busbee Songs about Santa Claus Songs written by busbee Songs written by Gwen Stefani Songs written by Justin Tranter