"Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?" is a song written by

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the w ...

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was in ...

and

Will Jennings Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs " Tears in Heaven" and " My Heart Will Go On". He has been inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has wo ...

for the movie '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' in 2000. In the film, it is first sung by

Taylor Momsen Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and Je ...

, who played

Cindy Lou Who ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by ste ...

wrote a full-length pop version of the song with additional lyrics, renamed "Where Are You Christmas?", for the film's soundtrack. The song was originally recorded by Carey, but because of a

legal case A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mo ...

with her ex-husband

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

, it could not be released, so it was re-recorded and released by

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

. A

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

of Hill's rendition was released December 11, 2000. A video was released featuring Hill singing from the

Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff ...

's mountaintop home, interspersed with clips from the film and a cameo appearance by Momsen as Cindy Lou Who.

Composition

"Where Are You Christmas?" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

written by James Horner and Will Jennings, with additional lyrics provided by Mariah Carey. The song is composed in the key of

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and ...

and set to a slow tempo of 56 BPM. Hill's vocals range almost two octaves, from F to E. In a 2021 interview with ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...

'', Carey stated that she thought "up the song's bridge, which transforms melancholy into triumph, in the car en route to work with" Horner.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' ranked "Where Are You Christmas?" at number 6 on a list of the top 50

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

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 ...

s, writing that the song was "touching" and that "Hill performs it like a woman at the top of her game, which she certainly was". Describing the song as underrated, Pip Ellwood-Hughes of ''Entertainment Focus'' praised Hill's vocal performance, writing that " hesounds incredible as she unleashes the full range of her powerful voice". Conversely, Cameron Martin of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' labeled the song as one of the top ten "most annoying" holiday songs. Steve Simels of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'' was critical of "Where Are You Christmas?" in his review of the Grinch film, writing that "none but the thoroughly perverse of hearing should stick around for the closing credits and Faith Hill warbling" the song.

Label dispute

The release of the song was involved with some controversy between American singer Mariah Carey, who co-wrote the song with

and

, against her former husband

, the chairman and CEO of

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

at the time. During their divorce, Mottola blocked Carey's release of the song due to an ongoing legal battle. In 2020, during the promotion for her

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

, Carey revealed on a ''

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen ''Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen'' (abbreviated ''WWHL'', previously named ''Watch What Happens Live!'') is an American pop culture-based late-night talk show hosted by Andy Cohen, that premiered on Bravo on July 16, 2009. The show fea ...

'' episode that "she did record it, and she does have the demo somewhere" but that she would have to "dig back into the vault to find erversion". In 2021, she said that she is "enthusiastic but hesitant" to release her version of the song.

Cover versions

"Where Are You Christmas?" has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

by a variety of artists since its release, including

JoJo Siwa Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa (; born May 19, 2003) is an American dancer, singer, actress and YouTuber. She is known for appearing for two seasons on '' Dance Moms'' along with her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and for her singles " Boomerang" and "Kid ...

, Ali & Theo,

The Blenders The Blenders are a vocal quartet based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (not to be confused with the 1960s vocal quartet of the same name that was led by Steve Smith, appeared on the ''Lawrence Welk Show'' for two years, and disbanded in 1967). History ...

, Charlie Miller, The Country Piano Players, Dominik Hauser, Elizabeth South,

Jim McDonough Jimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They are best known for their 1999 single "Do Right" off their album ''Bring Your Own Stereo''. In 1996 they Signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and released ...

, John Tracy,

Mannheim Steamroller Mannheim Steamroller is an American neoclassical new-age music ensemble founded and directed by percussionist/composer Chip Davis in 1974. The group is known primarily for its '' Fresh Aire'' series of albums, which blend classical music with ...

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television personality, and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees, and later starred in the reality series '' Newl ...

, Steven C, and

Sue Keller Sue Keller (born July 7, 1952 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American ragtime pianist and singer, who has released several albums. As a child, she had flute and singing lessons, and also played guitar. She attended DePauw University. She play ...

. In 2018, American group

Pentatonix Pentatonix (abbreviated PTX) is an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, currently consisting of vocalists Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Matt Sallee. Characterized by their pop-style arrangem ...

also recorded an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

version of the song.

Commercial performance

"Where Are You Christmas?" peaked at number 10 on the ''

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 adverti ...

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart in January 2001, becoming Hill's fifth top ten single at that format. The song experienced

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

success at radio, peaking at number 26 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart and at number 40 on the

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart, in addition to reaching a peak position of 65 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2013, "Where Are You Christmas?" peaked at number 15 on the seasonal Holiday 100 chart, on which it has continued making appearances throughout the 2010s. The song has never entered the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record ...

, but did reach a peak position of 38 of the

Hot Canadian Digital Songs The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

component chart in 2018. "Where Are You Christmas" was placed seventh on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles in SoundScan history in 2016. As of December 2019, total digital sales of the Faith Hill recording has reached 1,002,000 downloads according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

Charts

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2000 singles 2009 singles American Christmas songs Faith Hill songs Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director) Pop ballads Songs with lyrics by Will Jennings Songs written for films Songs written by James Horner Songs written by Mariah Carey Film theme songs Warner Records singles 2000 songs 2000s ballads The Grinch (franchise) Country ballads