“It’s time.”
Mariah Carey delivered her message while singing in a pitch nearly outside the range of human hearing. Time for what? you may wonder as you watch the clip of a latex-clad Carey pumping away on an exercice bike. Time for rent reform? A gas bill strike? The end of fossil fuel production? No, it’s time for Christmas, Carey reminds us, as her Halloween costume transforms into a sexy Santa suit.
Two things are usually true on 1 November: you’re bound to find some discounted bulk candy at the convenience store, and you might hear All I Want for Christmas Is You echo through the aisles while you shop.
And if you manage to escape it on Tuesday, you won’t avoid it for long. The song is inescapable, and it managed to re-enter the Billboard Hot 100 list last year at No 1, with 37.6m streams in the US alone.
The mega hit became an instant classic after its release on 29 October 1994, earning Carey more than $60m in royalties. It became the 11th-biggest-selling single of all time with 16m sales, just under Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On. That’s justice for the singer, who reportedly did not want to record a Christmas song at the time, considering it a move for hacks and has-beens. Nearly 30 years later, Carey seems quite content making the most out of the mere 55 days she has to capitalize on holiday cheer.
Vocabulary :
- to manage - succeed in surviving or in achieving something despite difficult circumstances.
- to earn - obtain (money) in return for labour or services.
- fossil fuel - a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms.
- nearly - very close to; almost.
Source: The Guardian