Mariah Carey trashed by 'All I Want for Christmas' co-writer

[Teletubby 149,667]

Mariah Carey has previously said that she wrote her hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on her Casio keyboard as a child — but her former co-producer and co-writer, Walter Afanasieff, claims otherwise.

He’s boldly claimed she just “doesn’t understand music.”

He and Mariah co-created the song shortly after collaborating on her 1993 album “Music Box.” Afanasieff said the two of them were originally on the same page about the song — but about 10 years ago, there was suddenly an “alternate story” being told.

“When she started to hint at the fact that, ‘Oh, I wrote that song when I was a little girl!’ But why weren’t you saying that for 12 or 13 or 15 years prior to that? So it just sort of developed in her mind,” he said.

Mariah told Billboard in 2017 that she came up with the song when she was just a kid. “I am proud of this song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.” 

Afanasieff has now come forward to boldly claim that Mariah is actually musically challenged.
“She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play keyboard or piano. She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory or anything like that. She doesn’t know a diminished chord from a minor seventh chord to a major seventh chord.” 
“So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale,”
“I’ve studied music, I have degrees in music. I’m an accomplished orchestrator and arranger. I teach music. I’m not a schlump. I don’t play by ear.”

Afanasieff said he and Carey came up with the song together while working on three songs for her Christmas album, “Merry Christmas.” He said the singer was responsible for the melodies and lyrics while he took charge of the music and chords.

However, Carey told a different version of the events in her documentary.  She implied that she started the song on her own before “getting in the studio” with Afanasieff.
source

[Rat Boy 43,566]

6 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

“So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale,”

 

Anything is possible with the guidance of the Christmas Spirit!!  

[Babel 41,489]

We shouldnt be paying attention about anything he has to say.

 

 

[Addison Rae 16,722]

Walter is still a pressed rat after all these years? Shocking 

[Nemo 4,293]

9 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

He said the singer was responsible for the melodies and lyrics while he took charge of the music and chords.

"Melodies and lyrics" sounds like a song to me. I don't fully understand the distinction that he's drawing here. But what do I know, I play by ear.

[Maxine Puth 9,053]

You can be a great songwriter / musician without studying music.  Stevie Nicks says hi. 

[littlepotter 75,146]

What a dumbass. So basically he's confirming she did come up with the main melody and lyrics, and he took care of the musicality and building the chords or whatever, which is completely normal. Idk why he expects her to be an expert in music theory, or why he expects people to think she is.

[Killa 17,478]

Not him putting down people who play by ear 

the harmony isnt that complex you moron, girl please.

did she even said she come up with the harmony. He didnt even Denied she came up with the melody and lyrics, as if thats not half of the job…

[djBuffoon 12,123]

He sounds like a delight. 

[Madame Goo Goo 3,865]

Sue her if its true then rat 😒

I don’t think Mariah ever tried to claim that she wrote the song in its current state, arrangement and all, as a child, and I don’t think most people took it that way! 

[Economy 49,803]

Lol this sounds like a classic case of when u stretch the truth so much that even tho ur not totally lying and there's some truth to it, ur being totally misleading

 

Probably she came up with some lyrics and melody and portions as a kid that became part of this song so there's an element of it in the song but shes telling it like she wrote the song as a whole when she was young

 

Tbh I'm sure artists do this constantly. They word stuff about their work to make it sound like they did more than they did...

 

Maybe partially based on reality but totally misleading 

 

 

[nATAH 49,507]

just cash your royalty checks and go

[SharGaga 2,906]

I'm a Mariah stan and she never ever said she came up with the song as a child. She wrote the song after Tommy Mottola her ex husband suggested she should make a Christmas album in 92/93. What kind of bs is this?

[LaLuna 12,732]

Just because you don't know music theory doesn't mean you can't write songs and sing the hell out of them. 

[YoungWildCanadian 277]

Woah. Why would he do that to himself? Male ego? Jealousy? 
dude has writing credits and royalties coming in from that so it literally is just a petty fragile ego thing that he needs it to be known she didn’t write it all by herself.