Faith Hill had a hit holiday single in 2000, with “Where Are You Christmas“. The song is from the blockbuster film How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Written by Mariah Carey, James Horner, and Will Jennings, Hill was, perhaps surprisingly, not the first choice to sing “Where Are You Christmas”.
Videos by American Songwriter
Instead, the song was written with Carey in mind. But according to My Merry Christmas, at the time, Carey was part of a lengthy lawsuit with her former husband, Tommy Mottola. Her legal troubles prohibited Carey from releasing any new music, including this holiday song.
Carey did record a version of the song. But since she was still in the middle of the lawsuit, Hill was tapped to replace Carey. But Carey fans need not fear. She reportedly makes a few million dollars a year, still, from her 1994 song, “All I Want For Christmas Is You“.
Hill was at the peak of her career when “Where Are You Christmas” came out. At the time, she had a string of consecutive hit singles, including “Breathe”, “The Way You Love Me”, and “Let’s Make Love”, a duet with her husband, Tim McGraw. After “Where Are You Christmas”, Hill returned to the charts with “If My Heart Had Wings” and “There You’ll Be”.
The Message Behind “Where Are You Christmas”
Faith Hill appears in the video for “Where Are You Christmas”, which also shows clips from the hit movie.
“Where Are You Christmas” says, “Where are you, Christmas? / Do you remember / The one you used to know? / I’m not the same one / See what the time’s done / Is that why you have let me go?.
The bridge says, “Christmas is here / Everywhere, oh / Christmas is here / If you care / If there is love in your heart and your mind / You will feel like Christmas all the time.”
“Where Are You Christmas” also marked a career first for Hill.
“I’ve never recorded a Christmas song,” Hill tells CBS. “So to have the opportunity to work with a project like this one, with a story that I grew up with, and with a song that is so beautiful. It didn’t leave my memory the first time I heard it.”
“It’s like a little piece of the movie is part of this video, and it’s very magical,” she adds. “It puts you in the spirit.”
Earlier this year, Taylor Momsen, who plays the role of Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, recorded a rock version of the song.
Photo by Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
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