In the world of superstar Mariah Carey and many others, Christmas can never come too soon. On Halloween night, Carey marked the start of the holiday season by smashing a pumpkin with a bat decorated like a candy cane.
Not everyone, however, has the same yuletide spirit as the “Queen of Christmas.” A bar in Dallas, Texas, called Stoneleigh P has banned patrons from playing Carey’s popular holiday earworm “All I Want for Christmas” on its jukebox before December 1. Once December begins, the hit song is only allowed to be played once a night.
“Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ will be skipped if played before Dec. 1,” a note on the jukebox reads. “After Dec. 1, the song is only allowed one time a night.”
Carey responded to a Twitter user who asked if the bar’s request was a sign of “the war on Christmas [he’s] heard about” by posting an image of herself standing on a battlefield wearing armor. The photo was from an advertisement Carey shot for the mobile video game Game of War.
The Texas bar isn’t keeping the rest of America from playing Carey’s song. Earlier this week, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” reappeared on the U.S. Top 200 charts on iTunes.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” was released in 1994 on Carey’s fourth studio album and first-holiday album, Merry Christmas. In 2019, it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time. Several musicians have covered the song over the last 27 years, including Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, Michael Bublé, Idina Menzel, and Demi Lovato.