Santa Tell Me

Album: Single Release Only (2014)
Charted: 8 11
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Songfacts®:

  • This self-penned holiday single finds Ariana Grande singing of feeling let down by Santa as he didn't grant her Christmas wish. She said during a live stream Q&A with Arianators the song is, "sort of about being fed up with Santa because he doesn't necessarily pull through all the time."
  • This was Ariana's second holiday release following her 2013 Christmas Kisses EP. That record contained two original songs: "Love Is Everything" and "Snow In California" as well as a couple of covers.
  • Ariana performed the song for the first time on November 18, 2014 at the A Very Grammy Christmas concert in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
  • Seven years after releasing the song, Grande joined Kelly Clarkson to deliver a holiday tune with a similar theme. "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" finds the two singers telling Santa to forget all the Christmas festivities. What they want from Saint Nick is to make their dreams come true and send them a lover.
  • The Alfredo Flores and Jones Crow-directed video is a cheery low-budget clip filled with Grande dancing with her friends, laughing and giving gifts. But the original vision was far more... unconventional.

    In an interview with Spotify Billions Club, Grande revealed a "funny story" about the video's creation. The one we see online was actually a last-minute backup plan, filmed with minimal resources. The original concept showed Grande in "weird Christmas lingerie" playfully whacking Santa with a candy cane.

    "That was something that I was really insistent on," Grande admitted, convinced the visual perfectly captured the song's vibe. "Believe you me, I know." But the label had other ideas. "Hey, honey, I don't think we can use this," they gently advised before vetoing the clip.

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