Under The Mistletoe

Album: When Christmas Comes Around... (2020)
Charted: 61 59
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a festive love song where Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge duet about their feelings for each other. Apprehensive about making a move, their love is unrequited, but "magic fills the air" when they meet under the mistletoe.
  • Mistletoe is an evergreen plant that grows on trees as a branched bush, with translucent white berries. It is often used as a Christmas decoration.

    According to a Christmas custom, any two people who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are urged to kiss. The origin of the tradition may have stemmed from either the Celtic belief that mistletoe symbolizes fertility or the Anglo-Saxons who associated the plant with Frigga (the goddess of love).

    Other festive songs that reference the plant include Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe," Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe And Wine" and Colbie Caillat's "Mistletoe."
  • Clarkson wrote the flirty holiday song with her guitarist, Aben Eubanks. Their other collaborations include the title track of the singer's 2013 festive album Wrapped In Red.
  • The two artists both have a well-documented love of the festive holiday. Wrapped in Red was a big success for Clarkson, becoming the best-selling Christmas release in the United States in 2013. Eldredge's own 2016 holiday collection, Glow, was also a hit.
  • Kelly Clarkson and Brett Eldredge sang the song together during the December 2, 2020 Christmas in Rockefeller Center special. The pair's performance was the last of the night, before the iconic tree in New York City was lit.

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