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Christmases When You Were Mine

The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection EP (2007)

“Christmases When You Were Mine” is a wistful Christmas song written and performed by Taylor. It is featured on her first extended play The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007).
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Background and Lyrical Theme

Lyrically, “Christmases When You Were Mine” fixates on prior Holidays, in which the song’s protagonist was happier. Taylor’s goal was to write a song that differentiated itself from most other Christmas songs. Before performing the song live on the Today Show in December 2007, she said:

«'Christmases When You Were Mine' is one of the original songs that I wrote on this album. And when we went in to decide that we're gonna do a Christmas album I was like, 'Well, there's got to be something really original and different about it, or else there's no use doing it. So, this song I think is really different because it's a different spin on a Christmas song. My favorite kind of thing to write about is heartbreak or something like that. And a lot of times during the Holidays you're reminiscing about Holidays past, maybe with people you're not around anymore. And so this song is really special to me and I hope it's a little bit different than any other Holiday song.»

Taylor Swift
It is the only song to date that Taylor has ever recorded in which Nathan Chapman is credited as a co-writer. In all of their other collaborations, Chapman is only credited as a producer, while Taylor and sometimes other songwriters are listed as the songwriters.

Live Performances

While promoting the Holiday Collection, Taylor performed “Christmases When You Were Mine” twice. She debuted it live at the Jingle Fest on November 25, 2007, and also performed it on December 25 (Christmas Day) on the Today Show. She hasn’t performed the song since.

Critical Reception

Critics praised Taylor’s self-written material on the album. David Yonke in The Blade wrote that he wished the EP had been longer, and selected two tracks as highlights: “Christmases When You Were Mine” (“a mature, wistful ballad”) and “Santa Baby” (“a sassy wink-and-a-nod”). A review in the Deseret News by Scott Iwasaki complimented Taylor’s self-penned songs and said the EP overall was fine. Jonathan Takiff from the Philadelphia Daily News praised the original tracks with “the high gloss”.

Commercial Performance

All of the tracks from the album except “Christmas Must Be Something More” received airplay on several country radio stations and therefore each charted on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. “Christmases When You Were Mine” peaked at No. 48.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Please take down the mistletoe
‘Cause I don’t want to think about that right now
‘Cause everything I want is miles away
In a snow covered little town
My momma’s in the kitchen, worrying about me
Season’s greetings, hope you’re well
Well I’m doing alright
If you were wondering
Lately I can never tell

[Chorus]
I know this shouldn’t be a lonely time
But there were Christmases when you were mine

[Verse 2]
I’ve been doing fine without you, really
Up until the nights got cold
And everybody’s here, except you, baby
Seems like everyone’s got someone to hold

[Chorus]
But for me it’s just a lonely time
‘Cause there were Christmases when you were mine

[Verse 3]
Merry Christmas, everybody
That’ll have to be something I just say this year
I’ll bet you got your mom another sweater
And were your cousins late again?
When you were putting up the lights this year
Did you notice one less pair of hands?

[Chorus]
I know this shouldn’t be a lonely time
But there were Christmases when I didn’t wonder how you are tonight
‘Cause there were Christmases when you were mine

[Outro]
You were mine

The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection EP (Big Machine Records, 2007)
General Information
ArtistTaylor Swift
AlbumThe Taylor Swift Holiday Collection EP
ReleasedOctober 14, 2007
Recorded2007
GenreCountry
Length3:06
LabelBig Machine Records
SongwritersTaylor Swift
Liz Rose
Nathan Chapman
ProducerNathan Chapman
Live Performance
Official Audio

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