"It's Not Christmas Without You" is a song performed by American actress and singer Victoria Justice, written by Dan Schneider and its producers, Eric Goldman and Michael Corcoran, for the Nickelodeon television series Victorious. It was released on December 3, 2011, as a single from the compilation album, Merry Nickmas!, on which it was included as the second track.[1]
Release[]
A preview of "It's Not Christmas Without You" was shared exclusively on the AOL website on December 2, 2011. It was revealed the single would be released on iTunes the following day, the same day as the acoustic version of "You're the Reason".[2] It was also later released on the website of Victorious, TheSlap.[3] It's the only song from the series released on official music platforms, which isn't included on any of its soundtrack albums or extended plays, possibly due to being a Christmas song. However, it was eventually included on Merry Nickmas!, a Nickelodeon compilation album released on November 19, 2012, along with the covers of "Sleigh Ride" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", also performed by Victoria Justice.
The single's commercial cover art features only the words on a green background, making it the only cover not featuring any member of the Victorious cast. For some reason, however, on Justice's Myspace account, the single release has a different cover, this time with a photo of the entire cast – Ariana Grande, Elizabeth Gillies, Justice, Avan Jogia, Daniella Monet, Matt Bennett, and Leon Thomas III – apparently taken during the filming of the episode in which the song was performed.[4]
Appearance in Victorious[]

"It's Not Christmas Without You" was performed by Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice) with Jade West (portrayed by Elizabeth Gillies), Cat Valentine (portrayed by Ariana Grande), and André Harris (portrayed by Leon Thomas III), in the episode "A Christmas Tori", that premiered the same date of the single's release. In the series' universe, the song was written by André. He wrote it for the class of Anthony (portrayed by Eme Ikwuakor), but he got his first ever D, much to his disappointment. Meanwhile, there's a Christmas event at Hollywood Arts High School, where every student and teacher becomes a secret Santa for another person. Tori is André's Santa, but has a trouble with the idea for a gift for him. Jade is Tori's Santa and gives her an idea for a gift for André, which is to perform at school in front of Anthony, so that he can get a better grade. Anthony, being impressed by Tori's performance, changes André's grade to A.
A performance of this episode is later used during the closing credits of the episode "Robbie Sells Rex" that aired on December 15, 2012 (most likely due to it being the last episode to air before Christmas that year, as it wasn't a Christmas episode itself).
Journalistic commentary[]
"It's Not Christmas Without You" was overlooked by journalists at the time of its release, but positive reviews emerged retrospectively. Miranda of radio station WKNC-FM included the single in her list of five favorite songs from Victorious in 2020, stating it "is great to put you into a Christmas mood".[5] Similarly, Casey Clark from Young Hollywood also included the track in her list of her five favorite Christmas songs from Disney Channel and Nickelodeon in 2022.[6]
Chart performance[]
"It's Not Christmas Without You" failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, the main chart in the United States. The song eventually spent a week on the Holiday Digital Songs chart at number 23. It also spent four weeks and peaked at number five on the now-discontinued Kid Digital Song Sales chart.[7]
Chart | Week of | Week number | Peak position |
---|---|---|---|
Holiday Digital Song Sales | January 14, 2012 | 1 | 23 |
Kid Digital Song Sales | December 17, 2011 | 1 | Unknown |
December 24, 2011 | 2 | 5 | |
December 31, 2011 | 3 | Unknown | |
January 7, 2012 | 4 |
Credits[]
- Personnel
- Demian Arriaga – Drums
- Michael "Backhouse Mike" Corcoran – Arranger, background vocals, mixing engineer, producer, writer
- Elizabeth Gillies – Vocals
- Eric Goldman – Arranger, background vocals, producer, writer
- Ariana Grande – Vocals
- Zack Hexum – Background vocals, saxophone
- Gabe Johnson – Trumpet
- Victoria Justice – Vocals
- Stephen Marcussen – Mastering engineer
- Dan Schneider – Arranger, writer
- Leon Thomas III – Vocals
- Niki Watkins – Background vocals
- Management
- Published by Tunes by Nickelodeon Inc. (ASCAP); Mmm Assetco LP (BMI); Music by Nickelodeon Inc. (BMI)[8][9]
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Carolers singing, sleigh bells are ringing
It's that time of year
Everyone's toasting, chestnuts are roasting
Christmas time is near
Something's missing and I'm wishing
Wishing that you knew
How much it would mean to spend this
Christmas time with you
[Pre-chorus 1]
So if you feel it coming
On this special day
Just trust your heart
Don't let your head get in the way
[Chorus 1]
'Cause it's Christmas
And the start of something new
But it's Christmas
And I hope you feel it too
Candy canes and mistletoe
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
But all of it means nothing
Without you
Without you
[Verse 2]
Just for a minute, you get a feeling
Look up in the sky
Santa's here, so get in the spirit
Just give it a try
Children beaming and I'm dreaming
Hoping that it's true
'Cause it would mean so much to spend this
Christmas time with you
[Pre-chorus 2]
So if you feel it comin'
On this special day
Just trust your heart
'Cause I can't wait to hear you say
[Chorus 2]
That it's Christmas
And the start of something new
Well it's Christmas, and I hope you will feel it too
Everyone together sing
Silver bells and golden rings
But all of it means nothing
Without you, yeah (no, no, no)
[Outro]
It's not Christmas (Christmas) without you, you, you
It's not Christmas (Christmas) without you, you, you
It's not Christmas (ah-yeah-oh) without you, you, you
It's not Christmas without you
Trivia[]
- "It's Not Christmas Without You" is Victoria Justice's first Christmas song.
- The line "Jack Frost nipping at your nose" is a reference to Jack Frost, a folk character who is the personification of cold weather and winter.
- It was included on three compilation albums: Sony Music's Christmas Pop (2016), Legacy's Ultimate Christmas Hits (2017), and Sony and Universal's 101 Christmas Classics (2017).[10][11][12]
- It appears on a Very TeenNick Holiday playlist created by TeenNick on Spotify.[13]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/its-not-christmas-without-you-single/485160632
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111206102155/https://blog.music.aol.com/2011/12/02/victoria-justice-its-not-christmas-without-you-video/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20111204153545/http://www.theslap.com/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160308113225/https://myspace.com/victoriajustice/music/album/it-s-not-christmas-without-you-18214838
- ↑ https://wknc.org/2020/09/13/the-victorious-soundtrack-a-hidden-gem/
- ↑ https://younghollywood.com/scene/5-throwback-disney-nick-songs-you-need-on-your-holiday-playlist.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220326105349/https://www.billboard.com/charts/search/results/?chart-artistname=Victorious+Cast+Featuring+Victoria+Justice&chart-charttitle=Its+Not+Christmas+Without+You&chart-label=Nickelodeon
- ↑ https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/911091101
- ↑ https://repertoire.bmi.com/Search/Search?SearchForm.Main_Search=Title&SearchForm.Main_Search_Text=IT+S+NOT+CHRISTMAS+WITHOUT+YOU&SearchForm.Sub_Search=Writer/Composer&SearchForm.Sub_Search_Text=CORCORAN+MICHAEL+THOMAS
- ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/christmas-pop/1150492626
- ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/ultimate-christmas-hits-legacy--mr0004777655
- ↑ https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2353008/101-Christmas-Classics
- ↑ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3OsuaQRbGeBqrGyKauBX7R