By the time 2005 rolled around, Mariah Carey had gone from being the most successful music artist of the 90s to not having had a genuine hit in 5 years apart from a guest spot on a Busta Rhymes track. If expectations for her 2005 release The Emancipation Of Mimi were shaky, it was with good reason. Little did anyone know that Mariah would release her biggest and most influential song in a decade (if not ever) with "We Belong Together."

As Pop Journalism's Robert Ballantyne wrote in naming it the top song of 2005, on the surface "We Belong Together" seems like a trademark Mariah ballad. There's a piano intro, a plaintive melody and vocal, and lyrics about a man Mariah can't get over. But as Ballantyne points out, "at the eight-second mark, all preconceptions get thrown out the window when that hip-hop beat kicks in." Add in the lyrical references to Bobby Womack and Babyface and Mariah's rapid-fire vocal parts (which Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly says is “so devastating you get the urge to create turmoil in your own relationship just to have an excuse to play this track”), and "We Belong Together" becomes the single that best combines Mariah's gifts as a music artist. Kalefah Sanneh writes in New York Times that the song “seems simpler than it is,” and Johnny Loftus of the Metro Times Detroit notes the “classic sensibility” of the song and says it makes for “perfect pop/R&B songwriting.” It's also, as Sal Cinquemani of Slant says, "as innovative as Mariah's been in years."

Great and innovative songs are often overlooked, though, especially by artists who haven't had the favor of radio and consumers in years. This wasn't the case with "We Belong Together." It became the summer song of 2005 and spent 14 weeks total at #1 on the Hot 100. Media sources ranging from New York Times, Metro Times Detroit, Boston Globe, and Chicago Tribune ran articles anointing “We Belong Together” the song of the summer of 2005, and it became a record-breaker. "We Belong Together" broke the BDS record for audience impressions for radio multiple times to become the most-listened to song ever in a week. It would end up spending 16 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 Airplay chart. As Stylus said in naming “We Belong Together” one of the best singles of the year, when the song came on the radio, “none of us dared to change the station.”

Another mark of a great single is often its influence. After the ascension of "We Belong Together," critics have been noting song after song being created in the same mold (i.e. pairing a pop ballad sensibility with a hip-hop beat). Slant magazine has mentioned songs by artists ranging from Jessica Simpson to Christina Milian to Ne-Yo being in the "now-popular 'We Belong Together' mold.” Katharine McPhee has told VH1 her own song "Each Other" reminds her of "We Belong Together," and Amazon.com said Paula DeAnda’s hit “Walk Away” is “like a lost track” from Mariah’s album. Perhaps the most direct evidence of the influence "We Belong Together" has had came when co-writer Johnta Austin told Billboard that he was called by Jimmy Iovine to create a song “in the same lane of ‘We Belong Together’” for Mary J. Blige. Cinquemani was thus correct when he wrote for Slant, if not for “We Belong Together,” “there wouldn’t be [Mary J. Blige’s] “’Be Without You.’” Whether or not "We Belong Together" was the first song of its kind, it's obvious that its success led to the creation of similar songs, none of which have been able to match the success of Mariah's song.

It seems pretty clear that “We Belong Together” is not only a good single and a popular one, but that it led to a trend in music. As Cinquemani stated, "Mariah's finally got her own anthem."

Mariah Carey has often received flak for her lyrics. Critics often dismiss her songs as "cliche" or as being like "high school diary entries" or "Hallmark greeting cards." Those criticisms miss the point, though. Mariah has said that she writes songs about specific situations in a general manner so that people can relate. As Devon Powers of Pop Matters wrote, "Her lyrics were exactly what you wanted them to be: simple, memorable, and absolutely true." The reason Mariah has had so many hits is that her songs strike a chord with listeners. Not only can she craft wonderful melodies that stick in the brain, but she writes lyrics that seem to describe what all of us feel.

Perhaps this is also the reason Mariah has been mistaken for not having a point of view. In a society where people fight over who gets to stand on the soapbox, Mariah writes for the people who are away from commotion living their life. She writes for the everyman who is trying to make his way in the world. She writes for the everywoman who wants nothing more than her soulmate. Madonna is one of the people who has claimed that Mariah Carey lacks a point of view, and that's an ignorant statement. Mariah writes from the point of view of a multiracial female who grew up in a family of divorce. She writes about the effects of childhood, equality, romantic yearning, and the need for self-love. If most of Mariah's lyrics are about seeking affirmation, either from yourself or others, it's because that's the universal struggle. Aren't we all looking for affirmation? Aren't wars fought between countries seeking power? Isn't welfare about helping those who need a break? Mariah's lyrics are more political and sociological than people think. She has said "Can't Take That Way" was written in reaction to the Columbine shootings. If you can't tell that strictly by reading the lyrics, it's because Mariah understands that the reasons behind those shootings aren't that far removed from the feelings that cause some people to attempt suicide and other people to remain in an abusive relationship. All pain is the same, regardless of how it manifests itself.

This also gets to how Mariah is perceived image-wise. While Madonna and Janet Jackson can wear just as little clothing as Mariah, and sleep with more men, they do not receive the same criticism that Mariah does. Mariah has always projected vulnerability. Even though Madonna has always been about getting attention, she hides it better; Mariah wears her insecurity on her sleeve (when she wears sleeves). That makes her more real, which is why Mariah has such a deep connection with her fans. Madonna seems to be above humans, Mariah is human. Her pain is our pain, even if we haven't had the same specific experiences she has. As DJ PC Munoz wrote on his web site, "Mariah possesses a kind of little-girl spirit which most female songwriters don't dare conjure, for fear of being pigeon-holed, stereotyped, or mocked by 'serious' songwriting peers and critics." Mariah's style of writing may never earn her the critical respect that indie singer/songwriters receive, but as Munoz states, that "certainly doesn't warrant automatic dismissal of her work as an artist."

As a writer, Mariah has more #1 songs than any other female composer. If nothing else, this speaks to her ability to write lyrics and melodies that touch people of different generations. Mariah also co-wrote the only holiday standard from the past 20 years in "All I Want For Christmas Is You." That tune has become one of the 10 most-played songs each holiday season, and it has been covered by everyone from My Chemical Romance to Shania Twain. Mariah has also received 5 Grammy nominations as a writer, including 2 for Song of the Year (one for "Vision Of Love" and one for "We Belong Together"). She's clearly speaking to someone.

Mariah's early songs captures the various reasons relationships end and the subsquent feelings. As Hillary Frey of Salon.com wrote, "'Someday' summed up my teenage angst and anger better than any Cure song could. And 'Love Takes Time' -- has any breakup ballad ever put it better?" As PC Munoz says, the lyrics to "Dreamlover" are "an expression of the simplest of romantic dreams: to find the right person and to be taken care of." Everyone can relate to that, so it's no wonder artists like Nelly Furtado have said they wrote songs like Mariah songs while growing up. And Mariah has started branching out as a writer. The post-divorce album Butterfly featured Mariah's most personal and detailed lyrics yet. Rich Juzwiak of Slant described "The Roof" as "vivid and sometimes shockingly clever", and "Breakdown" as having "lyrical strokes as broad and obvious as they are naked." Mariah's next studio album was Rainbow, and Danyel Smith wrote in Entertainment Weekly that lyrically it "brims with a richness and vulnerability." That sense of vulnerability always shines through.

Maybe that's what Mariah was sent here to do; serve as an outlet for those of us who need someone to give voice to the emotions we feel on a daily basis. After all, while war and politics are issues that need to be discussed, the reality is that relationship and identity issues are what most of us deal with on a daily basis.

When Mariah Carey divorced Tommy Mottola in 1997, she felt free to do a lot of things that she couldn't do when married. Mariah has said she felt stifled in her marriage with Tommy, and her 1997 album Butterfly chronicles a lot of what Mariah was going through at the time. Not coincidentally, the videos from the album seem to be her most symbolic. Mariah has denied some of the connections to her personal life and validated others, so let me state for the record that a lot of what you are about to read is pure speculation.


"Honey" - The video that introduced pop culture to a post-divorce Mariah was "Honey." Mariah has said that the concept of the "Honey" video was influenced by the 'Bond Girls' from James Bond movies, and she has said the video was just an excuse for her to wear different outfits. A lot of people thought there was more meaning in the video than Mariah let on. In the opening of the video, Mariah is being held captive by an Italian mobster, perhaps a reference to her Italian ex-husband Tommy who likened himself to 'The Don'. In the video Mariah escapes her captors, jumps off a balcony into a pool, and emerges in a bikini. The bikini in the pool scene is modeled after Bond girl Honey Ryder, who emerged from the ocean in a similar biniki in Dr. No. Bond girls are typically thought of as 'eye candy' in the James Bond movies, and they are usually victim roles. In the "Honey" video, however, Mariah escapes from her captors and rides away from them on a jet ski. Mariah was assumed to be a victim in her marriage, so just as Mariah broke free from Tommy, perhaps she was breaking free from the Bond girl stereotype. One of Mariah's captors seemed similar to Tommy, and he was holding Mariah captive in a mansion. Tommy and Mariah were living in a mansion in Bedford up until their separation, and Mariah has dubbed the mansion 'Sing Sing' because it felt like a prison to her. Or, as Mariah's co-producer Walter Afanasieff told Entertainment Weekly, "Everything in the video is 'Fuck you, Tommy.'"


"Butterfly" - The next video to be released was "Butterfly." Mariah has stated that the opening scene of the video was inspired by the Tennessee Williams play Baby Doll. That play centers on a young woman who is married to a businessman who wants a more intimate relationship with her than she wants. The play is basically about her boredom and exploitation by a seductive Italian and her abusive older husband. It isn't hard to see the parallels to Tommy's restrictions on Mariah and her subsequent relationship with Derek Jeter. The older man peeps at her in the opening of the play (like in the opening of the video), and is frustrated that he cannot see more of her. Tommy spied on Mariah in general, and perhaps wanted more from her physically (Mariah has said there wasn't a lot of sex in the marriage). In Baby Doll, Archie's failures as a businessman add to his failure to get intimate with Baby Doll. In a story reported by Vanity Fair and other sources, Mariah taunted Tommy after the 1996 Grammys by criticizing his lacking enough power to get her a Grammy. Baby Doll is a woman-child, which Mariah actually describes herself as in the Butterfly song "Close My Eyes" (and has a song titled "Babydoll" on that album). The "Butterfly" video shows Mariah visiting different parts of the house during the day as the male figure is presumably off at work. The one thing that seems to bring her happiness is a horse, which she ultimately sets free. In the Here Is Mariah Carey TV special, Mariah rides horses at the home she shared with Tommy. Perhaps letting the horse go in "Butterfly" was symbolic of letting Tommy go. In the play, Baby Doll's husband also talks about the position he holds in the town and how many people are on his side. That would be a parallel for Tommy holding the position of the head of Mariah's record label. Mariah told MTV that the scene in the video where she cuts her hands on a barbed wire fence came from a dream she had. In dreams, barbed wire is known to represent difficulty in breaking through and feeling trapped in a relationship. That clearly parallels Mariah's relationship with Tommy.


"My All" - Another video with clear symbols is "My All." Some of the images were modeled after Boticelli's The Birth Of Venus. Venus was the god of love and beauty, and some say she sprang from the sea and floated to the shore in a shell. Venus also represents the feminine, and she shines brightly as a star sometimes, but also diminishes (like feminine power). Vulcan worked to make objects that pleased Venus, but she was unable to meet his need for monogamy. Venus was torn between her husband Vulcan (Tommy), the god of destructive fire, and her true love Mars (Derek), the god of spring/fertility. She has been waiting to speak, and perhaps the man in the lighthouse represents Mars. The video could also tie into the Sirens of mythology, who were seductive and pulled mariners to their islands with their singing and eventually killed them.


"The Roof" - The video for "The Roof" found Mariah reflecting back on a rooftop party from 1983. She drives around in a limo reflecting back to a night from her past, perhaps remembering the last time she felt really free as a person. Mariah has talked about being eternally stuck in 8th grade, and 1983 wouldn't have been too far removed from that time. The most symbolic moment of the video comes toward the end when Mariah rises up through the sunroof in the limo. As Slant magazine details, "When Mariah rises through the limo's sunroof to relish the warm November rain, she's not drunk on the bubbly but on the memory of a fleeting moment of liberation." That's a fitting image to use as an end to this blog; Mariah is both liberated and vulnerable.

Some songs fit into a certain moment in time and become novelties. Other songs resonate with multiple generations. And then there are songs that force people to listen and change the way they think about music. Mariah Carey's "Vision Of Love" is one of those songs. "Vision Of Love" was a debut record that made people stop what they were doing and listen, and many listeners can still recall where they were when they first heard 'the voice.' That quality influenced an entire generation of singers and was the perfect introduction to a future superstar.

In terms of its music and production, "Vision Of Love" mixes 50s doo-wop with more modern touches. Mariah and writing partner Ben Marguiles originally wrote the song as a 50s shuffle, and producer Rhett Lawrence worked with them to change the tempo and add some extra instrumentation. Powers writes, "From its first few moments, the song demands to be legendary." It opens with some sci-fi-like synths, Mariah begins to hum, and the song turns into what one writer describes as, "Minnie Riperton baroque." Frere-Jones describes the electric piano chords as, "reminiscent of early Billy Joel—obvious, consonant, and rich." It shouldn't be a surprise that "Vision Of Love" earned Mariah and Ben a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

It also shouldn't be a surprise that Mariah Carey won a Grammy for her vocal on the song. Beyond its qualities as a song, "Vision Of Love" influenced an entire generation of female singers. Many current singers state hearing "Vision Of Love" is what led them to become singers. Beyonce has said, "'Visions Of Love', when I first heard that song, I knew it, my mind was made up, I had to be a singer." Christina Aguilera relays a similar message in saying, "When I discovered Mariah Carey and 'Vision of Love,' that was a breath of fresh air. And I adored her from that moment on and idolized her." Young singer Nivea shares this story: "I was watching 'The Arsenio Hall Show,' and Mariah was performing 'Vision of Love.' The way she projected her voice, she just had so much power. I knew then that I wanted to make people feel the way she made me feel." Mariah's soulful vocal drew comparisons to Aretha Franklin, but her vocal runs on the song were pretty unique. It is all capped by a high note toward the end that few singers can duplicate and that harkened back to Minnie Riperton. Perhaps even Minnie Riperton didn't display the control Mariah had over her instrument, though. As Devon Powers of Pop Matters wrote, "Anyone who remembers hearing that song for the first time in those days has to fondly recollect its most eye-popping moment: that note, so high it seemed humanly impossible, sung as effortlessly as if she were speaking her name."

While many people can recall first hearing "Vision Of Love" and some even say it is what made them want to sing, the influence of the song runs even deeper. "Vision Of Love" literally set the standard for female singers for the past 15 years. As Sasha Frere-Jones wrote in New Yorker, “'Vision of Love' is the Magna Carta of melisma...Carey made melisma a required move for both R. & B. singers and contestants on American Idol.” Even an artist like Nelly Furtado has said she learned to sing by listening to Mariah's debut album (including "Vision Of Love") and wrote songs similar to Mariah songs. Rich Juzwiak of Slant puts it more succinctly: "I think ['Vision Of Love'] was a vision of the future world of American Idol." In fact, two American Idol winners have said Mariah played a big part in their wanting to become singers. First season winner Kelly Clarkson told American Idol Rewind she realized she wanted to be a professional singer when she sang "Vision Of Love" in a choir solo in seventh grade. Sixth season winner Jordin Sparks told CTV that when she saw Mariah performing on an awards show, "I knew then that's what I wanted to do."

Aside from the power of Mariah's vocal, the message of "Vision Of Love" also connected with listeners. While some people have interpreted "Vision Of Love" as a love song, Mariah has said the lyrics actually describe her feelings after finally getting a record deal. The lyrics express a theme that would show up in future Mariah songs; the belief that humans can persevere and good fortune will come. Mary J. Blige describes the effect the song had on her in stating, "Mariah Carey's music saved little ghetto children's lives. Songs like 'Visions of Love' gave us hope and we would sing those songs and try to hit every note like Mariah -- which we can't." Even Snoop Dogg said, "I always tell [Mariah] this story: When I was locked up in jail, that song 'Vision of Love' was the hottest song in the world." Jay-Z, too, listened to the song while serving time. It's clear the message of "Vision Of Love" cuts through many situations. As Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly writes, "This exuberant ballad is a near-religious listening experience."

In the end, though, it all comes back to 'the voice.' It is appropriate for the first blog entry to focus on the song that first introduced the world to Mariah Carey, and it is appropriate that the song is most known for its vocal. As Frere-Jones summarizes, "'Vision Of Love,' made it clear that [Mariah's] instrument was the story—and it has remained so, through a celebrity marriage (to Tommy Mottola, then the chief of Sony Music), rumored breakdowns, and the public’s obligatory obsession with her weight." That's why Jacqueline Springer of Hip Hop Connections describes the song as Mariah's "piece de resistance."