A column dedicated to great songs, old and new.
January 17, 2006
Written by Mariah Carey
From Music Box, Sony Records, 1993
I'm just going to say it right out front: I love Mariah Carey. And it's not just because, as video director Joseph Kahn once put it, she looks "like Anime come to life", though her curvy good looks do happen to be right up my alley. I love Mariah for so many reasons: for starters, she's a technically amazing vocalist, a determined artist who wouldn't let consecutive project failures defeat her spirit, and a savvy songwriter who has written with the great Carole King (amongst many others). In addition, as a mixed-race person, I appreciate that Mariah has been a subtle-but-proud advocate for mixed-race folks and the mixed-race experience. After about 5 years as the butt of mean-spirited (read: envious) jokes and snide write-offs, I was one of the few people not surprised at all when Mariah re-emerged in 2005 with a wildly successful straight-out R&B album, The Emancipation of Mimi, which is filled with choice grooves, killer vocals, and a fun vibe that recalls the earlier hit I will discuss here, "Dreamlover."
Music Box
Mariah Carey
"Dreamlover" is pure, frothy pop. It flows along so sweetly and lightly, it's easy to dismiss the wide-eyed innocence which the lyric imparts. With her talk of rainbows, charm bracelets, music boxes, and butterflies, I've always thought that 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. One might conjecture that Carey's use of these images is simply a calculated manipulation of her targeted demographic (young females), or, worse, an indication of a kind of stunted emotional growth, but I happen to be of the opinion that she really likes that kinda stuff (her cover of Def Leppard's big-haired suburban classic "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" supports this theory, as far I'm concerned). Her penchant for this imagery of course completely precludes Mariah from ever earning the type of indie-cred heaped upon folks like PJ Harvey or the early incarnation of Liz Phair, but it certainly doesn't warrant automatic dismissal of her work as an artist.
Some of Mariah's older recordings are bathed in a kind of gauzy prettiness that isn't always to my taste, (even if her singing is outstanding throughout), but "Dreamlover", produced by Carey with Dave Hall and Sony uber-producer Walter Afanasieff, has a rhythmic flair that keeps things pumping. The lyrics also contain some memorable lines, once you dig deeper. I've always liked the first few lines of the second verse, which are an interesting mix of Mariah's childlike innocence, and her very grown-up cynicism and world-weariness:
Don't want another pretender
To disillusion me one more time
Whispering words of forever,
Playing with my mind...
The rest of the lyric is a description of, and a call for, the mythic Dreamlover; someone to take her away, to "rescue" her. Fluffy-seeming stuff, sure, but very possibly also an expression of the simplest of romantic dreams: to find the right person and to be taken care of. Musically, a funky beat drives the thing, Afanasieff's Hammond B3 flourishes add an old-school vibe, and Mariah's layered vocals coo and caress your ears. I'm a fan of her ultra-high frequency vocal "whistle", and she puts it to good use here, as a harmony on the extremely catchy musical hook, which incorporates a sample of the Emotions' "Blind Alley", written by soul man David Porter. I know Mariah has been blamed for every over-singing female vocalist since 1990, but the truth is, when she does her thing, no one can touch her, and she actually seldom goes overboard in the same crass way her imitators do. On "Dreamlover", especially, she keeps a close, tasteful rein on the acrobatics.
If you're a fan of, as my friend Adam would say, "appropriately-cool" female songwriters like India.Arie, Aimee Mann, PJ Harvey, Mia Doi Todd, Lucinda Williams, Vienna Teng, Karen Peris, etc., but have stayed away from Mariah out of disdain for the pop machine (or Maxim photo shoots), I encourage you to give her a chance, especially if you have a soft spot for R&B. Start with the latest record, The Emancipation of Mimi, which in my opinion is the R&B album of the year, and definitely her best collection to date. You can then navigate through her back catalog and find other nice things, including "Dreamlover" and the majorly-maligned (even by Mariah herself) Glitter project, which has some very cool sonic references to 80s R&B. You're bound to find something you can dig.
And who knows...you may even develop a new respect for unicorns, rainbows, and charm bracelets, too.
pcm
Purchase:
Music Box
$10.99 at Amazon.com
$11.99 at Tower
Records