Why Mariah Carey Avoids ‘Super Specific’ Lyrics in Her Music
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Mariah Carey has one big rule when it comes to songwriting: make sure the lyrics apply to as many listeners as possible. Rolling Stone can exclusively share a snippet of Carey’s upcoming “Portrait of a Portrait” episode on Audible’s Words + Music series, out Thursday.
“One thing that’s something I try to do is to not really get super specific because I don’t want somebody else not to be able to take the lyrics I’ve written and have them heal themselves and have those lyrics pertain to whatever situation they’re going through,” Carey says in the exclusive clip.
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“Oftentimes, it might be super personal to me but I leave it basic so it can also be somebody else’s way of releasing whatever emotional feelings or whatever they’re going through,” she adds.
Carey reflects on her own listening habits as a youngster, and how she’d connect to specific lines, even without having any idea what the songwriter wanted to evoke.
“I’d be like ‘That’s my song,’ just because one little part, to me, as a teenager, I’d be like, ‘That’s exactly what I’m going through,'” Carey says. “I have no idea what the person who wrote those lyrics meant by that, but for me, at the time, it was all about me.”
Carey’s “Portraits of a Portrait” marks the 40th edition of Audible’s Words + Music. The episode is set to look into the singer’s making of “Portrait” from her album Caution, and includes an unreleased house remix of the song.
In a press release, Carey explained that “Portraits of a Portrait” is an “in-depth journey into my inner life as a songwriter, and I’m excited to welcome listeners into the Butterfly Lounge for a unique, unfiltered exploration of my creative process and the meaning behind some of the songs closest to my heart.”
Among the artists that have participated in Audible’s Words + Music are John Legend, Eddie Vedder, Snoop Dogg, Patti Smith, Alice Cooper, Alanis Morisette, St. Vincent, and Liz Phair.
The new episode comes just a day after the singer joined Muni Long for a remix of “Made for Me.” She also debuted her Emancipation of Mimi Las Vegas show last month. When discussing the residency with told Rolling Stone in April, Carey said, “There’s just something about that time period and about everything that went into my work, my music, and my life at that time that really is the essence of who I am.”
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