Feeling This: "Always Be My Baby," Forever and Ever

Welcome to Feeling This, a weekly column about cool stuff site editor Chris Gayomali has been digging.

Every year, right around when the sun starts setting at a reasonable time again, I fire up the same track and listen to it 12 times in a row, multiple times a week, like a little welcome mat for spring.

As far as perfect pop songs go, Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" might just be the perfectest. As a feat it's singular, like tire-swinging all the way across a lake under the moonlight when no tree branch could conceivably stretch that far—God's own personal little pendulum, a cat toy with which to tease the rest of us.

When it debuted at the top of the Billboard charts in May of 1996, Carey's "One Sweet Day" with Boyz II Men had already been at the top spot for 16 straight weeks—a then-record that would be left untouched until "Despacito." And then, a not-even-at-the-height-of-her-powers Mariah said "hold my cabernet" and proceeded to explode the confines of what we thought was achievable at the top of the pop world.

Not only was "Always Be My Baby" her 11th No. 1 single—it was a fuck-you to history. The trick, I think, is the song starts off in the realm of convention and then it uses all these nifty, understated tricks to surprise you with something new. There's the fingerpicked guitar-that-doesn't-really-sound-like-a-guitar intro that makes you feel like you're on a merry go 'round. Chorus-wise, there's Mariah's guttural tenor that functions as an undercurrent to upper-upper-register Mariah—a flex in octaves, doing everything herself—plus a smattering of improvisational "doot dooh doots" like she's making this all up on the fly. And that's all before she hits us with the key change and just really starts going full-throttle. Listen to it. It's sublime. Here we have pure Mariah unshackled: the closest cultural equivalent I can even think of is when Superman said he was tired of holding back the full extent of his powers and just wails on Darkseid with the full wrath of a yellow sun. And Mariah is non-fiction. (Darkseid is us.)

"Always Be My Baby" is deceptively simple but is, in fact, an impossibility that was somehow willed into existence. One time at karaoke, a "friend" queued it up and handed me the microphone. I just held the mic there limply, unsure what to do with it, like she had just handed me a hairless cat. I quit the song after 30 seconds and our friendship never recovered.

(Just kidding, hi Sam.)

Also a thing worth feeling: GQ Style won an ASME!

A brief programming note, but I will be out these next two weeks for a WEDDING (mine) and HONEYMOON (also mine). Some exciting guest Feeling Thisers will be in the mix, so rest assured that there will be stuff to feel.

What We Read This Week:

Gothamist went long with Dan Smith of "Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar" mini-fame.

Over at the Verge, GQ friend Chloé Cooper Jones on Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police.

The homie Matt Schnipper at Pitchfork wrote a perfect blog.

And the chickens are learning.

ICYMI on GQ:

Sam Schube had a really nice chat with Sid Mashburn about knowing when not to jump on trends, among other things. Rachel Tasjian wrote about Pharrell's now-iconic big hat, and Sam Hine talked to skater-photographer Lucien Clarke, who dropped an exclusive photo diary on GQ. Max Cea talked to Karen O and Danger Mouse about their new joint project. Jay Willis laid out the 5 questions Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign will have to answer if he wants the nomination, Talia Lavin wrote a barnburner on why Republicans won't be getting the Jewish vote anytime soon, Drew Magary wrote an easy guide on how to be a professional, and Mari Uyehara wrote about my favorite topic: rich people!

We also had: a nice spread on Union's Chris Gibbs and the first family of streetwear. And the god Zach Baron went long and weird with Kids and Spring Breakers director Harmony Korine on his new movie. From GQ Style, Alex Pappademas talked to Caleb Landry Jones, who you've seen everywhere, and the photos just make you want to say...howdy.

That's all for now! Remember to moisturize and subscribe to GQ.