The Meaning of Mariah Carey - Book Review

Get a Copy on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Mariah-Carey/dp/1250164680

The very first time I heard of Mariah Carey...

I was being bullied in the 8th grade choir. My "bullying" consisted of a group of girls who would gather to make singing contests after choir. Not just because...it would be against someone they considered "a better singer." After the contest was over, I would lose...and then get to hear all kinds of nonsense about my voice. 

"It is very loud, but it is not pretty." 

"You really shouldn't try to be a singer...because you can't sing." 

Obviously, I endured more to be affected by it. One of the "visuals" I have lodged in my memory are these teens with their index fingers plugging their ears with one hand...and then "waving" while they sing with the other...and then dramatically bending in order to do what seemed to be "runs" with their voices...

...all in the name of "singing like Mariah Carey." 

In a way I am glad, that instead of competing with the choir music we were put to learn...I was asked to learn songs from the vocal giants Mariah Carey...Celine Dion...

These voices and styles were so new to me that I had to buy their music (later than most people did) and familiarize myself with these voices long after 8th grade choir ended. 

I had a copy of Mariah's "Number 1's" and I would play it...replay it...listen to try to emulate her voice. I noticed that she would do a whispery-breathy falsetto type verses and then suddenly "blast" her vocals...and come back down...and up...

Her voice was much more complicated than a pop-voice like Shania Twain. Mariah's vocals seemed purposely dynamic and complicated. It was nearly impossible to predict when she would suddenly belt something and then go back into a whispery tone.

I would take the bus to modeling lessons in the evening, listening intently to her "Number 1's." They would keep me company for hours...until I was nauseous with car sickness and listening to the same songs on repeat. I felt I had to learn how to sing like this; due to a super irrational fear that maybe "one day"  I would be cornered by another group of girls. On that (never-did-happen) day, I would know how to masterfully sing like Mariah, I would be well practiced...

...and I would be ready.

Index finger plugging up one ear, my hand waving as I preform similar vocal runs...and belt...and go back down to the raspy whisper tones...I would dramatically make dry-heave movements as I belt...

I practiced...boy, did I practice...and there where two songs I really liked to practice on:

"Without You" and "My All." 

Now, after so much time has passed from my above bullying incident...I read Mariah Carey's bio. I also read the bios of Shania Twain, and an opera soprano called, "Renee Fleming."

All have aspects I relate to...but Mariah's story is actually close enough to mine, that I "get" everything. I know what it is like to "escape" into music and more...for example, we both have a thing for butterflies and Marilyn Monroe. 

As a reader, a singer, and fan of Mariah Carey, I really enjoyed learning she writes her own music. I loved how she organized her book (possibly with the help of editor Michael Angela Davis--I noticed some very "only an editor would know that" vocabulary). To me, since I know the "failed" movie "Glitter" was loosely based on events Mariah Carey went through (meeting Tommy Mottola - the head of Sony Records-at a party with her girlfriend. In meeting this influenital person, she is discovered...and becomes a star). The main character in Glitter goes through something "similar" except that it deals with a well-known DJ that pulls her out of obscurity.  

The book is very well written. I did not take a long break at any section and stayed up to finish it at 3 am. I can "relate" to Mariah on a lot of levels...so this might play into my stellar review. I left this book feeling "inspired" to create my own novel with my own lyrics woven between chapters. I would love my own audience to understand where my song ideas came from. Below, I took a photo of a section where she sneaks away from the controlling Tommy Mottola, to capture a small kiss on a rooftop. The resulting song, "The Roof" is then presented as lyrics...and then I went to "search" the song...and get reaquainted with her music. 

Chills...

I felt as a writer...AND also a singer-songwriter, adding lyrics to music to reference certain songs I wrote is a very strong idea to introduce people to my music. I have had this idea for a while, long before this Mariah Carey bio...in fact...a boss of mine would call this masterpiece project I would hint at, "The Trifecta." 

Now, more than ever, I want to create my own book. That being said, if you enjoy the music of Mariah Carey, have an interest in her personal life, and want her own explaniation about her tabloid moments and rumors...

Read this book...it does explain "Glitter" after all...but on a deeper note, you will get back in touch with who she was/is as an artist.