Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey released her self-titled debut album on June 12, 1990. Thirty-six weeks after making its debut at number eighty on the Billboard 200 album chart — and right after Mariah's double victory at the Grammy awards — it reached the top spot during the week of March 2, 1991. Mariah Carey spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one and also topped the 1991 Billboard 200 year-end chart. The album won the 1991 Billboard Music Award for Album of the Year and the Soul Train Music Award for Best Female R&B/Soul Album and was certified 9x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 15, 1999.

Mariah started working on the album with writing partner Ben Margulies even before she had a record deal. “When we met she was 17 years old and I was 24,” Margulies said. “We worked together for a three-year period developing most of the songs on the first album. She had the ability just to hear things in the air and to start developing songs out of them. Often I would sit down and start playing something, and from the feel of a chord, she would start singing melody lines and coming up with a concept.” At least four of the songs from the original demo tape ended up on the album: “Prisoner,” “Someday,” “Alone In Love” and “All In Your Mind,” while other songs didn't make the cut, including “Hypnotized” and “Here We Go Around Again.”

“My demos were much edgier than my albums became,” she said in 2008. “I wish I could have gone back to the essence of what those records were when they were demos. Even the demos that I was working on with Ben. When it became time to work on the first album everyone was so obsessed about competing with these other records and to produce them up. Any producer I was supposed to work with had to be that much smarter than me. At that point I was so much younger than everybody else involved in putting my record together. And I felt like I was so much more in tune with what was really going on in terms of music. For me a lot of that edge was… honed. They smoothed it, honed it and toned it because it worked better for mass appeal.”

Mariah was very vocal about not being “open to working with superstar producers” from the very beginning. “From the demo to the finished songs, we went through a lot of different stages,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 1990. “The production got to be a headache. Different drum sounds, different synths, the strings weren't loud enough…” Later on she would elaborate further. “It took away some of my identity,” she told The Washington Post in 1995. “When I go back and listen to the demo, in some ways it's better than the album ended up being. Just in terms of the simplicity, it seemed to be more real and innocent and once we got big-name producers involved, it took on another quality.”

From these sessions came songs like “There's Got To Be A Way,” which she wrote with Ric Wake; “I Don't Wanna Cry,” written with Narada Michael Walden; as well as “You Need Me” and “Sent From Up Above,” both written with Rhett Lawrence. Mariah would never work with either of them again. “Because I've co-written all the songs, there's not that much anyone else can do,” she said. “It's not as if other people's material has been thrust upon me. But I do like doing things by myself in the studio because it gives me more freedom. Sometimes you don't care how someone else thinks your songs should sound — you wrote it, and you know how it should be. I think this is a good first effort and I'm very happy with it, but further down the road…”

Mariah only got production credits on “Vanishing” — which most critics called the highlight of the album. “‘Vanishing’ is my favorite song on the album, and I knew that it should only be piano and vocals because when I did the demo of the song, it was a piano/vocal and it was really raw. Just the emotion of the song came across,” Mariah said in 1990. “We tried putting a drum track on it, but it just took away from it. Then I said, ‘Well, maybe this could be a commercial song if we put music on it,’ but I decided that it was better to just preserve the integrity of the song and leave it really simple.”

Mariah wrote “Vision Of Love” — what would become her debut single — right after signing her record deal with Columbia. “It's a celebration of how I was feeling at the time and it's a very personal song. It's not really just a love song, it's about feeling good. I was at a very big turning point in my life at the time, so it's kind of about everything going on for me.” The label, however, had other plans for the first single. “There was a song I hated that they loved. They thought it was a hit, and they didn't think ‘Vision of Love’ was a hit at all. They knew it was a good song, but it was risky, a ballad.” The other song — presumably “I Lose Control,” which was eventually recorded by Penny Ford in 1993 — sounded, according to the label, younger. “I said, ‘It's not young, it's stupid.’ It was a cheesy little uptempo ditty I hated so much. I really stood my ground, and they didn't make me put it on the album. Lucky for me everything worked out, because if it hadn't, they would have said, ‘We told you this was the hit.’ ”

“Vision Of Love” was released on May 15, 1990. Nine weeks after debuting at number seventy-three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it reached number one during the week of August 4, where it stayed for four consecutive weeks. The following week, “Vision Of Love” became the first song in almost five years to simultaneously top the Hot 100, Hot Black and Hot Adult Contemporary singles charts. “I really didn't think that ‘Vision Of Love’ was going to be a big Pop hit because it wasn't like everything that was going on at the time — it wasn't a Dance record, it wasn't a Rap song, it wasn't Heavy Metal. It really didn't fit any particular format to me, and I was pleasantly surprise that it caught on the way it did. It makes me feel great because it's one of my favorite songs I've written.” “Vision Of Love” won the Grammy award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance during the 33rd annual ceremony, as well as the Soul Train Music Award for Best Female R&B/Soul Single, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 9, 2019.

Te album's closing track, “Love Takes Time” — a last-minute addition —, was released as the second single on September 11, 1990. “I wrote ‘Love Takes Time’ after the album had already been completed,” she told Perry Stern in 1990. “I wrote it with Ben Margulies, my songwriting partner, and we just threw it down on tape thinking it would be for my second album. I played it for Don Ienner, Tommy Mottola and Bobby Colomby after one of my shows and they all flipped out and said, ‘This is a number-one record — we've got to stop and put it on this album!’ ” “Love Takes Time” made its debut at number seventy-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the number-one spot on the week of November 10, where it spent three weeks. On August 31, 2023, it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

“Someday,” was released as the album's third single on December 13, 1990. “I wrote ‘Someday’ a while ago. It's one of the oldest songs on the album and I wrote it with Ben. He was playing this drum groove and some chords, and we put the song together. I took it home, wrote the lyrics and we had it on the shelf for a long time. It was one of the original songs on the demo that got me my record deal, so I guess it was good luck in a sense.” “Someday” became Mariah's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of March 9, 1991. The song spent two weeks at number one and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on February 12, 1991.

On March 19, 1991, “I Don't Wanna Cry” was released as Mariah's fourth single. “I wrote that song with Narada Michael Walden and it was my first experience with a big-time producer,” Mariah said in 1990. “They just sort of threw me in the room and said ‘Write with him!’ I was really sort of intimidated but we sat down at the piano, we just came up with this song and I took it home and wrote the lyrics and that was it.” The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of May 25, making Mariah the first artist since the Jackson Five to have their first four singles reach number one, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 17, 2022.

“There's Got To Be A Way” was commercially released in Europe, peaking at number fifty-four on United Kingdom's Official Singles Chart. “I did have a Gospel choir sing on ‘There's Got To Be A Way’ which I really loved because I love Gospel music and Gospel vocal arrangements,” Mariah said about the song. “It's really the spirituality and the incredible free singing and the realness of Gospel music that I love. There is just such a rawness there and a lot of the singers are just so incredible, I love it.”

Tracklist

Releases

United States

The first copies of Mariah Carey were issued with no mention of “Love Takes Time” on the inserts or tracklist, despite the song being included on the album. Mariah Carey was originally available on Cassette, Vinyl and CD — including a special version in a fold-out digipak. It was later re-issued in MiniDisc.

United Kingdom

Mariah Carey was originally released on CD, Cassette and Vinyl, and later re-issued in MiniDisc. A special limited edition picture CD version of the album was released in the United Kingdom.

Australia

In Australia, a limited edition bonus pack of Mariah Carey was released in 1991 including a bonus CD with an interview and the live versions of “Vanishing” and “Don't Play That Song” from Mariah's debut showcase at New York City's Tatou Club.

Vinyl Reissues

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, three variants of the album were released on vinyl in 2020: a standard opaque black vinyl, a clear smoke vinyl (sold exclusively through the Mariah Carey Official Store as a limited edition box set which also includes Mariah's memoir, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey, and a commemorative T-shirt), and a limited edition glass bottle vinyl (sold exclusively by Walmart). Mariah Carey was also re-released on October 15, 2022, in occasion of National Album Day, this time in a sheer smoke vinyl.

Singles

Lyrics

Vision Of Love

Treated me kind
Sweet destiny
Carried me through desperation
To the one that was waiting for me
It took so long
Still I believed
Somehow the one that I needed
Would find me eventually

I had a vision of love
And it was all that you've given to me

Prayed through the nights
Felt so alone
Suffered from alienation
Carried the weight on my own
Had to be strong
So I believed
And now I know I've succeeded
In finding the place I conceived

I had a vision of love
And it was all that you've given to me
I had a vision of love
And it was all that you've given me

I've realized a dream
And I visualized
The love that came to be
Feel so alive
I'm so thankful that I've received
The answer that heaven has sent down to me

You treated me kind
Sweet destiny
And I'll be eternally grateful
Holding you so close to me
Prayed through the nights
So faithfully
Knowing the one that I needed
Would find me eventually

I had a vision of love
And it was all that you've given to me
I had a vision of love
And it was all that you turned out to be


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Rhett Lawrence. Additional production: Narada Michael Walden.

There's Got To Be A Way

A broken man without a home
Desperate and so alone
A victim of society
No one really wants to see
Some of us don't even wonder
Some of us don't even care
Couldn't we just help each other
Isn't there enough to share

There's got to be a way
To connect this world today
Come together to relieve the pain
There's got to be a way
To unite this human race
And together we'll bring on a change

In another land they still believe
Color grants supremacy
I don't understand
How there can be
Regulated bigotry
Some of us don't even wonder
Some of us don't even care
Couldn't we accept each other
Can't we make ourselves aware

There's got to be a way
To connect this world today
Come together to relieve the pain
There's got to be a way
To unite this human race
And together we'll bring on a change

And maybe then the future will be a time
Without war, destitution and sorrow
And hungry children
Won't have to die
If we work together today
We'll save tomorrow
Some of us don't even wonder
Some of us don't even care
Couldn't we just love each other
Isn't there enough to share

There's got to be a way
To connect this world today
Come together to relieve the pain
There's got to be a way
To unite this human race
And together we'll bring on a change


Written by Mariah Carey, Ric Wake.
Co-produced by Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden.

I Don't Wanna Cry

Once again we sit in silence
After all is said and done
Only emptiness inside us
Baby, look what we've become
We can make a million promises
But we still won't change
It isn't right to stay together
When you only bring each other pain

I don't wanna cry
Don't wanna cry
Nothing in the world
Could take us back
To where we used to be
Though I've given you my heart and soul
I must find a way of letting go
'Cause baby, I don't wanna cry

Too far apart to bridge the distance
But something keeps us hanging on and on
Pretending not to know the difference
Denying what we had is gone
Every moment we're together
It's just breaking me down
I know we swore it was forever
But it hurts too much to stay around

I don't wanna cry
Don't wanna cry
Nothing in the world
Could take us back
To where we used to be
Though I've given you my heart and soul
I must find a way of letting go
'Cause baby, I don't wanna cry

All the magic's gone
There's just a shadow of a memory
Something just went wrong
We can't go on make-believing

I don't wanna cry
Don't wanna cry
Nothing in the world
Could take us back
To where we used to be
Though I've given you my heart and soul
I must find a way of letting go
'Cause baby, I don't wanna cry


Written by Mariah Carey, Narada Michael Walden.
Produced by Narada Michael Walden.

Someday

You were so blind to let me go
You had it all but didn't know
No one you'll find will ever be
Closer to all your dreams than me
Believing the grass would be greener
You told yourself “I just don't need her now”
But I know you'll soon discover
You're never satisfied with any other

Someday Oo Someday
One you gave away will be the only one you're wishing for
Someday hey hey
Boy you're gonna pay 'cause baby I'm the one who's keeping score

You'll change your mind and call my name
Soon as you find they're all the same
And when you find yourself alone
Don't come back crying
You should have known
Believe me I'm not pretending
It's not hard to predict
This ending now
'Cause I know you'll soon discover
You're needing me in spite of all the others

Someday Oo Someday
One you gave away will be the only one you're wishing for
Someday hey hey
Boy you're gonna pay 'cause baby I'm the one who's keeping score

Maybe now you just can't conceive
That there'll ever come a time
When you're cold and lonely
Baby, how could you ever believe
That another could replace me
The one and only
But when your down
In your time of need
And you're thinking that you
Might be coming back to own me
Just think again 'cause
I won't need your love anymore!

Someday Oo Someday
One you gave away will be the only one you're wishing for
Someday hey hey
Boy you're gonna pay 'cause baby I'm the one who's keeping score


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Ric Wake for Wake Productions.

Vanishing

If I could recapture
All of the memories
And bring them to life
Surely I would
Hear the distant laughter
Wasn't it you and me
Surviving the night
You're fading out of my sight
Swiftly

You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing

I was so enraptured
No sensibility
To open my eyes
I misunderstood
Now you're fading faster
It's suddenly hard to see
You're taking the light
Letting the shadows inside
Swiftly

You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing

Reaching out into the distance
Searching for spirits of the past
Just a trace of your existence to grasp
And if somehow I could recapture
All of the memories
And bring them to life
Lord knows I would
But now you're fading faster
Getting so hard to see
Taking the light
Letting the darkness inside
Swiftly

You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Mariah Carey.

All In Your Mind

Come closer
You seem so far away
There's something I know you need to say
I feel your emotions
When I look in your eyes
Your silence
Whispering misunderstandings
There's so much you need to realize
You'll feel my emotions if you look in my eyes

Hey darlin'
I know you think my love is slipping away
But baby it's all in your mind
Don't worry
Hold on tight and hear me when I say
Baby it's all in your mind

Believe me I believe in you
There's nothing this feeling couldn't do
Move closer my darling
Feel the love in my eyes

Hey darlin'
I know you think my love is slipping away
But baby it's all in your mind
Don't worry
Hold on tight and hear me when I say
Baby it's all in your mind


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Ben Margulies and Ric Wake.

Alone In Love

Swept me away
But now I'm lost in the dark
Set me on fire
But now I'm left with a spark
Alone, you got beyond the haze and
I'm lost inside the maze
I guess I'm all alone in love

I look into your eyes
You turn the other way
And now I realize
It's all a game you play
I hold you in the night
And wake to find you gone
You're running out of sight
It's so hard holding on
All alone in love

Swept me away
But now I'm lost in the dark
Set me on fire
But now I'm left with a spark
Alone, you got beyond the haze and
I'm lost inside the maze
I guess I'm all alone in love

You haunt me in your dreams
I'm calling out your name
I watch you fade away
Your love is not the same
I've figured out your style
To quickly drift apart
You held me for a while
Planned it from the start
All alone in love

Sitting in the dark without you
How am I supposed to make it
Through the night
Slowly fall apart without you
Cry away the hours
Till the morning light

Swept me away
But now I'm lost in the dark
Set me on fire
But now I'm left with a spark
Alone, you got beyond the haze and
I'm lost inside the maze
I guess I'm all alone in love


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Rhett Lawrence.

You Need Me

Wait a minute
Before you walk away
Let me finish
I've got a lot to say
Baby, I'm not gonna tolerate
This game that you play
You'll regret it
If you desert me this way
When there's nobody
To dry your eyes
Suddenly you're gonna realize

(Don't you know)
You need me
(Don't you see)
Believe me
Before you act so hastily
Baby remember you need me

Honey listen, don't make a big mistake
I'm in your system
You really can't escape
When there's nobody
To hold your hand
Suddenly you're gonna understand

(Don't you know)
You need me
(Don't you see)
Believe me
Before you act so hastily
Baby remember you need me

No one understands you like I do
After everything
That we've been through
Baby, you can turn around and leave
But I know that you'll keep
Coming right back to me

(Don't you know)
You need me
(Don't you see)
Believe me
Before you act so hastily
Baby remember you need me


Written by Mariah Carey, Rhett Lawrence.
Produced by Rhett Lawrence.

Sent From Up Above

I can't imagine
Looking in someone else's eyes
What we have surpasses
Even paradise
It's hard to fathom
Reaching for someone else's hand
What we share is magic
Heaven had a plan

Sent from up above
So much love
In my life
I can't get enough
Of your touch — feels so right

Unending passion
Somehow the fire never dies
What we share
Is everlasting
Love without without demise
He made it happen
Placed so much joy into our hands
What we dreamed
We finally captured
Heaven took command

Sent from up above
So much love
In my life
I can't get enough
Of your touch — feels so right


Written by Mariah Carey, Rhett Lawrence.
Produced by Rhett Lawrence.

Prisoner

You don't think that I'll be strong enough
No, baby now
I won't be the prisoner of your love

Maybe you don't think that I'll be strong enough
But I'm not gonna be the prisoner of your love
I know you're lying, denying all of your actions
So listen up, 'cause here's my reaction

Here comes the night
No more living in the shadow of your love
This is my life
You always tried so hard to keep me down
But now I'll rise above
Those empty lies
Stop pretending that my accusations
Take you by surprise
I've realized
Now I'm ending all the secrecy
I see through your disguise

All the dreams we planned
I believed so I held on
I understand
So when the morning comes
You know that I'll be gone

You don't think that I'll be strong enough
No, baby now
I won't be the prisoner of your love

No longer blind
I can focus on deception
Used to keep me by your side
I read your mind
Don't believe it's all a mystery
There's nothing you can hide
It's all defined
There's nothing you can tell me now
To change the way I feel inside

All the dreams we planned
I believed so I held on
I understand
So when the morning comes
You know that I'll be gone

You don't think that I'll be strong enough
No, baby now
I won't be the prisoner of your love
I'm just not the girl you thought I was (Not gonna be a prisoner)
I won't be the prisoner of your love
Of your love

Don't wanna be a prisoner, I don't wanna be a prisoner
Don't wanna be a prisoner, I don't wanna be a prisoner

So if you wanna be my love you can't be a liar
Play around, you see me and then say ‘Mariah, I miss you’
Expect me to hug and kiss you
Don't mean to diss you
But I guess I'm not the kind of girl you thought I was
I've had enough and now I'll see you later 'cause
Boy, maybe you don't think that I'll be strong enough
But I won't be the prisoner, baby, of your love
No more, no more, no more, no more, no more, no more

No, baby now
I won't be the prisoner of your love
I'm just not the girl you thought I was (Not gonna be a prisoner)
I won't be the prisoner of your love
I'm just not the girl you thought I was (Not gonna be a prisoner)
I won't be the prisoner of your love

I'm not one of those girls who'll wait around
Crying 'cause you're playing dirty all over the town
You can't do that, I'm not a doormat
You're just a player, that's not my format
See ya


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Ric Wake.

Love Takes Time

I had it all
But I let it slip away
Couldn't see that I treated you wrong
Now I wander around
Feeling down and cold
Trying to believe that you're gone

Love takes time
To heal when you're hurting so much
Couldn't see that I was blind
To let you go
I can't escape the pain
Inside
Love takes time
I don't want to be here alone

Losing my mind
From this hollow in my heart
Suddenly I'm so incomplete
Lord I'm needing you now
Tell me how to stop the rain
Tears are falling down endlessly

Love takes time
To heal when you're hurting so much
Couldn't see that I was blind
To let you go
I can't escape the pain
Inside
Love takes time
I don't want to be here alone

You might say that it's over
You might say that you don't care
You might say you don't miss me
You don't need me
But I know that you do and I feel that you do
Inside

Love takes time
To heal when you're hurting so much
Couldn't see that I was blind
To let you go
I can't escape the pain
Inside
Love takes time
I don't want to be here alone


Written by Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies.
Produced by Walter Afanasieff.