Mariah Carey & Westlife

Against All Odds

“Against All Odds” was released as a duet with Irish boy band Westlife on September 18, 2000. “I thought it would just be a cool thing to do, to kind of turn it into a duet and combine what they do with what I do,” Mariah told MTV. “They stack a lot of harmonies, so we made the song kind of a different thing. But it was an easy process. It wasn't like some difficult drama.”

“Everybody used to say to me, ‘Who would you like to do a duet with?’ or ‘Who would you like to sing with out of everybody in the world?’ and I was always like, ‘Mariah Carey.’ ” Westlife's Mark Feehily said. “Today, now, we're in a recording studio doing a duet with her, and you could never imagine how much it means to me.”

“Against All Odds” was became Mariah's second number-one single in the United Kingdom, spending two weeks atop the Official Singles Chart, and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry on January 1, 2016.

Remixes

Music Video

The music video for the Westlife duet version of “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” was filmed in Capri and premiered on MTV UK's Making The Video on August 5, 2000.

Releases

Europe

The European “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” CD single includes the Rainbow album version of the song. The Maxi Single has an extra track: the Pound Boys Main Mix of the solo version of the song.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, both “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” maxi singles were released with additional multimedia content and include the duet with Westlife and two bonus tracks: CD 1 includes the Pound Boys Main Mix of Mariah's cover of the song, the Mariah-only version of the duet, and a video interview with Westlife; CD 2 includes the Pound Boys Deep Dub of Mariah's version of “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” the Westlife-only version of the duet and the music video. A Cassette Single was also released, including their duet and the Pound Boys Radio Edit of Mariah's cover of the song.

Australia

Australia saw the release of the same “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” Maxi Single available in Europe, including the duet, the Rainbow album version and the Pound Boys Main Mix.

Japan

The Japanese “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” CD Maxi Single includes the Rainbow album version and its Pound Boys Radio Edit remix plus the main and instrumental versions of the duet with Westlife.

Available on

Lyrics

Against All Odds
(Take A Look At Me Now)

How can I just let you walk away
Just let you leave without a trace
When I stand here taking every breath with you
You're the only one who really knew me at all
How can you just walk away from me
When all I can do is watch you leave
Cause we've shared the laughter and the pain
And even shared the tears
You're the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now
Cause there's just an empty space
There's nothing left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face
So take a look at me now
Oh there's just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against all odds
And that's what I've got to face

I wish I could just make you turn around
Turn around and see me cry
There's so much I need to say to you
So many reasons why
You're the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now
Oh there's just an empty space
There's nothing left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face
So take a look at me now
See there's just an empty space
But to wait for you is all I can do
And that's what I've got to face
Take a good look at me now
Cause I'll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
That's the chance I've got to take

Take a look at me now


Written by Phil Collins.
Produced by Mariah Carey and Steve Mac.