...go back like babies and pacifiers. Well not exactly. Not at all really, but we do go pretty far back although she doesn't know anything about it (and more than likely doesn't care). I should probably find the story I'm about to share embarrassing, but I don't. Not even a little bit... I'm confident in my manhood. There's no shame in this game! However, using that phrase just now made me cringe inside so dwell on that statement for a minute and don't judge me while I introduce you to:
Technically, I guess this isn't an introduction because everyone on the planet knows who Mariah Carey is... I'm willing to bet creatures from other planets have heard some of those infamous high notes of hers. This is more so my own personal discovery turned fascination of the voice (Mariah's voice, not the TV show). I remember specifically the first time I heard her deliver a note, it was this performance:
I was around 5 years old and my father was watching The Arsenio Hall Show when Arsenio introduced a new singer and invited her to take the stage. I was in the other room because at that age Arsenio's humor was lost on me; however, when this lady stepped up to the mic and opened her mouth it was like a magnetic force pulling me towards the television. I sat down in front of the TV, which then was a big box that looked like a piece of furniture far detached from the mounted flat screens of today. I sat there with my face maybe two feet from the screen, awake past my bedtime and watched this woman who I'd never seen before do things with her voice that I had never heard before. She was incredible! Somehow she was able to sing both low and high, soft and powerful all within the span of a couple notes, her range is ridiculous... and my life would never be the same. With the name Mariah Carey engraved in my brain and the sound of her voice ringing in my ears, I went to bed and would spend the rest of my days comparing anyone who attempted to sing to this woman. #truestory
My parents thought it was just a phase I would grow out of, but year after year and album after album they would purchase the music to feed my musical addiction. Mariah's voice was (and kind of still is) my drug. She could do no wrong vocally and I listened to every song (and every remix) of every album until the release of the next one and the cycle repeated. Sure folks thought it was a little weird, and probably still do, but in time everyone accepts it as just a fact... Brad's favorite singer is Mariah Carey.
There's something about the tone of her voice that fills me up, it's really hard to explain. She has this calming ability yet she's inspiring and motivational at the same time, and that's all in one song (i.e. Fly Like a Bird). From the warm, velvet tone in Melt Away and Babydoll to the passionate, full chest voice of Anytime You Need A Friend and Stay The Night to the understated whisper of Lullaby and the sarcastic wit in Touch My Body or Clown or Standing O or even Thanx 4 Nothin' (google that one!) to the heart of My All and We Belong Together and the energy of Heartbreaker or Shake It Off or Migrate to the soul of If It's Over and Vanishing and Mine Again and Inseparable even throwing around those high notes in Emotions and Bliss... Mariah can do it all and, arguably, she's the only one that can.
Now that I'm a grown man and married - Allison likes her, too, but clearly not on the same level and no that wasn't a requirement when dating - I try to keep the Mariah fascination at bay except that I've posted about her here, here, here, here, here and here. Honestly, I'll probably post about her again. I've been a fan (or unofficially #lambily if any other fans happen to read this) since the beginning of her career and have such an appreciation for her voice and overall talent that I can't imagine the world of music without MC. Actually you can't even form the word music without MC... so the proof is in the pudding spelling. I've never had the privilege of hearing her in person/concert since she rarely comes to North Carolina, but there will come a day.
Mariah... if you're reading this (yeah right) only you can make it happen!
Meanwhile, I've slowly been introducing Madison to the voice and she seems to share the same appreciation I do. She's even tried a few high notes of her own. That's my girl!
Whether you're a for-life-fan like me or not, there's no denying Mariah Carey practically invented singing (or reinvented it at the very least) and I'm sure everyone has a certain MC song they're jamming to... it's okay to admit it. I debated for a while if I should post this or not, because it makes me look crazy, but ultimately I decided that everyone probably has a secret musical obsession and/or guilty pleasure of their own so why not put mine out there? I ain't skurred. Plus anyone that knows me already knows this little detail and would not find this post surprising at all.
I'm just... in the words of the late ODB... keeping it real, son.
[ Image Source ]
Post a Comment