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Rating: In the past, I've had the opportunity to express my lack of particular adoration for Mariah Carey, a character of enormous stature in the Nineties and thus subjected to deflation in the following decade. Her limited affability, her moderate musical evolution over the years, the syrup oozing and dripping from every studio production, and that virginal diva aura swiftly transformed into a glamour queen and heartbreaker of the pseudo bosses running major record labels have never completely convinced me, even though I swim in the most crass, redundant, colorful, and varied commercial pop ever to appear on the face of the Earth. Raised on bread and ballads in the most sappy and romantic era of the late millennium, a child of the various Titanic and Bodyguard of the time, Carey more or less shared that charming trend with illustrious colleagues Celine Dion and Whitney Houston, who also indulged in sugary melancholy, mares & mountains, yet they were behind productions that repeatedly surpassed those of the lovely Mariah.
Mimi's biography still today marks a mathematical function that struggles to stabilize above a constant. Achieving success in 1990, barely twenty, with the single Vision of Love and the eponymous debut album backed by her mentor, Sony Music Entertainment's chairman Tony Mottola, Carey literally swept the discographic "box offices" - especially in the US - of the Nineties, producing a long stream of hits, such as Hero, One Sweet Day, My All, Dreamlover, Heartbreaker and Fantasy, besides gifting the Christmas merchandise industry and department stores with the album (Merry Christmas) and the anthem (All I Want For Christmas Is You) par excellence. After a failed marriage with talent scout Mottola and leaving Columbia (a label under Sony's aegis), Mariah fell into a whirlwind of failures (the film Glitter, its soundtrack, and the studio work Charmbracelet) and depressive crises that relegated her to the darkest hallways of international show biz until her resurrection in 2005 with The Emancipation of Mimi. In recent years, Mrs. Cannon (newly married to Nick) seems to have lost again - though not drastically - the verve of the golden era and her recent rebirth, and has offered albums like E=MC2 and Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel which have added little to the already laden table of the artist.
Until the mid-Nineties, miss Carey was oscillating between the anti-Celine Dion and the pink Santa Claus, but with the impending divorce from Mottola (and Columbia), Mariah attempted to enrich and modernize a repertoire that neither delved deeply into soft-black music nor stayed in stasis in the storeroom of pop soundtrack-like tracks with a box of tissues on the side. Daydream and Butterfly forged the current R&B diva, the eminent lady of contemporary Rhythm & Blues with seductive and graceful vocal cords in full harmony with refined living room tones. Butterfly, in particular, is considered by the author herself as the personal "magnum opus" of her career, a genuine turning point, a bridge between the hyper-sweetened past of orchestral ballads and the mischievous future of hip hop.
The tracklist, in fact, is engaged in the sweet-spicy dialectic: Honey is an excellent R&B track with mild electronic fragrances, My All rises to a ballad worthy of its predecessors, while The Roof (Back In Time) and Fourth of July possess notable modern soul vibrations with vivid retro scents. Still, the nostalgia of theatrical-melancholic 90s is perceptible in Close My Eyes, Butterfly, and Whenever You Call, the latter in antithesis with the acid jazz/house/lounge of Fly Away and the soft hip-hop of Breakdown.
I emphasize again that Miss Mariah is not particularly likable to me (though it's a debatable judgment), and her extensive resume, although foundational to pop in recent decades, has rarely sparked significant interest for me, except for a few singles here and there (It's Like That, We Belong Together, Obsessed, Get Your Number...). Yet, listening to this important production, the heart of Mimi's entire discography, my indifference towards the haughty "doll", the incurable and untouchable extravagant diva, has somewhat softened into a faint curiosity. So here you have a good soft-romantic-light-relaxing work just enough, to maybe listen to during those last melancholic summer days of finished vacations, looming returns to the office, and visions of a gray, foggy autumn before starting to hum, panettone in hand and eyes turned to the starry sky, the joyful notes of All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Mariah Carey, Butterfly
Honey - Butterfly - My All - The Roof (Back In Time) - Fourth of July - Breakdown - Babydoll - Close My Eyes - Whenever You Call - Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise) - The Beautiful Ones - Outside.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Honey (05:02)
Oh, Oh, Honey got me hooked on you
I like that, mm
Ohhh, ohh
Ohh, Honey you can have me when you want me
You just simply ask me to be there
And you're the only one who makes me come running
'Cause what you got is far beyond compare
And it's just like honey
When your love comes over me
Oh baby I've got a dependency
Always strung out for another taste of your honey
It's like honey when it washes over me
You know sugar never ever was so sweet
And I'm dying, for you cryin' for you, I adore you
One hit of your love addicted me
Now I'm strung out on you darlin' don't you see?
Every night and day, I can hardly wait
For another taste of honey
Honey I can't describe
How good it feels inside
Honey I can't describe
How good it feels inside
I can't be elusive with you honey
'Cause it's blatant that I'm feeling you
And it's too hard for me to leave abruptly
'Cause you're the only thing I wanna do
And it's just like honey
When your love comes over me
Oh baby I've got a dependency
Always strung out for another
Taste of your honey
It's like honey when it washes over me
You know sugar never ever was so sweet
And I'm dying, for you cryin' for you, I adore you
One hit of your love addicted me
Now I'm strung out on you darlin' don't you see?
Every night and day, I can hardly wait
For another taste of honey
Mace and Puffy (Repeat 2x):
Harlem world, we won't stop
And Mariah, you're on fire
Harlem world, we won't stop
So Mariah, take us higher
Harlem world, we won't stop
And Mariah, you're on fire
Harlem world, we won't stop
So Mariah, take us higher
Breakdown
Ohh, every little thing you do
Oh, honey got me hooked on you
It's like honey when it washes over me
You know sugar never ever was so sweet
And I'm dying, for you cryin' for you, I adore you
One hit of your love addicted me
Now I'm strung out on you darlin' don't you see?
Every night and day, I can hardly wait
For another taste of honey
(Repeat to fade)
02 Butterfly (04:35)
When you love someone so deep
that they become your life
It's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside
Blindly I imagined I could
Keep you under glass
Now I understand to hold you
I must open up my hands and watch you rise
Spread you wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly (Oooh)
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were meant to be,
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly
I have learned that beauty has to flourish in the light
Wild horses run unbridled or their spirit dies
You have given me the courage to be all that I can
And I truly feel your heart will
Lead you back to me when you're
Ready to land
Spread you wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly (Oooh)
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were meant to be,
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly
I can't pretend these tears aren't overflowing steadily
I can't prevent this hurt from almost overtaking me
But I will stand and say goodbye (stand and say goodbye)
For you'll never be mine
Until you know the way it feels to fly
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly (Oooh)
Fly abandonedly into the sun (fly to the sun)
If you should return to me (I will know you're mine)
We truly were meant to be (spread your wings and fly)
So spread your wings and fly
Butterfly (my butterfly)
Spread your wings and prepare to fly
For you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun
If you should return to me
We truly were meant to be (you and I)
So spread your wings and fly (spread your wings and fly)
Butterfly
So flutter through the sky
Butterfly
Fly...
Spread your wings and fly
Butterfly.
04 The Roof (05:15)
It wasn't raining yet
but it was definitely getting a little misty on
that warm November night
And my heart was pounding,
my inner voice resounding,
begging me to turn away
But I just had to see your face
to feel alive
And then you casually walked in the room
and I was twisted in the web
of my desire for you
(And I was twisted)
My apprehension blew away
I only wanted you
to taste my sadness
as you kissed me in the dark
Chorus:
Every time I feel the need
I envision you caressing me
and go back in time
to relive the splendor of you and I
on the rooftop that rainy night
And so we finished the Moet and
I started feeling liberated
And I surrendered as you took me
in your arms
I was so caught up in the moment
I couldn't bear to let you go yet
so I threw caution to the wind
and started listening to my longing heart
And then you softly pressed your lips to mine
and the feelings surfaced I'd surpressed
for such a long time
(And I was lifted)
And for awhile I forgot
the sorrow and the pain
and melted with you as we stood
there in the rain
Chorus (2x)
Last night I dreamed that I
whispered the words I love you
and touched you so very
subtly as we were kissing goodbye
(Pretty baby -- how I'm missing you)
Every time I feel the need
I envision you caressing me
(Envision you caressing me)
and go back in time
(I go back)
to relive the splendor of you and I
on the rooftop that rainy night
(on the roof that rainy night)
Every time I feel the need
(When I feel the need)
I envision you caressing me
(I envision you over and over and over again)
and go back in time
to relive the splendor of you and I
(It was oh so sweet, you and I)
on the rooftop that rainy night
(on that rainy night)
Every time I feel the need
(Last night I had the strangest dream ... )
I envision you caressing me
(It was actually quite symbolic)
and I go back in time
(As I whispered ... that I loved you)
to relive the splendor of you and I
( ... very subtly)
Chorus (1x)
06 Breakdown (04:43)
Krayzie:
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Mariah:
You called yesterday
to basically say
That you care for me, but
That you're just not in love
Immediately I pretended to be
Feeling similarly
And led you to believe it was OK
To just walk away from the one thing
That's unyielding and sacred to me
Chorus:
Well, I guess I'm trying to be
Nonchalant about it
And I'm going to extremes
To prove I'm fine without you
But in reality I'm slowly losing my mind
Underneath a disguise of a smile
Gradually I'm dying inside
Friends ask me how I feel
And I lie convincingly
Cause I don't want to reveal
The fact that I'm suffering
So I wear my disguise
Till I go home at night
And turn down all the lights
And then I break down and cry
Mariah:
So what do you do
When somebody you're so devoted to
Suddenly just stops loving you
And it seems they haven't got a clue
Of the pain that rejection is putting you through
Do you cling to your pride
And sing "I Will Survive"
Do you lash out and say
"How dare you leave this way?"
Do you hold on in vain as they just slip away
Well, I guess I'm trying to be
Nonchalant about it
And I'm going to extremes
To prove I'm fine without you
But in reality I'm slowly losing my mind
Underneath the disguise of a smile
Gradually I'm dying inside
Friends ask me how I feel
And I lie convincingly
Cause I don't want to reveal
The fact that I'm suffering
So I wear my disguise
Till I go home at night
And turn down all the lights
And then I break down and cry
Wish:
Yeah, c'mon, yeah, c'mon, c'mon
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down,
Break break down, steady breakin' me on down
Wish:
It'll break ya down,
only if you let it
Everyday crazy situation's rockin' my mind
Tryin' to break me down
But I won't let it (forget it)
Krayzie:
I been feelin' like you're breakin' me down
kickin' me round, stressin' me out
I think I better go and get out
And let me relieve some stress
Wish:
Don't ever wanna feel no pain, pain
Hopin' for the sun but it looks like rain, rain, rain, rain
Lord, I just will not maintain
Krayzie:
Oh yeah, often feel the pressures ya' all
But nevertheless Krayzie wont fall
It's over, it's endin' here
Well, I guess I'm trying to be
Nonchalant about it
And I'm going to extremes
To prove I'm fine without you
But in reality I'm slowly losing my mind
Underneath the disguise of a smile
Gradually I'm dying inside
Friends ask me how I feel
And I lie convincingly
Cause I don't want to reveal
The fact that I'm suffering
So I wear my disguise
Till I go home at night
And turn down all the lights
And then I break down and cry
( repeat 3x)
07 Babydoll (05:13)
Its 2:11 and I'm stressin'
Watching TV in my hotel suite
I check my service every second
At 2:10 you still hadn't called me
So I'm gonna leave my cell phone
Turned on in my purse by the bed
And before I fall asleep
I guess I'll just check my machine
Again and again because I'm
Obsessing on you
*Chorus*
I wanna be your babydoll
Wrap me up nice and tight
Love me all through the night
Come lay me down
Enfold me in your arms
Cover me with velvet kisses
Rock me on and on
And whisper softly to me
You wanna be my babydoll
Zoning out thinkin' 'bout
You and me between the sheets
I wanna get intimate
But you're not within my reach
So I'll have a little more wine
And I'll try to drink you
Out of my head
And I'll lay awake a while
'Til Im high enough I can
Forget all about you until
I wake up again
*Chorus*
Slipping into dreams
I feel my love surround you
My subconscious seems
To weave itself around you
Do you care for me
Beyond idolization
Tell me how you feel
But don't keep me at bay
'Cause I won't be waiting long
*Chorus (repeat)*
12 Outside (04:48)
It's hard to explain
Inherently it's just always been strange
Neither here nor there --
always somewhat out of place everywhere
Ambiguous --
without a sense of belonging to touch
Somewhere halfway --
feeling there's no one completely the same
Chorus:
Standing alone --
eager to just
believe it's good enough to be what
you really are
But in your heart
uncertainty forever lies
and you'll always be
somewhere on the
outside
Early on, you face
the realization you don't
have a space
where you fit in
And recognize
you were born to exist
Chorus (1x)
And it's hard
And it's hard
And it's hard
Irreversibility
Falling in between
And it's hard
And it's hard
to be understood
as you are
As you are
Oh, and God knows
that you're standing on your own --
blind and unguided
Into a world divided
you're thrown
Where you're never quite the same
although you try -- try and try
to tell yourself
you really are
But in your heart -- uncertainty forever lies
and you'll always be
somewhere on the outside
You'll always be
somewhere on the outside
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Other reviews
By pluto1992
"Butterfly is one of the most beautiful, crafted, and complete tracks on the album."
"Fly Away [Butterfly Reprise] is a definitely successful and bold experiment to be part of a Carey CD."
