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We Belong Together

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"We Belong Together"
Song

"We Belong Together" is a pop/R&B ballad performed by Mariah Carey and released in 2005 as the second single from her album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). Composed by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal and Johnta Austin, the song features a modest musical arrangement built on simple piano chords and an understated, mid-tempo backbeat —a style that is influenced by 1980s soul and R&B, as well as contemporary pop and hip-hop music. The song centers on a "stupid" protagonist who pleads for her lover to return.

"We Belong Together" was one of the last records to be composed for The Emancipation of Mimi. Following a slump in Carey's career at the turn of the millennium, the song was released to major critical and commercial success, and became Carey's first number-one single on the U.S. Hot 100 chart in five years. It also peaked at number-one across many charts worldwide, and in 2006 earned Carey her first Grammy Awards in fifteen years.

History and composition

Further information: [[:The Emancipation of Mimi]]

"We Belong Together" was almost overlooked in the production of The Emancipation of Mimi, and was added late to album's track list. Following a relatively unsuccessful period between 2001 and 2003, Carey began to compose material for her new album The Emancipation of Mimi in 2004, and by November of that year, she had considered the album complete. However, she was encouraged by Antonio "L.A." Reid, the chairman of Island Def Jam Records, to attempt more studio sessions with creative partner and friend Jermaine Dupri, who also produced Usher's 2004 hit album Confessions. Carey recalled, "L.A. was like, 'You and Jermaine Dupri make magic together, why aren't you in the studio with him?' I said, 'I love Jermaine, is he free? I know he's doing a million things, Usher and this and that.' But Jermaine said, 'Come on down.'"[1]

After two days at Dupri's Atlanta studio, the pair composed two popular tracks on The Emancipation of Mimi: "Shake it Off" and "Get Your Number." Satisfied with the output, Carey returned to New York; however, "We Belong Together" was still lacking. Reid was impressed with the album's new material and requested that Carey return to Atlanta for a second studio session with Dupri and his production team, which included Austin and Seal. In two days, the quartet wrote and produced the club-inspired R&B song "It's Like That", and finally, the maudlin ballad "We Belong Together."

The composers discussed the melody for "We Belong Together" at length: "We went back and forth with concepts for the beat and melodic ideas," recalled Carey.[1] Subsequently, they simplified the arrangement in order to accentuate Carey's vocals; Dupri had insisted that he wanted people to "feel the old essence" for which she had been known. By this time, Carey was limited by time constraints and feared that the single would not be ready for the album's April 14th release. She performed a trial version of the song, which eventually served as the final recording.[2]

Melody and structure

"We Belong Together" is a pop ballad that exhibits influences from and hip hop, R&B and soul. The song features a hip hop-style beat in a drum programmed rhythm made by a Roland TR-808-styled kick and hi-hat. Rather than Carey's typical melismatic style, in which her vocal pitch changes mid-syllable to produce a dramatic and emotional feel, the song features a laidback, low-key feel which mimics R&B artists such as R. Kelly and Usher. Besides hip hop, it also presents the influence of 1980s retro-soul through the second-verse lyrics, which make reference to Bobby Womack's "If You Think You're Lonely Now" (1981) and The Deele's "Two Occasions" (1987, with Babyface).

"Bobby Womack's on the radio
Singing to me, 'If you think you're lonely now'".

Following the reference of Womack's song, she sings:

"So I turn the dial, tryin’ to catch a break
And then I hear Babyface
'I only think of you' and it's breaking my heart".

The lyric "If you think you're lonely now" is from the song of the same name and the lyric "I only think of you" is from the chorus of "Two Occasions"; due to the inclusion of these lyrics in "We Belong Together", all of their songwriters were given co-writing credits in this song.

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end

"We Belong Together" is composed in C major and opens with a piano, which establishes its melody and harmonic structure. Rhythm and bass are introduced into the background as Carey begins to vocalise, which creates a relaxed tempo.[3] Following the common verse-chorus form, the song is structured into three sections, each presenting the protagonist in different emotional phases. During the first section, she laments her mistakes and sings as if she cannot have what she desires.[1] The song evolves into the chorus with a thumping bass line, and the protagonist begins to implore for her lover. During the second section, she begins to feel "all out of her element" when she attempts to distract herself by listening to the radio. The hip hop prominence in Carey's vocals increases, and she "uses just a few notes to deliver a nimble burst of words."[4] Following the second chorus, Carey transitions into the third section by rising her pitch an octave, which emphasizes the protagonist's frustration.[5]

Remixes and other versions

Carey recorded two remixes of "We Belong Together": the DJ Clue remix, which was produced by DJ Clue and features rappers Jadakiss and Styles P, and the Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction Mix/Atlantic Soul Vocal Mix. The remixes are fundamental to the album version, where a synthetic bass line, a piano and guitar line, and distinctive hi-hats produce a more up-tempo, hard-hitting beat. The singer continues where she left off on the original song, and once again employs the vocal rap-approach, reminiscent of the 1990s thug-love duet.[6]

The remixes proved successful with fans; the Atlantic Soul Mix reached number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Music and Club Play chart, while the DJ Clue version climbed to a peak position of number five on the Hot Digital Songs chart. First offered through downloads in May 2005, both helped the album version amass airplay and sales.

Critical response

Unlike most of Carey's more recent singles, "We Belong Together" was received well by critics. The song won a number of industry awards, including "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song" at the 2006 Grammy Awards, Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female, "Song of the Year" at the 2006 ASCAP Awards (tied with Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"), the Vibe Award and Soul Train Award for "Best R&B Song", and the BMI Urban Award for Song of the Year (2006). Carey's vocals were hailed as a "return to form", following reviews of Charmbracelet that suggested she had lost her signature power and range.[7][8]

In a review for Slant magazine, a critic wrote: "the wobbly diva [keeps] cool with breathy, rapid-fire verses until the final full-voiced climax that... proves that 'The Voice' has indeed returned".[9] Both Billboard magazine and Johnny Loftus of Metrotimes shared similar opinions and lavished the song with plaudits such as "classy", "stellar" and "sublime".[5][10] Even the popular indie-oriented website Pitchfork Media gave the song its stamp of approval with a 4 1/2-star rating.[11]

"We Belong Together" spent the majority of its chart run at the top of the U.S. Singles Chart, and Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times proclaimed the song 2005's "song of the summer", one of the most melancholy songs to earn this title:

Unlike "Lean Back", it hasn't spawned a catchphrase; unlike "Crazy in Love", this song doesn't beg listeners to scream along; unlike "Hollaback Girl" and "Pon de Replay", this song doesn't even command listeners to dance... however, Carey's tricky vocal lines give the song more propulsion than you'd expect, with tightly coiled counter-rhythms that tug against the beat.[4]

While "We Belong Together" has proved to be popular with fans and critics alike, it also received unfavorable reviews. Helen Duong of UKMusic felt that it was simply "bearable",[12] while another critic from Virgin.net wrote that the song was "boring, clichéd and uninspired".[13]

Music video

The music video was directed by Brett Ratner and was filmed in Beverly Hills, United States. It serves as the continuation to the video for "It's Like That". Beginning with the "It's Like That" video, Carey's character is seen at a masquerade ball the evening before her wedding. One of the guests reveals himself as a former lover (played by Wentworth Miller). The video for "We Belong Together" begins the following morning, where Carey's character reminisces about her former boyfriend. She walks around a house while attempting to deal with her frustration of the past. Even when the ceremony begins and she walks down the aisle, she debates whether she belongs with her former boyfriend or her fiancé (played by Eric Roberts). Once Carey's character reaches the altar, she catches sight of her former lover who is watching the wedding from a distance, and she runs from the ceremony and into his arms.

The video attracted some controversy from the media: the Vera Wang wedding dress featured was the dress Carey wore at her 1993 wedding to Tommy Mottola.[14] The media also compared the Eric Roberts character to Mottola and the Wentworth Miller character to Derek Jeter. Although it was speculated that the use of the dress was a publicity stunt, Carey denied such allegations.[15]

The video reached number-one on several video-chart countdowns, including BET's 106 & Park, MTV's TRL (where it retired after it remained on the countdown for fifty days), MuchMusic's Countdown, and VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown. It was also LAUNCHcast's most-watched video of 2005, with 7.5 million streamed performances.[16]

Chart performance

Between 1997 and 2004, Carey's popularity on the radio had substantially declined.[17] However, "We Belong Together" was touted to radio in North America on March 26 2005 and it became Carey's sixteenth U.S. number-one single as a result of strong airplay. It proved to be the greatest success of Carey's solo career and for her label, Island Def Jam Records.[18] The song spent fourteen non-consecutive weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts, and it became the first song to simultaneously occupy the number-one position on nine of the Billboard charts.[19] "We Belong Together" also made Carey the first artist to have five singles reach the top of the Top 40 Mainstream format.[20]

According to Mediabase and Nielsen BDS, the song broke several airplay records in the United States. It assumed the number-one position on the Hot 100 Airplay for sixteen weeks and reached a total of 223 million audience impressions, breaking the record previously held by Mario's "Let Me Love You" (2004).[21] To date, it remains tied with No Doubt's "Don't Speak" (1996) for the second-longest stay at number one on the Hot 100 Airplay, behind only the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" (1998) with eighteen weeks.[22]

"We Belong Together" proved successful in several major non-U.S. markets. It debuted at the top of the Australian chart, where it remained for two weeks. It reached a peak position of number two for three weeks in New Zealand and on the Canadian BDS Airplay chart. Promotion for the song was strongest in the UK, where it debuted at number two behind Tupac Shakur's "Ghetto Gospel" by 392 physical and digital sales. Across Continental Europe the song was a moderate success and reached the top twenty in France and Germany. "We Belong Together" became Carey's sixth Brazilian number-one single, a position it maintained for a single week.

Free downloads controversy

During the week that "We Belong Together" ascended to number one in the United States, iTunes had exclusively offered the DJ Clue remix of the song as a free digital download through Carey's official website. In response to letters of complaint, Billboard columnist Fred Bronson admitted in his Chart Beat Chat column that the free downloads had indeed helped the song reach number one. Although it was against Billboard's policy, the magazine's director of charts, Geoff Mayfield, said that the means of calculating chart positions did not reflect that policy at the time. If the calculations had correctly filtered out the statistics resulting from free downloads, it is likely that "We Belong Together" would have not reached number one until the following week.[23]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "We Belong Together".

Credits and personnel

Charts

International chart positions of the first thirty weeks (click image to view data in tabular form). "We Belong Together" proved successful in several major music markets.
Chart (2005) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 1
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 3
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs 2 5
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 16
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 1
Polish Chart 1
United World Singles Chart 1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1
Brazilian Singles Chart 1
South African Singles Chart 1
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 2
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 2
Singapore Airplay Chart 2
UK Singles Chart 2
Irish Singles Chart 3
Spanish Singles Chart 3
Swiss Singles Chart 4
German Singles Chart 11
French Singles Chart 12
Tokyo Hot 100 (airplay chart) 34
  • (1 Atlantic Soul/P. Rauhofer remixes)
  • (2 DJ Clue remix)


Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 4 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by ARIA (Australia) number one single
June 26 2005 - July 3 2005 		Succeeded by

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c "VH1". Road To The Grammys: The Story Behind Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". Retrieved January 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "MC Archives". Mariah Carey's interview on Québec TV. Retrieved January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Music Notes". "We Belong Together". Retrieved February 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b "New York Times". The Summer Buzz: Cicadas and Mariah Carey. Retrieved November 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b "Metrotimes". Radio fever- Sussing out a summer jam for ’05. Retrieved November 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Explodingplastic". Mariah Carey - We Belong Together" (Atlantic Soul Mix - Craig C.). Retrieved May 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Anderman, Joan. "For Carey, the Glory's Gone but the Glitter Lives On". Boston Globe. pg. D.4, September 10 2003 [THIRD Edition].
  8. ^ Walters, Barry. "Charmbracelet". Rolling Stone. New York: pg. 93, December 12 2002, iss. 911.
  9. ^ "Slant Magazine". 2005: Year in Rewind. Retrieved January 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Billboard.com". Billboard Singles Review — "We Belong Together". Retrieved January 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "PitchforkMedia.com". Mariah Carey — We Belong Together. Retrieved July 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "UKmusic". Reviews: Hip Hop and RnB- Mariah Carey We Belong Together. Retrieved November 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Virgin.net". Mariah Carey — We Belong Together. Retrieved November 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Foxnews.com". Mariah Carey Dresses for Her Ex. Retrieved January 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Latina.com". Mariah Carey still having fun with ex-hubby?. Retrieved January 30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Yahoo! Music. "Mariah Carey will 'Shake It Off', exclusively for Yahoo! Music; North American Online Premiere kicks off 8pm (PDT), July 27th". Top40-charts.com. July 27 2005. Retrieved February 12 2005.
  17. ^ Gardner, Elysa. Mariah Carey, 'standing again'. USA Today. November 28, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2005.
  18. ^ "About.com". New York Girl Makes Good With The Emancipation of Mimi. Retrieved February 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "MC Archives". We Belong Together sets another record at Billboard. Retrieved February 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Mariah Daily news archives". Carey "shakes" her way to the top. Retrieved May 28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "USA Today". Carey sets a record. Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Billboard.com". Biography of the Goo Goo Dolls: "Iris" spent 18 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 Airplay. Retrieved May 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "MC Archives". The Mariah aftermath. Retrieved February 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

References

  • "ARC Weekly Top 40". Rock on the Net. Retrieved February 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "ARIA.com". Australian airplay and sales charts. Retrieved March 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Billboard.com". Billboard Hot 100 chart. Retrieved January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Chart Singles.net". Week 28 Chart Ronudup. Retrieved March 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "IFop.com". French sales chart. Retrieved March 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Jam Canoe.ca". Canadian airplay and sales charts. Retrieved March 5. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Mariahdaily". Chartlogs. Retrieved January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Mariahdaily". Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "MC Archives". Jermaine Dupri: How he turned Mariah into a hit Machine. Retrieved February 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Mediatraffic". United World charts. Retrieved January 31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Oricon.co.jp". Japanese sales chart. Retrieved March 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  • "Recording Industry Association of New Zealand". New Zealand sales chart. Retrieved March 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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