Mariah Carey (Themes and Musical Style)- Sexy Halloween Party, 31 oct

Love is the subject of the majority of Carey’s lyrics, although she has written about themes such as racism, death, world hunger, and spirituality. She has said that much of her work is partly autobiographical, but TIME magazine wrote: “If only Mariah Carey’s music had the drama of her life. Her songs are often sugary and artificial—NutraSweet soul. But her life has passion and conflict.” The Village Voice wrote in 2001 that, in that respect, Carey compared unfavorably with singers such as Mary J. Blige, saying “Carey’s Strawberry Shortcake soul still provides the template with which teen-pop cuties draw curlicues around those centerless [Diane] Warren ballads [...] it’s largely because of [Blige] that the new r&b demands a greater range of emotional expression, smarter poetry, more from-the-gut testifying, and less unnecessary notes than the squeaky-clean and just plain squeaky Mariah era. Nowadays it’s the Christina Aguileras and Jessica Simpsons who awkwardly oversing, while the women with roof-raising lung power keep it in check when tune or lyric demands.”

Carey’s output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines, keyboards and synthesizers. Many of her songs contain piano music, and she was given piano lessons when she was six years old. Carey said that she cannot read sheet music and prefers to collaborate with a pianist when composing her material, but feels that it is easier to experiment with faster and less conventional melodies and chord progressions using this technique. Some of her arrangements have been inspired by the work of musicians such as Stevie Wonder, a soul pianist to whom Carey once referred as “the genius of the [twentieth] century”, but she has said, “My voice is my instrument; it always has been.”