Emotions (Mariah-Carey-Lied)

"Emotions" is a single by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, the first from her second album Emotions. It was released in the third quarter of 1991 in the United States and in the fourth quarter elsewhere (see 1991 in music), and was co-written and co-produced by Carey and David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the C&C Music Factory. This disco-influenced dance song has Carey going through a variety of emotions, from high to low, up to the point where she sings "you got me feeling emotions" and belts out high notes in response. It became her fifth consecutive number one single in U.S. and gave her her first Billboard chart record; it was also her first real success elsewhere since her debut single.

Making of the song

This single was not meant to be the first from Emotions: "Love Takes Time" was originally meant for this before being moved to her debut album. An up-tempo number would be decided as more fitting for a lead single (as for all her later albums with the exception of Charmbracelet). Carey had originally wanted to do hip-hop tracks for the up-tempo numbers on her second album; although Sony had given her more leeway, they considered this too much, so she settled for dance music as second best. She was sent to work with the C&C Music Factory and they created the song "You're So Cold" which became the next choice. However, a second session with the production team had them feeling in a lighter mood when "Emotions" was created and finally decided upon as the lead single.

Criticisms and lawsuit

Those high notes, sounding almost like dog whistles, were denounced by some music critics as being gimmicks (especially the part at the bridge of the song, where Carey sustains a high note for almost ten seconds), though they showed Carey's ability to hold high notes, and helped to highlight the huge width of her vocal range. Supporters argued that use of Carey's wide range was perfectly appropriate to represent the extreme endpoints of human emotion.

The song also faced possible lawsuits for plagiarism. In interviews, Carey and C&C Music Factory stated that they had been inspired by "Best of My Love" by the aptly named disco/soul group, The Emotions. However they denied directly lifting music or lyrics from it. The Emotions disagreed, and started a lawsuit which was apparently settled out of court with no public statement issued. "Emotions" was also noted for sounding similar to the Cheryl Lynn disco track, "Got to Be Real". Carey would later cover this in a duet with Patti Labelle for a television special in 1998.

Chart performance

Carey had attained a flawless record of number one singles in the USA on the Hot 100, with the first four (most recently "I Don't Wanna Cry") all reaching the top. "Emotions" became her fifth number one single, giving her the distinction of being the first (and so far only) artist whose first five singles all went to the top of the Hot 100, breaking the record set by the Jackson 5, twenty-one years before when "I'll Be There" became their fourth consecutive number-one single. It was not so successful elsewhere, but probably her biggest hit since "Vision of Love".

The single debuted at thirty-five on the Hot 100 and after six weeks climbed to the top for three weeks, her longest stay at the summit since "Love Takes Time". It was also her quickest climb to the top to date. In total, the single spent twenty weeks on the Hot 100. Its run on the Hot 100 never saw it leave the top forty, because the week it left the top forty it slipped under the top fifty, and Billboard removes singles below fifty that have been on the Hot 100 for twenty weeks. It was ranked twenty-two on the Hot 100 year-end charts, making it a strong hit, although failed to match "Vision of Love". "Emotions" gave Carey four entries on the 1991 Hot 100 year-end chart, making her a star of the year.

On the component charts, the single reached number one on the Hot 100 Airplay and number ten on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. It became another hit on radio: perhaps her biggest yet with its four weeks at the top on the Hot 100 Airplay chart (even "Vision of Love" only managed three). It was also the lowest peak for a lead single from a Carey album on the Hot 100 Single Sales: surprisingly, as the album it comes from had not been released (lead singles usually sell better than most of the other singles released from an album). Despite its low peak on this chart, it obtained Gold certification, becoming her fourth single to do so. It was also lucky to achieve such a high peak on the Hot 100 with a disproportionate ratio of sales and airplay. The song topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks for one week and was widely successful as an R&B single topping both the airplay and singles sales components of the R&B charts — rather surprising as it is more of a pop–dance song. It became her second number one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, after "Someday".

Outside the U.S., it failed to match the success of the lead single from her debut album, "Vision of Love". It placed her back in the top three of the Canadian chart and also the New Zealand chart, but failed to top this and was seen as a disappointment as Carey was usually very successful in Canada. It became her first single to reach the U.K. top twenty since her debut. It was bigger in Australia than the U.K., where it just missed the top ten. Its success was once again limited in continental Europe and it only reached number ninety on the Japanese charts, becoming one of her biggest flops there.

Awards

"Emotions" was nominated for the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but it lost to "Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt. ("Vision of Love" had won this Grammy award the previous year.) It did win another BMI pop award, continuing Carey's flawless streak here. The chart record that "Emotions" was responsible for breaking was probably a factor in her winning the BMA for Hot 100 Singles Female Artist.

Video/remix video

Carey, in an desaturated video, expresses her emotions.

The video of the song, apparently inspired by Andy Warhol, features Carey and friends experiencing emotions by partying around and having fun around town. The video was desaturated, but still maintains various different color tints, which change from purple to green to red and so forth. A video also exists of the 12" club mix version of "Emotions", but it is close to the original with slight changes in editing.

The 12" club mix version of the music video was released on the MTV Unplugged+3 home video, but it has never been released in DVD form. The original video of the album version remained unreleased for years, but it was finally released on the DVD/home video version of #1's.

Remixes

David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the C&C Music Factory, co-producers of this track, also created the main remix of "Emotions" known as "Emotions (12" Club Mix)". Although this does not feature re-sung vocals, Carey added vocals were added with a new gospel-style intro (before the dance portion). This new intro was used when she performed "Emotions" at MTV Unplugged and in some later concerts.

Track listings of major single-releases

USA CD single (cassette single/7" single)

1. "Emotions" (album version)
2. "Vanishing" (album version)

USA CD maxi single (cassette maxi single/12" maxi single)

1. "Emotions" (12" club mix)
2. "Emotions" (12" Instrumental)
3. "Emotions" (Album Version)
4. "There’s Got to Be a Way" (12" mix)
5. "There’s Got to Be a Way" (vocal dub mix)

UK cassette single

1. "Emotions" (album version)
2. "Vanishing" (album version)

Charts

Chart (1991)	Position	No. of chart topper
U.S Billboard Hot 100	1 (3 weeks)	5th
U.S Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales	10	—
U.S Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1 (4 weeks)	5th
U.S Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	1 (1 week)	3rd
U.S Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales	1 (1 week)	3rd
U.S Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay	1 (2 weeks)	3rd
U.S Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	4	—
U.S Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1 (1 week)	2nd
U.S Billboard Adult Contemporary	3	—
UK Singles Chart	17	—
Billboard Canadian Singles Chart	3	—
New Zealand Singles Chart	3	—
ARIA Singles Chart	11	—
Germany Singles Chart	39	—
Tokyo Hot 100	90	—

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart trajectory
Week	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Position	35	26	17	11	4	3	1	1	1	2	7	9	5	15	23	28	37	37	38	39

Official remixes/versions list

• "Emotions" (album version)
• "Emotions" (12" club mix)
• "Emotions" (12" instrumental)
• "Emotions" (C&C Club No 1 mix)
• "Emotions" (C&C Dub-Dub mix)
• "Emotions" (Special Motion edit)

See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1991

External links

• "Emotions" lyrics — lyrics for the album version of "Emotions"

Vorlage:Mariah Carey2