We Belong Together
This article describes the song by Mariah Carey, for the song from Toy Story 3 see We Belong Together (Randy Newman song).
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We Belong Together is a song by Mariah Carey recorded for her tenth studio album, 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi, and released on March 29, 2005 as the album's second single. The song was written and produced by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal and Johntá Austin, and is inspired by 1980s R&B and soul. Billboard magazine named the song the most successful of the decade based on sales, radio play, and downloads.
After a career hiatus from the years 2001 and 2005, Carey had worldwide success with her single We Belong Together, which reached the top in Australia and the US (for 14 weeks). In the US, the song broke many airplay records and received many good reviews. The song also won Carey several Grammy Awards in 2006. Billboard lists We Belong Together as the eleventh most successful song of all time.(as of 2015).
Background and origin
We Belong Together was not originally intended to be produced for The Emancipation of Mimi. After a career hiatus, Carey began work on her album in 2004. By November of that year, the album was finished, but Carey wanted to produce more songs for it. L. A. Reid, the head of Island Records, hired Carey to record in the studio with producer Jermaine Dupri. Mariah Carey flew to Dupri's studio in Atlanta for two days, they composed and produced two songs for The Emancipation of Mimi (Shake It Off and Get Your Number), then flew back to New York City; at that time, We Belong Together had not yet been written. Reid was impressed with the new songs and decided that Carey should fly back to Atlanta to produce more songs.
In two days Carey, Dupri, Seal and Austin produced the first single of We Belong Together: It's like That. The producers discussed the melody of the song for a long time and finally started working on it.
Music and structure
We Belong Together is a pop ballad with influences of hip-hop, R&B and soul. The song features tracks from a Roland TR-808-styled bass drum and hi-hat, which are often used in hip-hop music.
Carey used a rap vocal style for some parts for which she received the most critical acclaim. Jennifer Vineyard commented that Carey's rap vocals gave the song even more power. The song has similarities to Boby Womack's 1980s retro soul song If You Think You're Lonely Now from 1981 and The Deele's Two Occasions (from 1987 with Babyface). In the second verse of We Belong Together, Carey sings, "Bobby Womack's on the radio / Singing to me, 'If you think you're lonely now.'" She then goes on to sing, "So I turn the dial, tryin' to catch a break / And then I hear Babyface / 'I only think of you...'"
We Belong Together contains a very simple musical arrangement: it plays on the C clef and is composed in quarter notes. Similar to the song, Carey's voice spans from G3 to A5. Carey ends the song with a vocal from C5. It follows the main verse-chorus form and is divided into three sections so that it has an emotional effect on the listener.
