Emotions

"Emotions" is a song written and produced by Mariah Carey with David Cole and Robert Clivillés of the [[C+C Music Factory]], and recorded for Carey's second album Emotions (1991). It was released as the album's first single in the third quarter of 1991 in the United States and in the fourth quarter elsewhere (see 1991 in music). This disco-influenced dance song has its protagonist going through a variety of emotions, from high to low, up to the point where she declares "you got me feeling emotions" and sings high notes. It became Carey's fifth consecutive number-one single in U.S. and gave her her first Billboard magazine chart record, and it was also her first real success elsewhere since her debut single.

About the record

Carey had originally wanted to create hip hop tracks for the up-tempo songs 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 composed the song "You're So Cold", which became the first choice for the album's first single. 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.

"Emotions" was the first song which showcased Carey's ability to hit very high notes for extended periods of time and it was also consider one of Carey's most powerful vocal performance. The notes highlighted the size of her vocal range, and when hitting them Carey sings in the whistle register, the vocal technique she is most famous for. She managed to hit a G#7, which is the highest G# on the piano, during a performance of the song at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. The note was hit 4 times in a sequence of G#-D#-G#, G#-D#-G# (a sequence that's not heard on the album recording). It is reportedly one of the highest notes recorded by a female vocalist.^{[citation needed]}

"Emotions" was nominated for the 1992 Grammy Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance", losing to "Something to Talk About" by Bonnie Raitt. It won a BMI Pop Award, continuing Carey's unbroken streak of wins for this award.

Copyright Issues

The song's writers and producers faced allegations of plagiarism. In interviews, Carey and C+C Music Factory stated that they had been inspired by the song "Best of My Love" by the disco/soul group The Emotions, but denied directly lifting music or lyrics from it. Carey was quoted as saying the song was an homage to the group, as the song itself is titled "Emotions." David Cole pointed out that the composition was so obviously influenced by "Best of My Love" that the original group would be pleased to see their influence in a new generation. Songwriter Maurice White however seemed unswayed, and filed a lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court, never officially receiving a hearing.¹

Chart performance

"Emotions" became Carey's fifth consecutive number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, giving her the distinction of being the first (and, as of May 2007, only) act to have their first five singles make number one on the Hot 100. (She had previously shared a record of four with The Jackson 5.) It reached number one in its seventh week and spent three weeks at the top, from October 6 to October 26 1991. It replaced "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway, and was replaced by Karyn White's "Romantic". It remained in the top forty for twenty weeks and was one of four singles from Carey on the Hot 100's 1991 year-end charts, ranking twenty-second. The song topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and became her second number one single on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The RIAA certified it gold.

Outside the U.S., it was Carey's most successful single since "Vision of Love" (1990), the lead single from her debut album. It reached the top five in Canada and New Zealand, and became her first single to reach the United Kingdom top twenty since her debut. It was even bigger in Australia, where it just missed the top ten, but its success in continental Europe was limited. It only reached number ninety on Japan's Oricon chart, becoming one of her biggest failures there.

Music videos and remixes

A scene from the music video.

The single's video, directed by Jeff Preiss, features Carey and friends with exotic animals experiencing emotions while partying 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.

David Cole and Robert Clivillés created the main remix of "Emotions" known as "Emotions" (12" club mix). Although Carey did not re-record her vocals for it, she added a new gospel-style intro before the song's dance portion. This new intro was used when she performed "Emotions" on MTV Unplugged in 1992, as well as at some later concerts. A music video was created using the 12" club mix, but is only slight changes in editing differentiate it from the video for the original version.

Audio samples

Live recording of "Emotions"

From the EP MTV Unplugged (1992).
Problems playing the files? See media help.

Track listings

U.S. CD single (cassette single/7" single)

"Emotions" (album version)
"Vanishing" (album version)

U.S. CD maxi single (cassette maxi single/12" maxi single)

"Emotions" (12" club mix)
"Emotions" (12" instrumental)
"Emotions" (album version)
"There's Got to Be a Way" (12" mix)
"There's Got to Be a Way" (vocal dub mix)

UK cassette single

"Emotions" (album version)
"Vanishing" (album version)

UK maxi single

"Emotions" (album version)
"Vanishing" (album version)
"Vision Of Love" (album version)

Remixes and Other Versions

Emotions [Album Version] - 4:11
Emotions [C+C Club Mix Edit] - 5:51
Emotions [C+C Club No.1 Mix] - 7:45
Emotions [C+C Hardcore Factory Mix] - 8:16
Emotions [Special Motion Edit] - 5:17
Emotions [Discotech Mix] - 6:35
Emotions [Club Mix] - 8:32
Emotions [Erpy's Take Me Higher Mix] - 3:58
Emotions [Johnny Vicious Club Mix] - 8:32
Emotions [Jbal Version 7 Inch Edit] - 6:33
Emotions [C+C 12 Inch Original Promo Remix] - 7:15
Emotions [ShCooL 1992 Mix] - 3:19

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position	No. of chart topper
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1 (3 weeks)	5th
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	1 (1 week)	3rd
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1 (1 week)	2nd
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	3	—
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1 (2 weeks)	5th
Philippine Singles Chart	1	4th
Canadian Singles Chart	3	—
New Zealand Singles Chart	3	—
Israel Singles Chart	7	—
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	11	—
UK Singles Chart	17	—
Germany Singles Chart	39	—
Tokyo Hot 100	90	—

Citation

¹Mariah Carey Accused of Plagiarism. Friedman, Roger. "Mariah: Songwriters Get Permission to Sue". (August 10, 2004).

Preceded by "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single October 12 1991- October 26 1991	Succeeded by "Romantic" by Karyn White
Preceded by "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" by Boyz II Men	Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one single November 2 1991	Succeeded by "Forever My Lady" by Jodeci

External links

Mariah Carey
Studio albums: Mariah Carey · Emotions · Music Box · Merry Christmas · Daydream · Butterfly · Rainbow · Glitter · Charmbracelet · The Emancipation of Mimi · TBA Albums · Singles · Unreleased songs · Awards · Grammys Sales/charts achievements · DVDs and videos · Tours

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