From January 31, 2017:
Damn.
I need Mariah to get POLITICAL.
I'm talking about it's January 31 and we're not even two weeks out from Obama turning in his pool pass and we've entered a gigantic spiral of SHIT. This is beyond the usual stuff...I'm talking about attacks on the very fabric of our democratic institutions that kind of, you know, afford us our national identity. Attacks on people who happen to live outside of the arbitrary imaginary lines that draw our "borders," or who happen to adhere to different religious beliefs besides one very narrow (and inaccurate) interpretation of Christianity. Attacks on the health of our environment and our schools. Attacks on years-long foreign diplomacy efforts that jeopardize our national security in ways we couldn't have imagined like, LAST MONTH.
I need M to call Killer Mike. I need M to call D'Angelo. I need M to call Tribe. I need M to call Solange.
I got a lot to be mad about
Despite her cultivation of the diva image froofing around in high heels and bodysuits, I think M is fairly political, meaning I think she has some fairly pointed opinions on issues and does care about who is running this country and in which direction it is going. But is this ever reflected in the music?
Incredibly, "There's Got to Be a Way" from Mariah Carey (1990) still stands as M's most overtly sociopolitical commentary to date:
[Chorus:]
There's got to be a way
To connect this world today
Come together to relieve the pain
There's got to be a way
To unite this human race
And together we'll bring on a change
In another land they still believe
Color grants supremacy
I don't understand
How there can be
Regulated bigotry
Some of us don't even wonder
Some of us don't even care
Couldn't we accept each other
Can't we make ourselves aware
[Chorus]
And maybe then the future will be a time
Without war, destitution, and sorrow
And hungry children won't have to die
If we work together today
We'll save tomorrow
This is fairly standard early 90's social consciousness stuff, lacking specificity as well as any suggestion that M had actually experienced any real pain or angst (see "Make it Happen" from Emotions for allusions to her bio, but only as it plays into the rags-to-riches rising star narrative).
One song that I've never seen discussed is "Reflections" from Glitter (probably why it's rarely discussed -- sadly, too few have heard it). Granted the song is sung from the perspective of the main character, Billie, and directed towards her mother, but I doubt M would have included a pro-choice lyric if she herself didn't share the sentiment:
Did you care at all for me?
If I'm not quite good enough
Or somehow undeserving of
If I'm not quite good enough
Or somehow undeserving of
A mother's love
You could have had the decency
To give me up
Before you gave me life
You could have had the decency
To give me up
Before you gave me life
December 31, 2017:
Looking back at this draft from January, I remember the despair and depression I was feeling then. The sense of hopelessness and powerlessness. I still feel that way to some extent, but there have at least been some wins (Doug Jones, keeping some parts of Obamacare) and overall the momentum seems positive heading into the 2018 midterms. Also life intervened and distracted me. The good intentions I had at the beginning of 2017 to faithfully complete the weekly actions of Wall of Us and Jen Hoffman, and to reconnect with Black Lives Matter and Speaking Down Barriers didn't last the whole year. How can I now ask of M what I haven't done myself?
I guess the ultimate message is, on the eve of this new year, that it's never too late to turn it around, to get back in the swing, and to pick up again. It starts with each one of us. And we can start again, we can reconnect to the message every day.
.
P.S. There's hope after all for M -- did you know she's fighting climate change??
