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Vanishing (song)

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"Vanishing"
Song by Mariah Carey
from the album Mariah Carey
A-side"Love Takes Time"
ReleasedJune 12, 1990
StudioPower Station
Genre
Length4:11
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mariah Carey
Audio
"Vanishing" on YouTube

"Vanishing" is a song recorded and produced by American singer Mariah Carey for her debut studio album, Mariah Carey (1990). Carey wrote the torch song with drummer Ben Margulies before signing a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1988. In describing the demise of a romantic relationship, the lyrics detail how a lover is slowly disappearing from the other's life. Categorized in the gospel and traditional pop music genres, "Vanishing" is a ballad with a blues-inspired composition in which Carey's vocals are accompanied solely by an acoustic piano played by Richard Tee.

Upon the release of Mariah Carey, music critics compared "Vanishing" to other tracks on the album and several named it the record's best. Regarded as one of Carey's premier works throughout her career, the song has also received a positive reception in retrospective reviews. After performing "Vanishing" live at a New York City club and on American television program Saturday Night Live in 1990, she included it in the set list of her 1993 Music Box Tour. American singers Syesha Mercado and Kelly Clarkson later performed cover versions.

Background and release

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Mariah Carey smiling wearing a green jacket
Mariah Carey (pictured in 1990) wrote "Vanishing" with Ben Margulies before she had signed with Columbia Records.[1]

As a teenager in the mid- to late 1980s, American singer Mariah Carey began a songwriting partnership with drummer Ben Margulies.[2] One of their songs, "Vanishing",[3] was present on Carey's demo tape that prompted Columbia Records to offer her a recording contract in 1988.[4] The pair wrote most of the songs on her debut studio album Mariah Carey,[5] which Columbia released on June 12, 1990.[6] Situated as the fifth song, following production-heavy "Someday", "Vanishing" has a sparer sound compared to the other tracks.[7] It was the first song Carey produced by herself[8] and the only one she did so for the album.[9]

Carey described "Vanishing" as her favorite track on the album: "I enjoyed doing that because it gave me more freedom to sing and it was the most personal song to me."[10] Rather than releasing it as a single,[11] Columbia issued "Vanishing" as the B-side to Carey's songs "Love Takes Time" (1990)[12] and "Emotions" (1991).[13] It was also present on the 1992 "I'll Be There" maxi single.[14] In 2010, Columbia and Legacy Recordings included "Vanishing" on two compilation albums: The Essential Mariah Carey and Playlist: The Very Best of Mariah Carey.[15] Relatively unknown among the general public,[16] the song is a deep cut favored by Carey's fans.[17]

Composition

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A blues-inspired[18] gospel[19] and traditional pop number,[20] Vanishing" is a torch song in the form of a ballad.[20] Its lyrics are about one's anguish amid the gradual end of a romantic relationship:[21] "You're vanishing / Drifting away".[3] According to Andrew Chan, author of Why Mariah Carey Matters (2023), the song "conveys romantic loss through metaphors of physical disappearance and occluded perception".[22] The music, composed by Carey and Margulies,[3] has a slow tempo[23] and a melody that oscillates.[8] Its composition lasts for four minutes and eleven seconds;[3] an acoustic piano played by Richard Tee is the sole instrumentation.[24] Carey considered bolstering it with other sounds such as drums to make it more commercially viable but opted to "preserve the integrity of the song – leave it really simple".[25]

The track was engineered and mixed by Patrick Dillett at Power Station and The Hit Factory studios in New York City. It was mastered by Bob Ludwig at New York's Masterdisk.[3] In describing the song's effect on listeners, Chuck Campbell called it a "gripping tearjerker" in the Knoxville News-Sentinel.[26] Jill Warren of The Indianapolis Star considered the composition haunting[27] and Melissa A. Jacques of the St. Petersburg Times said it evoked "spine-tingling emotion and spirituality".[28]

"Vanishing"
"Vanishing" features Carey's vocals accompanied by an acoustic piano.[29]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Carey's voice ranges from muted whispering[30] to high-pitched whistle tones.[20] She does not use her full vocal range during the first two verses; the styles of melisma and riffing appear in the song's latter half. Her first use of belting, a full-throated sound, occurs during the bridge.[31] Carey concludes with a crescendo at the end of the song.[32] Edward Hill of The Plain Dealer described her vocal performance as "complete with staccato phrasing, anguished wails and vibrant note extensions"[29] and Princess Gabbara in Essence said she "unleashes that incredible range, with high and low notes and a sprinkle of ravishing, hard-to-duplicate runs".[33] It received comparisons to the vocals of American singers Aretha Franklin,[34] Tramaine Hawkins,[23] and Suzanne Vega.[29]

Critical reception

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"Vanishing" received limited critical commentary upon the release of Mariah Carey.[9] Music writers contrasted it with other songs on the album and several named it the best track.[35] "Vanishing" was the record's only song which a "glimpse of the passionate singer Carey could be" was evident, according to Hill.[29] Paul Willistein of The Morning Call thought it was Carey's best vocal showcase on the album;[34] The Record's Barbara Jaeger felt her voice sounded better on "Vanishing" because the arrangement avoided overproduction.[36] Richard T. Ryan of the Staten Island Advance said "Vanishing" demonstrated Carey could limit the use of her vocal range, unlike "Vision of Love".[18] In the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Rick Mason cited "Vanishing" as a song in which Carey used her voice judiciously.[37] It exhibited Carey's reverence for gospel music more than other tracks, according to Stephen Holden of The New York Times.[38]

Carey's vocal performance and artistry on the song have received a positive reception in retrospective album reviews. In 2015, Billboard's Trevor Anderson said "Vanishing" served as "a reminder that Carey possesses a world-class voice".[39] Writing for the same magazine in 2020, Glenn Rowley stated it was arguably the best showcase of her vocal abilities on Mariah Carey.[8] Hugh Gregory gauged it as the album's "most artistically successful track" in the book Soul Music A–Z (1991)[40] and Trent Jones of The Root thought the song helped her stand out as an individual artist on the album.[41] For scholar Vasilios Harisis, it best "announces the voice as the main communicator of an artistic identity".[30]

Critics have viewed "Vanishing" as a standout track in Carey's discography.[42] Courier-Post contributor Jeff Hall considered the song her best work in a 1993 article[43] and Vincent Stephens named it one of Carey's finest album tracks in a 2000 review for academic journal Popular Music and Society.[44] The song attracted similar commentary in the 2010s: David T. Farr of the Sturgis Journal and Gabbara called it underrated in 2015 and 2017, respectively.[45] In 2020, Billboard staff as a whole ranked it as the seventh-best song of Carey's career.[8] "Vanishing" is the most beautiful ballad among her early recordings and its lyrics are unusually advanced compared to others in this period such as "Can't Let Go" (1991), according to Chan.[20]

Live performances

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Carey performed "Vanishing" while promoting Mariah Carey in 1990. On October 22 that year, she sang it at the Tatou club in New York City.[46] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described her delivery as "casually jolting"[47] and Ashley S. Battel of AllMusic said she showcased her vocal abilities effectively.[48] Footage of the performance was included on 1991 video album The First Vision[49] and its audio was later released on The Live Debut – 1990, a 2020 digital extended play.[46] Carey reprised the song on October 29, 1990, at American television program Saturday Night Live, following "Vision of Love".[50] According to Vulture's Craig Jenkins, she came across as a seasoned professional.[51] Rolling Stone writer Christopher R. Weingarten ranked it at number 19 on a 2017 list of the best musical performances in the show's history.[50]

Carey later sang "Vanishing" during the 1993 Music Box Tour as a dedication to Tee, who died before the shows began.[52] Several critics described it as one of the concert's better performances.[53] Miami Herald writer Leonard Pitts Jr. viewed the live version as one of "her moments when potential and ability stabbed through brilliantly, like lightning through the clouds".[54] According to Wayne Robins of Newsday, Carey displayed authentic emotion during the rendition.[55] The Boston Globe's Steve Morse felt she "showed a softer, equally entrancing side" to her performance ability in comparison with other songs that showcased her full vocal range.[52]

Other artists have performed live cover versions of "Vanishing". Several critics praised the vocal performance of American singer Syesha Mercado, who sang it as a contestant on the seventh season of television program American Idol in 2008.[16] Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution remarked the rendition was "controlled yet emotional, lovely".[56] In 2020, American singer Kelly Clarkson sang "Vanishing" a cappella at her home during the COVID-19 pandemic.[57]

Credits and personnel

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Chan 2023, p. 26; Columbia Records 1990; Nickson 1998, p. 26.
  2. ^ Nickson 1998, p. 17–18; Shapiro 2001, p. 34.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Columbia Records 1990.
  4. ^ Chan 2023, p. 26; Nickson 1998, p. 26.
  5. ^ Shapiro 2001, p. 47.
  6. ^ Mall 2021, p. 242.
  7. ^ Nickson 1998, pp. 37–38.
  8. ^ a b c d Rowley 2020.
  9. ^ a b Nickson 1998, p. 38.
  10. ^ Lepage 1990, p. D10.
  11. ^ Shapiro 2001, pp. 153–156.
  12. ^ Columbia Records 1991a.
  13. ^ Columbia Records 1991b.
  14. ^ Columbia Records 1992.
  15. ^ Columbia Records & Legacy Recordings 2010a; Columbia Records & Legacy Recordings 2010b.
  16. ^ a b Cormier 2008, p. D1; Shrier 2008, p. C2; Sluder 2008, p. D4.
  17. ^ Brothers 2016; Brothers 2017.
  18. ^ a b Ryan 1990, p. E2.
  19. ^ DeKnock 1990, p. 7.
  20. ^ a b c d Chan 2023, p. 26.
  21. ^ Chan 2023, p. 28.
  22. ^ Chan 2023, pp. 26–28.
  23. ^ a b Freedberg 1990, p. 44.
  24. ^ Columbia Records 1990; Hill 1990, p. 26.
  25. ^ Sholin 1991, p. 32.
  26. ^ Campbell 1990, p. B1.
  27. ^ Warren 1990, p. D6.
  28. ^ Jacques 1991, p. 17.
  29. ^ a b c d Hill 1990, p. 26.
  30. ^ a b Harisis 2019, p. 9.
  31. ^ Chan 2023, pp. 26–27.
  32. ^ Price 1990, p. 1B.
  33. ^ Gabbara 2017.
  34. ^ a b Willistein 1990, p. A67.
  35. ^ DeKnock 1990, p. 7; Jackson 1990, p. 51; Price 1990, p. 1B.
  36. ^ Jaeger 1990, p. E6.
  37. ^ Mason 1990, p. 5D.
  38. ^ Holden 1990.
  39. ^ Anderson 2015.
  40. ^ Gregory 1991, p. 35.
  41. ^ Jones 2015.
  42. ^ Azzopardi 2018; Brothers 2017; Joannou 2023.
  43. ^ Hall 1993, p. 8C.
  44. ^ Stephens 2000, p. 115.
  45. ^ Farr 2015; Gabbara 2017.
  46. ^ a b Kaufman 2020b.
  47. ^ Caramanica 2020.
  48. ^ Battel.
  49. ^ Nickson 1998, p. 44.
  50. ^ a b Weingarten 2017.
  51. ^ Jenkins 2020.
  52. ^ a b Morse 1993, p. 58.
  53. ^ Kot 1993; Moon 1993, p. D9; Pitts Jr. 1993, p. 23A.
  54. ^ Pitts Jr. 1993, p. 23A.
  55. ^ Robins 1993, p. 58.
  56. ^ Ho 2008.
  57. ^ Bucksbaum 2020; Kaufman 2020a.

Sources

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