“We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey
In “We belong together”, Mariah Carey describes the reality of being lonely after breaking off a relationship.
The singer deeply regrets giving up on the relationship and wishes she could reverse the damage she did. Apparently she didn’t know she loved or cared about her ex until the relationship was over. She admits that she did not value her ex-lover or paid much attention to their feelings.
It is only after the affair is broken that she realizes that she made a mistake and feels extremely lonely now that he isn’t around. She now wants him back and tries to convince him that he’s irreplaceable in her life and as such should return to her.
Mariah goes further to say that she can’t get him out of her thoughts and even when she goes about her day normally, certain songs on the radio remind her of the lost love. She desperately asks him to come back because she still loves and cannot bear to live with the pain and regret of losing him.
All in all, this song is a perfect reflection of the popular adage that says that you never miss the water until it’s gone. It reveals the singer’s desperate attempts to repair a relationship she destroyed herself.
Music Video
The official video accompanying “We Belong Together” was premiered on the 11th of April 2005. This visual was filmed by American video director, Brett Ratner. Carey had worked with Ratner on multiple occasions in the past, with the latter helming the video for her classic hit “Heartbreaker”.
Carey’s wedding dress in this clip was actually the wedding gown that she wore in 1993, on her marriage ceremony to her former husband – Tommy Mottola. The couple terminated their marital union in 1998.
Release Date of “We Belong Together”
Mariah Carey dropped this song on 29th March 2005. She released as the 2nd single from her 10th studio album, entitled “The Emancipation of Mimi“.
Did Mariah Carey write “We Belong Together”?
Yes, she did. That being said, she didn’t do the writing solely. This song was composed by at least 10 different songwriters. They comprise Mariah Carey and the following:
- Jermaine Dupri
- Johntá Austin
- Bobby Womack
- Manuel Seal
- Sandra Sully
- Patrick Moten
- Darnell Bristol
- Sidney DeWayne
- Kenneth Edmonds
Carey, Seal, and Dupri were responsible for producing this R&B tune.
Samples
Carey incorporated into this single, samples of “Stares and Whispers”, which is a 1977 song by the legendary Australian singer Renée Geyer. She also sampled bits of the 1981 classic tune, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now”, which was sang by the late American musician, Bobby Womack. It is for this reason the writers for the above songs also receive writing credits in “We Belong Together”.
Grammy Honors
Though the song lost the majority of its nominations at the 2006 edition of the Grammy Awards, it did however, manage to win the following categories:
- “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance”
- “Best R&B Song”
Some of the several nominations that “We Belong Together” failed to win at the 2006 Grammy include “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year”. It lost the aforementioned categories to Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and U2’s “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”, respectively.
Has this song been covered/sampled by other artists?
Florida born singer, Macy Kate released a cover of “We Belong Together” in 2015. Austrian-born DJ, Peter Rauhofer performed a remix of the song in 2005.
Multiple recording artists have sampled sections of the tune in their songs. Some of them are the 2006 song, “Too Deep” by Girl Talk, “Lovesong” by German rapper, Kollegah, and “Tin” by Canadian musician, Daphni.
Carey herself also released an official remix version of this single. This version featured American rap artists, Styles P and Jadakiss.
Success
“We Belong Together” notched the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Australian charts. It also saw success in several other regions, such as in the UK, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, where it ranked at No.2.
The track replicated its fine success in many more regions, such as Switzerland, France, and Spain, entering into the top 20 on those nations’ chart.
In 2009, Billboard magazine declared this single as the United States’ best-selling track of the 2000s.
