With the release of her self-titled debut, Mariah Carey (1990), Emotions (1991), and Music Box in the works, featuring hits “Dreamlover” and “Hero,” Mariah Carey was arguably the biggest pop star in the world by 1993. Carey already had four No. 1 singles from her debut and more with Music Box, all while she continued writing songs for other artists.
In 1992, Carey had her first hit, co-writing R&B singer and songwriter Trey Lorenz’s “Someone to Hold” from his 1992 self-titled debut, which peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. Carey later wrote “Head over Heels,” the lead single for the girl group Allure’s self-titled debut album in 1997, featuring rapper Nas, which peaked at No. 35, along with the song “After” for the R&B group 7 Mile a year later, and “Don’t Go Looking for Love” for the girl group Blaque in 1999.
“I constantly have to remind people that I’m a songwriter,” Carey joked during her induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022. “
Along with co-writing the majority of her biggest hits—”Vision of Love,” “Always Be My Baby,” “Emotions,” “We Belong Together,” “Fantasy,” her perennial holiday hit “All I Want for Christmas is You,” and more—Carey’s catalog spans more collaborations with Carole King, George Michael, Diane Warren, Missy Elliott, Whitney Houston, and more throughout her 30-plus-year career.
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“Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart”
By 1993, Carey also collaborated with Daryl Hall on his third solo album, Soul Alone. Co-produced by Hall, Michael Peden, and the Family Stand’s Peter Lord Moreland and V. Jeffrey Smith, Soul Alone was a more soulful and jazzy album, featuring Carey’s ballad “Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart,” co-written by Carey.
Carey and Hall connected while he was working on Soul Alone and looking for some outside songs. His then-manager Tommy Mottola, who was also Carey’s manager and husband, suggested she pen something for him.
The song, which follows the struggles around an unreciprocated love, also features Carey on backing vocals.
Another day, and I`m spending
Time alone
I called your place, and there was
No one home
I`ve been lying low, but I`m
Thinking of you
Out there by yourself trying to find
Something new
Girl, I thought what we had was so
Good that I`d never hear you say no
And for all that is worth, I can`t
Think about ever letting go
But I`m lost for the words that I
Need to get over the way I feel
I can`t do it by myself
Girl, I really need you here
Help me find a way to our hearts
Help me find my way, I can`t see
In the dark
Tell me if I`ve drifted too far
Am I warm? Am I cold?
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
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