When Mariah Carey was a child she always sang, then started writing poetry. “As soon as I knew what it was to write something down, I started writing poetry and just making up little melodies,” said Carey in a 2023 interview on the Jennifer Hudson Show. “Sometimes I just think it,” added Carey on how songs come to her now. “Sometimes it’s something going over and over in my head and I have to go to my phone and record it … and just take it from there.”
Since releasing her 1990 debut Mariah, Carey has co-written the majority of her hits, from her first, “Vision of Love,” when she was just 17, along with “Always Be My Baby,” “Butterfly,” “Dreamlover,” “Emotions,” “Hero,” and more.
Carey has co-written 18 of her 19 No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100, including her 1994 holiday megahit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The song continues to hit the charts each year three decades after its release, and earned her the title of “Queen of Christmas.”
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“I love songwriting,” said Carey. “For me, that’s my talent. That’s what I’m best at.”
In 2022, Carey was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. A year later, Carey imparted some of her songwriting knowledge on the online learning platform MasterClass, where she shared five tips for writing a song.
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1. Express Yourself
Carey’s first tip, according to her MasterClass, is to use your lyrics to illustrate the things that are often difficult for you to articulate. “I wrote ‘Outside’ (1997) about specific feelings of otherness that I felt as a child,” said Carey in her MasterClass.
“For me, it was about being biracial and how that has really become such a … I don’t know that there’s one word that I can use to describe what that’s done to me,” added Carey. It’s sort of the bane of my existence. To be Black and biracial is a very specific thing … And especially when you grow up in white neighborhoods, and you go through the different things that I went through, it’s been an interesting journey.”
2. Experiment
Her second tip urges writers to lean deeper into playing with words and emotions and getting it all down in the lyrics. “I think you can have fun choosing the words in your songs,” said Carey. “Maybe challenge yourself to use words that paint a more vivid picture of what you’re trying to say. These new words might even inspire new stories in your writing.”
3. Be Alone
Self-reflection and some alone time is key to getting in touch with your songs, according to Carey. When Carey was asked to write a song for the 1992 film Hero, starring Dustin Hoffman, Gena Davis, and Andy Garcia, the idea for the song came to her in an unlikely place. After hearing the synopsis of the film, the lyrics started piecing together for her during a bathroom break.
“I took a five-minute break to go to the ladies’ room because I took it in, and I was like, it goes like this: ‘Then a hero comes along, with the strength to carry on,’” said Carey. “It’s just so weird. But sometimes, because I’m never alone, when I get a moment by myself, ideas come to me.”
4. Memories = Songs
Write “big” songs based on smaller memories. Carey wrote “Sunflowers for Alfred Roy” from her 2002 album Charmbracelet about her father. “It’s an important song to me,” said Carey. “He sort of represented this tall, proud sunflower for me I wrote about specific moments in our lives from when I was a little kid. I wrote about things I wanted to say to him.”
5. Be Real
When writing, try to be as relatable as possible. “I’ve chosen to be very specific and real about certain things in certain songs,” said Carey. “Your personal experiences should come through in your writing no matter how relatable you aim to be.”
Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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