MARIAH CAREY - VISION OF LOVE

VISION OF LOVE

MARIAH CAREY

SONGWRITERS: Mariah Carey & BEN MARGULIES 

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

Album: MARIAH CAREY

LABEL: COLUMBIA. RECORDS

GENRE: r&b

YEAR: 1990

 

        "Vision of Love" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. Written by Carey and Ben Margulies, "Vision of Love" was released as the lead single from Carey's self-titled debut album on May 15, 1990. After being featured on Carey's demo tape for Columbia, the song was re-recorded and produced by Rhett Lawrence and Narada Michael Walden. "Vision of Love" features a slow-dance theme tempo and backing vocals sung by Carey herself, and introduces her usage of the whistle register. Lyrically, the song describes both a past and present relationship with a lover: Carey describes the "vision of love" she dreamed of, as well as the present love she feels for him.

         The accompanying music video for "Vision of Love" was filmed in April 1990. It features Carey in a large cathedral, where she meditates and sings by a large picture window. "Vision of Love" was performed on several television and award show ceremonies, such as The Arsenio Hall Show, Good Morning America, and the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards. It has been performed at almost every one of Carey's concerts and tours, and is featured on Carey's live álbum MTV Unplugged(1992) and on many of her compilation albums including #1's(1998), Greatest Hits(2001) and The Ballads(2008).

         "Vision of Love" received universal acclaim from music critics. While the song's production was typical of late 1980s pop, the vocals were not, being much more showy and expressing a wider range than artists popular at the time such as Paula Abdul and Debbie Gibson. It has been credited with popularizing the use of melisma in contemporary popular music and for inspiring several artists to pursue a music career. The New Yorker named "Vision of Love" the "Magna Carta of melisma" for its and Carey's influence on pop and R&B singers and American Idol contestants. Additionally, Rolling Stone said that "the fluttering strings of notes that decorate songs like "Vision of Love," inspired the entire American Idol vocal school, for better or worse, and virtually every other female R&B singer since the nineties." The song topped the singles charts in Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, where it spent four weeks atop the chart.

Treated me kind

Sweet destiny

Carried me through desperation

To the one that was waiting for me

It took so long

Still I believed

Somehow the one that I needed

Would find me eventually

 

I had a vision of love

And it was all that you've given to me

 

Prayed through the nights

Felt so alone

Suffered through alienation

Carried the weight on my own

Had to be strong

So I believed

And now I know I've succeeded

In finding the place I conceived

 

I had a vision of love

And it was all that you've given to me

I had a vision of love

And it was all that you've given me

 

I've realized a dream

And I visualized

The love that came to be

Feel so alive

I'm so thankful that I've received

The answer that heaven has sent down to me

 

You treated me kind (yeah)

Sweet destiny (yes, you did)

And I'll be eternally grateful (oh)

Holding you so close to me (prayed through the night)

Prayed through the nights (so faithfully)

So faithfully (faithfully)

Knowing the one that I needed

Would find me eventually (he would find me)

 

I had a vision of love

And it was all that you've given to me

I had a vision of love

And it was all that you turned out to be, yeah, mmm.