The Grammy Awards are one thing, but induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame is another — applicants are decided upon by a relatively small group of their songwriting and music publishing peers and celebrated at an invite-only event, which is a tough crowd.
It’s a sadly common assumption that pop stars don’t write their own songs – even Taylor Swift, one of the greatest and most recognizable songwriters of the past 25 years, is often greeted with skepticism. So for Mariah Carey – who was parodied in one widely shared memes when she made a statement that begins with the words “as a songwriter” – her delivery is important. It was already announced in 2020, but due to the pandemic, the party didn’t take place until Thursday night.
The introductory speech was given in the middle of the night by Questlove – an Academy Award- and Grammy-winning musician, author, coach, and knows what he’s talking about. He began jokingly recalling that when he had the chance to meet her for the first time in the ’90s, he “was so intimidated by her smell—Smoky Pineapple or whatever she was wearing,” that he ran away before meeting her. But he upped his aromatic game, later meeting her and they are now close friends, and his talk became very serious.
“She’s always been a serious songwriter and a serious artist,” he said. “So many stars, so grown up that you think of the person as a producer. And it’s hard for black artists, especially black women, to succeed at that level. The list of artists who aren’t with us is long and sad” – included Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince and others – “almost There will be a price to pay for breaking 10 million.”
Carrey speaks, of course, in a famous way that many see as vague, but it’s actually the voice of someone whose thoughts move faster than they can express, and if you read the transcription below, which is mostly verbatim, it reads like a bonkers comedian. But the impact and import of what she says below is heavy – though she’s filled with dozens of comic sides, including doodling and posing with sunglasses and mask on, there are heart-pounding tales from her childhood, and the hurt of that meme and years of not being taken seriously is evident. .
So watch the video and read on – and the next time someone wants to make fun of Mariah Carey’s standing as a songwriter, remember that she was lauded and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, along with Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, John Lennon, Carol King, Tom Petty and Jay -Z and many other legends, with a musical authority no less than the Questlove. So chew on that haters.
Carrie’s speech follows, somewhat verbatim. diverse He’s getting more from his Song Hall of Fame party soon.
Well, first of all, thank you very much! Second, let me check this lighting, because I’m not sure… It’s a long story, my lighting worker couldn’t get on the plane. It was like that… (rolling eyes, holding the mask) Damn, here’s my mask! I’ve become a hermit, in case anyone’s curious, and so this is my first actual live moment! (crowd cheering)
Thank you all, I have these little presidential watchers, they actually look a little bit like, what do you call them? (Incomprehensible conversations with Questlove off the microphone) We have a word game now, it’s just a thought provoking game. Anyway, obviously (tinkering with the sunglasses), let me see, am I doing this? I do not? (He wears sunglasses to cheer) It’s a moment, take a picture! (rays with a big Hollywood smile)
In any case! Thanks to everyone in this room. First of all, it’s unbelievable to have a show honoring songwriters, right? Give yourselves all a round of applause, because this is big. Deal. I mean, obviously, thank you to my friend Amir, as I said, the Academy Award winner and all-time award winner, but thank you for that introduction, and… I missed the first half (voice of Blanche Dubois), I don’t quite remember. Anyway, also congratulations to my fellow recruits! I remember when I brought in Jermaine Dupri, like three years before COVID, I was like, “Jermaine, do you know what? I’m really mad at you because you were recruited before me” — but that’s a whole other story, I hope someone (Aerial Quotes) posts that clip And maybe he’ll come back to me.
Anyway, it is not the easiest profession in the world. BETWEEN – That’s a word my friend said to me that day – Facta suits, the business side – no offense we love business, we really love business, they’re our friends, they’re our best friends, and we love it.
But I just want to say, my whole journey–if we’re talking about things, because donkeys kind of touched on all these things–began with poetry, in my childhood. And then – well, actually, I think the tunes came first. Then I started writing these poems, and people were like, “This girl has a kind of dark vision of the world at the age of six.” And I did, because I come from such an incredibly dysfunctional background. And this was the whole thing, music, walking on my own and coming up with tunes and writing the words in a book – by the way, here’s my old school… (pulling papers while the mask hangs from her wrist)… Shadow for a second… Here’s my mask! …this was literally writing…I just want to show it to you, because I don’t type in my phone, and I don’t like noise because you get alerts…I know there’s something you can turn off, but whatever: (holds papers) These, my notes, Lawful!
I always have to remind people that I’m a songwriter. It’s become a joke, to the point… because they’re all on the singer theme, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, she’s a singer, wow, a singer. (He wears the glasses and the audience laughs.) , “As a songwriter, songwriter, songwriter, and songwriter!” So tonight, hopefully, we can create another meme, AS.A. Songwriter! (holds an award and smiles).
Just to touch on something I wouldn’t have said in public: In my early teenage years, I didn’t tell anyone that I wanted to be a singer or aspired to do so. And I always assumed that the person you’re listening to on the radio — because you listened on the radio back in the day — was the one who wrote the songs, so I didn’t know there was a differentiation, I was going to be like, “Obviously, that person wrote the song.” But to see which guys are the unsung heroes of the whole thing – it’s a great situation, so please clap again for yourselves! (clap)
I’m going to discuss my little teenage moment with you, and see what you think. In high school I was always late – that’s why there’s a whole thing about “Mirage” being my little name because I wasn’t there: I was working on my demo tape – the show tape, there was something called tapes, they were there and you had to like. ..that’s a long story but anyway, [I’d be] Walking around in my mother’s piece of Cutlass Supreme, I was always lost. I’ve lived in 14 different places, and always get lost in the Bronx, I’d get lost in a shadowy part of Long Island, anyway I’m thankful I’m gone – I don’t drive anymore, luckily for the world!
So I didn’t tell anyone that’s what I was doing. They thought I never went to school, “She just doesn’t care about that.” And you know, a lot of…whatever my friends are, I think we can call them friends, they told their parents I wasn’t going to college, and their parents were shocked. They were sitting there, if you deemed fit to invite me to someone’s house—that’s there [her biography] – “Does your mom know you won’t go to college?” I was like, ‘I don’t think my mom said the word ‘college’ to me, but it doesn’t matter.
And then there would be a player at school who would be like (heavy Long Island accent), “Yeah, you’re going to work at Hugo five years from now.” So I guess everyone in this room can appreciate that a year after HoJo’s comment – no offense to anyone from HoJo, by the way, it’s a job and it pays off, so everyone have mercy, but that wasn’t what I aspired to – I was offered … drumroll, I don’t have one, but drum roll? (The house band drummer plays the drums), Thanks…five thousand dollars for my catalog! (cymbal crash)
So I didn’t take it though because at the time, like one dollar was everything. Like, did you ride the subway or bring H&H bread? They have closed this site now, I am very upset. But you know what I’m saying – it was $5,000. Thank God I didn’t take it – not that [money] It’s all about it, of course it’s about craft, self-expression and connection, it’s guidance, it’s everything.
But to quote from my friend who was here earlier, [top music attorney] Alan Grubman, “It’s Not About Money – It’s About Money!” (Laughter) Thank God I didn’t do that.
Thank you all for listening to my darkness. But I just want to end with this note: I read that out of the 439 total inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, only 32 have been women – up to this point. Now I will be thirty-three years old!
So as my dad once said to me, “You’ve done well, boy.” Thank you so much! You did well!
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