Mariah Carey has one big rule when it comes to songwriting: Make sure the lyrics are applicable to as many listeners as possible. Rolling Stone has an exclusive sneak peek at Carey's upcoming episode of “Portrait of a Portrait,” Audible's Words + Music series, premiering Thursday.
“One of the things I try to do is not to get too specific because I don't want someone to be able to read the lyrics I've written and heal themselves or have those lyrics apply to whatever situation they're going through,” Carey says in an exclusive video.
“It may be very personal to me, but because I keep it basic, it can also be an outlet for other people to vent whatever emotions or experiences they're experiencing,” she added.
Carey reflects on how she listened to music as a young woman and how she would resonate with certain lyrics even if she had no idea what the songwriter was trying to convey.
“I was like, 'This is my song,' because to me as a teenager, a small part of it was 'what I'm going through,'” Carey says. “I don't know what the person who wrote the lyrics meant, but to me at the time, it was all about me.”
Carey's “Portraits of a Portrait” marks the 40th episode of Audible's Words + Music. The episode explores the writing and production of her track “Portrait” from her album Caution and also features a previously unreleased house remix of the track.
In a press release, Carey explained that “Portraits of a Portrait” is “a deep journey into my inner life as a songwriter, and I look forward to welcoming listeners to the Butterfly Lounge for a unique, unfiltered exploration of my creative process and the meaning of the songs closest to my heart.”
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Artists who have participated in Audible's Words + Music include John Legend, Eddie Vedder, Snoop Dogg, Patti Smith, Alice Cooper, Alanis Morissette, St. Vincent and Liz Phair.
The new episode comes just a day after the singer joined Muni Long on the “Made for Me” remix. She also debuted her Emancipation of Mimi show in Las Vegas last month. Speaking to Rolling Stone in April about the residency, Carey said, “There's something about that time and everything that went into my work, my music and my life at that time that really defines who I am.”