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Whenever You Call (Mariah Carey song)

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"Whenever You Call"
Cover of "Whenever You Call" featuring a close-up image of Carey sitting on the ground
Brian McKnight duet cover
Song by Mariah Carey
from the album Butterfly
ReleasedSeptember 10, 1997
Recorded1997
StudioCrave (New York)
GenrePop
LabelColumbia
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Mariah Carey
Producer(s)
  • Mariah Carey
  • Walter Afanasieff
Music video
"Whenever You Call" on YouTube

"Whenever You Call" is a song recorded by American singer Mariah Carey for her sixth studio album, Butterfly (1997).

Background and release

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Columbia Records released American singer Mariah Carey's sixth studio album Butterfly on September 10, 1997.[1] Carey worked with rappers such as Sean Combs and Missy Elliot while recording it earlier that year.[2] These influences also reflected in her new songs with longtime adult contemporary collaborator Walter Afanasieff.[3] One of their productions, "Whenever You Call", appears as the ninth track on the album.[4]

A duet version of "Whenever You Call" with American singer Brian McKnight was recorded for Carey's 1998 compilation album #1's,[5] with the intention that it would be released as a single.[6] Carey described the original as one of the best songs on Butterfly and thought McKnight's "vocals made it so beautiful".[7] After the release never materialized, Billboard's Gary Trust named "Whenever You Call" one of Carey's top five songs that should have been issued as a single.[5] The duet was later included as a bonus track on the 25th anniversary reissue of Butterfly in 2022.[8]

Composition

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"Whenever You Call"
The composition of "Whenever You Call" includes a dramatic key change.[9]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Whenever You Call" is a pop song in the form of a ballad.[10] Its music, composed by Carey and Afanasieff,[4] is dominated by the piano[11] and includes a classical-sounding piano solo.[12] Generally, "Whenever You Call" recalls the style of the pair's previous ballads.[13] A R&B sound is more apparent than in the past as Carey's voice is given more emphasis in the mix and the arrangement is toned down.[14] The song moves at a slow tempo[15] toward its climax which, according to Richard Harrington of The Washington Post, is "nonetheless more constrained than similar ventures on previous Carey albums".[16] Devices such as a key change and brief silence are incorporated for dramatic effect.[17]

Lyrically, "Whenever You Call" is a breakup song[16] in which a woman affirms loyalty to her male partner.[18] Written by Carey, the lyrics are structured in two verses, a bridge, and a chorus that repeats four times.[4] They have a romantic tone[19] and allow the narrator to come across as sensitive and devoted.[20] The lyrics include statements such as "Love wandered inside / Stronger than you, stronger than I"[21] and "We cannot turn back / we can only turn into one".[16] Carey sings them using a wide vocal range[21] while employing a breathy style of delivery.[22] She also provides the song's background vocals, as does Clarence.[4]

Afanasieff played the song's keyboards and provided its synthesizers and programming. Dan Shea added additional keyboards, created the sound design and computer programming, and programmed the drum and rhythm sounds electronically. With assistance from Mike Scott, Dana Jon Chappelle recorded "Whenever You Call" in New York at Crave Studios and The Hit Factory, and in California at WallyWorld. It was mixed by Mick Guzauski at Crave and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway in Portland, Maine.[4]

Critical reception

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"Whenever You Call" garnered mixed reviews from music critics. Several considered the song one of the highlights on Butterfly.[23] Katherine Monk of The Vancouver Sun called it the album's best ballad[24] and Michael Corcoran of the Austin American-Statesman said it approached perfection.[10] Some described the song as lovely[25] or beautiful.[26] Others felt it was nondescript[27] or predictable, given Carey's past works.[28] Several critics argued "Whenever You Call" was incompatible with the album's other tracks;[29] The San Diego Union-Tribune writer Gerald Poindexter deemed it an opportunity "to appease fans fearful that she has fallen in with the wrong crowd".[30] Retrospective reviews also varied: Billboard's Jon O'Brien named "Whenever You Call" the worst track on Butterfly for a perceived lack of artistic growth[31] and the Gay Times considered it the twelfth-best song of Carey's career for being "simple, classic and purposefully under-produced".[32]

The composition and Carey's vocals were topics of commentary. Some critics praised the latter as impressive[33] or mature,[34] and others viewed them as overblown.[35] For the Sunday Mail's Kris Teo, Carey's voice demonstrated "controlled intensity and self-absorption that's central to her persona".[36] In The Village Voice, Michael Musto remarked the song was "quite beautiful until she begins to soar like a demented butterfly".[37] Critical of its composition, several writers viewed "Whenever You Call" as excessive.[38] It received comparisons to the music of Whitney Houston[39] and Carey's 1993 song "Hero".[40]

Critics were also divided on the quality of the version with McKnight. Some felt the track devolved into a competition between the two singers[41] and others thought the result was effective.[42] In the academic journal Popular Music and Society, Vincent Stephens said the collaboration "does not detract from nor enhance the song, though they are an appealing pair".[43] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine and The Seattle Times writer Patrick MacDonald considered the duet unremarkable.[44] For Kevin Howard of The Chronicle, it was "beautiful and will break your heart".[45]

Live performances and video

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Carey included "Whenever You Call" in the set list of the 1998 Butterfly World Tour. The live performances garnered a positive critical response, particularly for the quality of her vocals.[46] A music video for "Whenever You Call" was also released that year.[47] With regular rotation on the VH1 television channel in the United States, it reached the top twenty on the station's weekly airplay chart published by Broadcast Data Systems.[48] After Carey sang the duet with McKnight at Spy Bar in New York City, Columbia released the performance on the 1999 video album Around the World.[49]

Credits and personnel

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Recording

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  • Recorded at Crave Studios (New York), WallyWorld (California), The Hit Factory (New York City)
  • Mixed at Crave Studios (New York)
  • Mastered at Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine)[4]

Personnel

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  • Mariah Carey – lyricist, composer, producer, arranger, lead vocals, background vocals
  • Walter Afanasieff – composer, producer, arranger, keyboards, synthesizers, programming
  • Clarence – background vocals
  • Dan Shea – additional keyboards, drum and rhythm programming, sound design and computer programming
  • Dana Jon Chappelle – engineering
  • Mike Scott – assistant engineering
  • Mick Guzauski – mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering[4]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Easlea 2011; Sony Music Japan.
  2. ^ Nickson 1998, p. 164; Shapiro 2001, pp. 100–102.
  3. ^ Chan 2023, p. 75; Shapiro 2001, p. 102.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Columbia Records 1997.
  5. ^ a b Trust 2012.
  6. ^ Trust 2016.
  7. ^ Columbia Records 1998.
  8. ^ Chan 2022.
  9. ^ Lustig 1997, p. 31; O'Brien 2022.
  10. ^ a b Corcoran 1997, p. E3.
  11. ^ Brown 2017; O'Hare 1997, p. F3; Sager 2020.
  12. ^ Garland 1997, p. 111.
  13. ^ Hildebrand 1998, p. 47; Jones 1997, p. 8D; Poindexter 1997, p. 11.
  14. ^ Nickson 1998, p. 168; Shapiro 2001, p. 102.
  15. ^ Malkowski 2010, p. 154.
  16. ^ a b c Harrington 1997.
  17. ^ Lustig 1997, p. 31.
  18. ^ Smithouser & Waliszewski 1998, p. 96.
  19. ^ Nichols 1998, p. 96.
  20. ^ Sewing 1997, p. 6.
  21. ^ a b Brown 2017.
  22. ^ Godfrey 1997, p. C11.
  23. ^ Rogers 1997, p. 36; Taylor 1997, p. 42; Verna 1997, p. 74.
  24. ^ Monk 1997, p. D3.
  25. ^ Lim 1998, p. 2.
  26. ^ Savage 1997.
  27. ^ Everson 1997, p. 9; Musto 1997, p. 74; Sexton 1997, p. 14.
  28. ^ Guarino 1997; O'Hare 1997, p. 6-11.
  29. ^ Bernstein 1997; Browne 1997; Wener 1997, p. 52.
  30. ^ Poindexter 1997, p. 11.
  31. ^ O'Brien 2022.
  32. ^ Gay Times 2019.
  33. ^ Jones 1997, p. 8D; Sager 2020.
  34. ^ Murray 1997, p. F4; Sewing 1997, p. 6.
  35. ^ Christensen 1997, p. 23A; Easlea 2011.
  36. ^ Teo 1998.
  37. ^ Musto 1997, p. 10.
  38. ^ Graff 1997, p. 54; Lustig 1997, p. 31; Marymont 1997, p. 6G.
  39. ^ Everson 1997, p. 9; O'Hare 1997, p. F3.
  40. ^ Marrs 1997, p. 16; O'Brien 2022.
  41. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 14; Wirt 1998, p. 9.
  42. ^ Cross 1998, p. 1B; Guerra 1998, p. 3D.
  43. ^ Stephens 2000, p. 115.
  44. ^ Erlewine; MacDonald 1998, p. G3.
  45. ^ Howard 1998, p. 3-18.
  46. ^ Bevan 1998, p. 12; Lim 1998, p. 2; Samat 1998, p. 1.
  47. ^ Shapiro 2001, p. 158.
  48. ^ Billboard 1998, p. 120.
  49. ^ Columbia Records 1999.

Sources

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