by: Symone Conway
The albums opener, Heaven Is A Place on Earth is beautifully soft to start off with. Mariah’s message is about the dedication she puts into things, with her most important lines, “Baby I never promised you it’d always be the same, I only promised you my love would never change”. This is one of my favorites on the album because it’s an exciting opener and is almost hypnotizing.
Playing next in the album is her song “Good Times”. The song is slower paced, focusing on love and longing. the songs lyrics explore ideas of neglect, passion, and hesitation. This song is vulnerable as Mariah states in several lines that she’d try her best to get back what she is longing for.
Her debut single from the album, For A Woman, plays third on the album. She creates this song that vocalizes trusting yourself in a relationship, being open to her partners connection, and having faith in the fact that this is new to her, especially with the line,”I thought I seen it all before, and now I’ve seen so much more”. The repeating background sound says, “I guess it exist” which is referencing her ideas of love as it follows the line, “If it isn’t luck, I guess love exists”.
The fourth song on the album is “40 Days n 40 Nights (feat. Vory). Mariah’s verses are very centered around being in her mind about her feelings, trying to give distance although she greatly desires being with her partner. She emphasizes how she puts a lot into this relationship and feels conflicted by her feelings. Vory’s verse explains his own perspective on overthinking and asks Mariah why she is being distant while admitting his emotional invulnerability. He also speaks to the physically sexual aspect of the relationship but concludes with the idea that it’s taken a toll on him spiritually and mentally.
Next on the album is Out of Luck (which I personally skip each time). This song expresses her feelings on the brink of losing a relationship or a relationship on the verge of falling out. By this point in the album it is very evident that Mariah has no problem being vulnerable and feels these ideas deeply. Mariah acknowledges in this song that she cannot pretend she does not have the feelings she does, “Im depending on this”, “If i were losing you, would you make me believe that im all out of luck, love”. She also speaks on her partners divided attention and how she could be the best woman for him as he continues to put in work and dedication to her.
Another single she dropped before the entire album came out is Bout Mine. This song states that despite a break or bump in the relationship, she is determined. She’s yearning to be back together despite her partner having seemingly “lost [their] mind”. This determination comes in through the repeated lines of “And even if it takes all night, Baby I got nothing but time, We finna make this right”. The song can have a desperate but very in-love tone depending on the ear it falls on.
The seventh song on the ten song album is 77 Degrees featuring 21 Savage. Some think the 77 degrees is a metaphor for the intensity she feels, especially as she states “Im caught in the heat of the moment”. Mariah also sings about her independence in the relationship to avoid or cope with unnecessary stress caused by her partner. 21 Savage explores the dynamics of the relationship, coming in with immense assertiveness and possession. his lines also express vulnerability as he says “I cant even hide it, I got feelings for you, If they ever play you, know Im drilling for you” which is that idea of intensity Mariah gives off. This is another favorite due to the depth of both his and Mariah’s messages.
Different Pages is the best song on the album. In this song she states how their relationship could have been saved through a single conversation. as she sings, “Just a boy, will address you as such”, listeners can gather that her partner had been acting childish, and Mariah even states he’s not the person she thought he was. Different Pages as the title speaks for the fact that Mariah feels like they were impatient and talking about two different things in terms of their relationship tying back to not being on the same page. They blamed it on a number of things but Mariah repeats that no matter what they try to point the blame at, “All [they] needed was a single conversation, and maybe just a little motivation. This song is my favorite because it is so real due to the fact that many relationships end over miscommunications that could have been simply addressed and resolved.
After Different Pages we hear Lovesick, which talks about how she wishes everything was different so their worlds would not be falling apart. She explains how no one understands how she feels because she puts herself in her partners shoes, but at the end of the day she is emotionally torn. Mariah says “First Im certain, then Im on the fence” followed with the fact that she cant find all the words she really wants to say. This song embodies emotional turmoil, a heart versus head battle. Lovesick is another favorite of mine due to the melody and message of conflicted feelings that I personally relate to.
The closing song is Ride (feat. Young Thug). Young thug expresses his need for her trust and love in him. As we know, the album follows her inner and conflicted feelings, and Young Thug asks that her actions reflect her words. Mariah continues to emphasize the dedication she has to him. They both spend the song discussing their love and loyalty for each other, paying homage to the famous duo of Bonnie and Clyde. The song displays the passion in the relationship with the last line being, “And I dont wanna lose your love”.
I definitely give the album a 9/10 rating. I play it all the time, regardless of how I may be feeling about a personal relationship because Mariah is a great vocalist and her songs are incredibly relatable. Mariah is my favorite artist and I appreciate the way she embodies being a real lover-girl and wanting those true love connections that can be hard to find.