Through The Rain

"Through the Rain" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey, taken from her ninth studio album, ''Charmbracelet'' (2002). It was written by Carey and Lionel Cole, and produced by the former and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song was released as the album's lead single on September 30, 2002, and a shorter version was used as the ending credits theme for a 2002 Japanese drama known as '' You're Under Arrest''. Classified by Carey as a ballad, it is influenced by R&B and soul music genres, and features a simple and under-stated piano melody, backed by soft electronic synthesizers. "Through the Rain" was meant to be an insight into Carey personal struggles throughout 2001, and lyrically talks about encouraging others.

The song has been well-received, with many complimenting its inspirational lyrical content, and described it as an open window into Carey's personal life for listeners. Commercially, it was Carey's lowest-charting lead single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the time, and it was her first lead single to that point not to reach the top ten in the United States. Though stalling at number 81, it became successful on the ''Billboard'' dance charts, hitting number one for a week in the United States as well as topping the Hot Singles Sales chart. The song achieved higher placements in international markets, reaching the top spot in Spain and peaking within the top ten in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Carey performed "Through the Rain" live on several television and award show appearances around the world. She debuted the song at the 2002 NRJ Awards, and features it on a one-hour special titled ''Mariah Carey: Shining Through the Rain'', which aired three days later on MTV. In the United States, Carey performed the song on ''Today'', ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', and American Music Awards of 2003s. Throughout Europe, Carey performed the song on ''The Graham Norton Show'' and on talent competition, ''Fame Academy''. Additionally, "Through the Rain" was included on the set-list of Carey's Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey, which spanned throughout 2003–04.

The music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was set in the late 1960s. It features a past and present story-line based on Carey's childhood, and stars J. D. Williams and Jamie-Lynn Sigler as the singer's parents. The video begins with past scenes of Carey's mother being disowned by her family after becoming romantically involved with a black man, and finds the singer in the present walking through a heavy rainstorm in New York.

Background

In 2000, Carey parted from Columbia Records and signed a record-breaking $100 million five-album recording contract with Virgin Records America (EMI Records). She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Tommy Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. However, in July 2001, Carey had suffered a physical and emotional breakdown. Due to this situation, Virgin and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Carey's film ''Glitter'', as well as its soundtrack of the same name. Both the releases received negative feedback and were commercially unsuccessful. This also resulted in her deal with Virgin being bought out for $50 million. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Carey later said that her time at Virgin was "a complete and total stress-fest ..I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." Later that year, she signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father, with whom she had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year.

Release

Throughout the first years of her career, Carey's musical styles mainly involved pop influenced R&B. Additionally, her image was of a reserved and modestly dressed female, or as Carey's later described it "the 90s version of Mary Poppins". As the 1990s wore on, Carey began featuring rappers on remixes, and began infusing hip-hop into her musical palette. As her music changed, so too did her image, which became more sexual, and aimed at younger audiences than the more contemporary appeal of her earlier works. According to Michael Paoletta from ''Billboard'', "Through the Rain" was used not only as a vehicle for listeners to become more in-tune with Carey's personal struggles, but also as a means to "re-capture" her audience throughout the earlier stages of her career. A contemporary and pop ballad, he felt the song would find "much embrace" from her older fans, while her audience that grew accustomed to her hip-hop flavored music would feel "lost and abandoned". In an interview with MTV News, the song's co-producer Jimmy Jam described why Carey chose to release it as the lead single: "I think 'Through the Rain' is a great way to start the record, because it is emotional and it kind of speaks directly to the questions people might have about the last year of her life. It's a good idea to get that out of the way and move on to happy, less emotional songs."

Remix

The song's official remix features guest vocals from Kelly Price and Joe. The remix incorporates a more up-tempo background, and differs melodically from the original. While the album's co-producer, Jimmy Jam, described it as a "star search," Sarah Rodman from the ''Boston Herald'' felt that even though the remix was more up-beat than the original, it "failed to quicken the pulse."

Composition

"Through the Rain" is a mid-tempo ballad, which is influenced by pop and R&B music genres. The song is built around a piano melody, and features a beat that is accentuated by synthesizers. Aside from its pop-driven melody and structure, Jeff Vrabel of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' noted an hint of gospel towards the song's crescendo, describing it as "lite-gospel". Vocally, "Through the Rain" finds Carey singing in a "restrained" style for the duration of most of the song, as the first verse and chorus are sung in breathy vocals. After the second chorus, the bridge is linked to the song's climax through a long belted note. ''The Daily Union