Glitter (soundtrack) - Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

Musically, Glitter was notably different from anything Carey had ever written or recorded, drawing influence from the 1980s. Due to the parent film taking place in 1982, the soundtrack harbored on recreating an older sound, while incorporating the usual ballads for which Carey was known. While some critics favored the album's retro style, and inclusion of several sampled melodies, many felt that Glitter lacked originality, and its excess of guest artists overpowered Carey's artistry. In an interview with MTV News, Carey described the album's content, as well as its influences:

There are songs that are definitely going to take people back and make them go, 'Oh, man, this song from the '80s — I loved it growing up'. Or people who never heard the songs before might be like, 'This is cool.' When you see the movie, you're gonna see the uptempo songs and the songs that are remakes in there as they would have sounded in the '80s, but the album is the way that I would make the record now, and the ballads can stand on their own as songs from a Mariah Carey album.

Serving as the project's lead single, "Loverboy" features a sample from "Candy" by American rapper Cameo, which interpolates the melody into the chorus and instrumental introduction. Additionally, aside from sampling "Candy" as the musical bed for the song, Cameo serves as a featured artist on the song. Sarah Rodman from the Boston Herald compared it to Carey's previous lead singles, and described its production as "another in an increasingly long line of glitzy, candy-coated, creatively stunted Carey songs". The song's lyrics and vocals were described as "super-sexed" by Sal Cinquemani from Slant magazine when put into comparison with Carey's previous work. The official remix for "Loverboy" also earned a place on Glitter, adding rap verses from both Ludacris and Da Brat to the original version. The album's second release, "Never Too Far", was written and produced by Carey and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Described as an "adult-contemporary, slow-jam love song", the song's lyrics read "Too painful to talk about it, so I hold it in / So my heart can mend and be brave enough to love again", speaking of emotions felt by the protagonist in the film. "Never Too Far" features "a bed of synthesized strings, gentle drums and Spanish-style guitar" as its primary instrumentation, and incorporates violin and keyboard notes prior to the first verse. The third single from Glitter, "Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)", was composed by Carey and DJ Clue, and interpolates "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" by Tom Browne. Featuring guest verses from Mystikal, with the former declaring "Ain't nothin' you could do with the man / Except for shake your ass and clap your hands", while Carey responds "Don't stop bay-beee, its ex-ta-see / Turn me up a little." Serving as the fourth and final single from Glitter, "Reflections (Care Enough)" was written by Carey and Philippe Pierre, and released as a single towards the end of 2001. Lyrically, the song'a protagonist "laments the end of a relationship", while confronting her mother regarding her early abandonment. Additionally, during its bridge, Carey "eerily" refers to abortion, "You could have had the decency / To give me up / Before you gave me life", as an option over abandoning the child. Cinquemani felt the song was reminiscent of Carey's ballads during the earlier lengths of her career, and described the song as a "simple beauty". In a review for the album in The Free Lance–Star, a writer outed the song's first verse "A displeased little girl / Wept years in silence / And whispers wishes you'd materialize / She pressed on night and day / To keep on living / And tried so many ways / To keep her soul alive" as his favorite lyric from Glitter, and described it as an "emotional and heart-wrenching ballad". Conceptualized in 1997, "Lead the Way" was an unused track from Butterfly (1997), written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. The ballad was the last song composed by the pair, as they halted work with one another shortly after its completion, due to their growing creative differences. Though written, the song was recorded during 2000, as Carey began producing Glitter. Beginning with a classic and simple piano introduction, Carey starts the song with soft and breathy vocals, eventually leading to a vocal climax, in which she belts an 18-second note, the longest from any of her recordings. He described it as one of her "best vocal performances", as well as one of her "favorite songs." In an interview with MTV News, Carey addressed Glitter as well as "Lead the Way":

To me, 'Glitter' is one of my best albums. A lot of people got confused, not knowing whether it was a soundtrack or an album or what. There's a song called 'Lead the Way' which I did on Ally McBeal, and it's coming out in January. I sang the song on . It's one of those ballads that basically everybody that's been following my career says reminds them of a 'Vision of Love'-type record, and that's one of my favorite songs from the record. The cool thing for me is to be able to tie in 'Never Too Far' and 'Hero'. Having the Greatest Hits coming out, to be able to tie in both those records is almost like a circle.

Carey's cover of the 1982 Indeep song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life" was one of the album's more club-themed songs. It features rappers Fabolous and Busta Rhymes, and was composed and produced by Carey and DJ Clue. Michael Paoletta from Billboard called it a "painful low" on Glitter, and commented how Carey seemed detached and over-powered on the song, due to the inclusion of several male guests. "Twister", another one of the album's ballads, drew strong comparisons to Carey's older work, in light of the very different remainder of the album. Paoletta called it "quietly heartbreaking", in reference to the song's lyrics, which relate to the suicide of Carey's friend and hairstylist, Tonjua Twist. According to Carey, Twist took her own life in the spring of 2000, and was known for her joy of life and her ability to put people at ease. She was "child like and effervescent", but behind her mask of happiness was "a well" of lifelong and deep-rooted pain. In "Twister", Carey described the hidden inner-struggle of her friend, and tried to find "closure"; her "way of saying goodbye". Chris Chuck from Daily News described its lyrics as "an airy requiem for a friend lost to suicide" and felt it was "the only memorable song on the album." With lyrics reading "Feelin' kinda fragile and I've got a lot to handle / But I guess this is my way of saying goodbye", David Browne from Entertainment Weekly felt that Carey was possibly referring to her own suicide rather than her friends, especially in light of the events that were taking place during the album's release. "Didn't Mean to Turn You On" is a cover of the 1984 Cherelle song of the same title. Aside from the heavy sampling of the hook and lyrics, Carey, who produced the song alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, added keyboard notes and synthesizers to enhance the songs club appeal. In the song, Carey sings "I was only trying to be nice / Only trying to be nice / Sooooooo, I didn't mean to turn you on", indicating a woman who is weakly apologetic over fooling a man over intimacy. On the track "Want You", American singer Eric Benét duets with Carey, while lyrically implying and suggesting the "exploration of bedroom fantasies."