Liars and Saints

  Taylor Swift often writes "letter-songs" -- the verses are a note to a former lover. These songs are somewhat icy and cinematic; both parties behave badly, until the "house of cards" comes tumbling down. I think this technique is most impressive in "Getaway Car," in which Swift confesses to an ex that she has used him as a "vehicle" -- a means of escaping another relationship. "I wanted to leave him -- I needed a reason." The narrator is impatient with her interlocutor, who is just a bit disingenuous: "Don't pretend it's such a mystery. Think about the place where you first met me -- in a getaway car." It takes a certain boldness to pick up an installment from your own personal history and "re-fashion" the climactic scenes as an interlude from "Bonnie and Clyde." By contrast, in her own greatest achievement, Mariah Carey is writing just about herself. There is an ex -- but he is hardly a character...

 Mariah Carey moved to New York City in her mid-teens; she had a job at Sports on Broadway, on the Upper West Side. For a while, Mariah tended bar, then someone discovered she actually wasn't of age. She became a coat-check staffer. At a party, Tommy Mottola "pierced" Mariah "with his gaze"; Mottola later heard Mariah's demo. TM to MC: "You are the most talented person I've ever met. You could be as big as Michael Jackson." The hits, the hits! "Vision of Love," "Someday," "Emotions," "I'll Be There," "Make It Happen." Mariah wrote "Hero" for Gloria Estefan, who was meant to contribute the song for a Geena Davis movie. But Tommy had a second thought. Hence: Mariah's "Hero." Mariah had a fondness for R&B -- particularly certain works that she calls "grimy" -- and Tommy couldn't understand. Ol' Dirty Bastard added some sections to the "Fantasy...

A certain type of bitchy gay man will say Mariah Carey produced only one great album, her debut, “Mariah Carey,” and, after that, the fabled five-octave range disappeared, and Carey became boring. Not true. “Emotions,” the second album, is a work of greatness. And there’s the Christmas album. Sometimes, my husband wants to play Taylor Swift’s Christmas songs, and I cringe. As much as I enjoy Ms. Swift, how can you compare that stuff with the works of Mariah Carey? A few things to note about Mariah’s Christmas album: *The first four songs are MURDERERS' ROW. We are talking about one titanic achievement after the next. “Silent Night,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “O Holy Night,” “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home).” We are putty in Mariah’s hands. If ever there were time for a mic drop, it’s at the close of these first four songs. *”All I Want for Christmas Is You” is the last time in American history that someone authored a bona fide juggernaut holiday song. A ...