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One Sweet Day

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"One Sweet Day"
Song

"One Sweet Day" is a song by American recording artist Mariah Carey and R&B group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Carey, Walter Afanasieff and the members of Boyz II Men: Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, Nathan Morris, and Michael McCary. "One Sweet Day" was produced by Carey and Afanasieff for her sixth studio album Daydream, and was released as the album's second single in late 1995. Lyrically, the song speaks about losing a loved one, and one day seeing them in heaven once again, and how the protagonist misses them with each passing day. Both Carey and Boyz II Men wrote the song about specific people in their lives, however also dedicating the song to the AIDS epidemic that manifested itself globally in 1995.

"One Sweet Day" was positively reviewed by music critics, many of whom called it a standout track from Daydream. The song experienced success in many countries around the world, especially in the United States. It spent sixteen weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and is the longest running number one song in US chart history. The song also achieved strong success around the world, topping the charts in Canada and New Zealand, and reaching the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Carey performed "One Sweet Day" alongside Boyz II Men at the 38th Grammy Awards ceremony, and at Princess Diana's memorial service in September 1997. It was also added to the setlist of many of Carey's tours including the Daydream World Tour (1996), the Butterfly World Tour (1998) and select dates in various others.

The music video for "One Sweet Day" featured snippets of Carey and Boyz II Men in the studio recording parts of the song. Carey explained the reasoning behind the simple video, claiming that due to her and Boyz' busy schedules, they feared there wouldn't be enough time to record the video. For this reason, they had a video set made in the studio while they recorded, and used bits of the recording process for the music video. Carey later said that she was happy a real music video was never filmed, fearing that no video could truly capture the song's "precious message". Critics felt the video choice was wise, and agreed that the simple concept paid homage to the song's selfless message.

Background

"One Sweet Day" was a song that Carey wrote with the R&B group Boyz II Men. After Carey's friend and past collaborator David Cole passed away, she began writing and developing a song that would pay homage to him and all the friends and family her fans had lost along the life's journey.[1] Carey had the idea and chorus composed, and after meeting with Boyz II Men, they realized they too had a similar idea in development.[1] Together, using Carey's chorus and idea, as well as the melody they had produced, they wrote and composed the song. The song was produced by Afanasieff, who built on the song's melody and added various grooves and beats.[1] Carey expressed how the song was "meant to be" and how all the pieces fit into place:

"I wrote the initial idea for 'One Sweet Day' with Walter, and I had the chorus...and I stopped and said, 'I really wanna do this with Boyz II Men,' because...obviously I'm a big fan of theirs and I just thought that the work was crying out for them, the vocals that they do, so I put it away and said, 'Who knows if this could ever happen, but I just don't wanna finish this song because I want it to be our song if we ever do it together. [The] whole idea of when you lose people that are close to you, it changes your life and changes your perspective. When they came into the studio, I played them the idea for the song and when [it] finished, they looked at each other, a bit stunned, and told me that Nat "Nathan Morris" had written a song for his road manager who had passed away. It had basically the same lyrics and fitted over the same chord changes. It was really, really weird, we finished the song right then and there. We were all kinda flipped about it ourselves. Fate had allot to do with that. I know some people won't believe it, but we wouldn't make up such a crazy story."[1]

When I found out she had AIDS I cried for days. She really could never care for her son again, he now lives with my mother. This sad story made me care more about other children in need. To give them advice and see that they get a better life.

—Carey, on her sister being diagnosed with HIV.[2]

After they began working on the song, Carey began to incorporate other lyrics into the chorus, trying to make the song relatable to the AIDS epidemic that was in full force in the mid 1990s.[3] Additionally, Carey's sister Allison had recently been diagnosed with HIV, an event that ruined their relationship and tore them apart.[4] Carey has stated that she wrote the song hoping that all her fans that have lost someone could relate to "One Sweet Day" and maybe help ease the pain of the loss.[4] Carey described the song as "[the] whole idea of when you lose people that are close to you, it changes your life and changes our perspective."[1]

Composition

"One Sweet Day"
A sample of "One Sweet Day," which features organ instrumentation.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"One Sweet Day" is a down-tempo song, which blends R&B and pop music.[5] It incorporates organ instrumentation and different contemporary grooves and beats.[6] The song is set in the time signature common time, and is written in the key of A ♭ major It features a basic chord progression of A♭-D♭-9.[6] While Carey and Boyz II Men's vocals span from the low note of E♭4 to the high note of A♭5, the piano in the piece ranges from D♭2 to A♭5.[6] The song contains choral lyrics written by Carey, and instrumentation and production from Walter Afanasieff.[1]

Critical reception

"One Sweet Day" garnered very positive reviews from music critics. In his review for Daydream, Bill Lamb from About.com gave the song praise, writing, "Carey and Boyz II Men a "perfect vocal match" and wrote "together they turn what could be a rather morose ballad into a truly inspiring and hopeful performance."[7] Allmusic's senior editor, Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the song for its craft and writing, commenting that "[in] "One Sweet Day," a duet with Boyz II Men, Carey appeals to both audiences equally because of the sheer amount of craft and hard work she puts into her albums.[8]

Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly felt the song truly highlighted the album, "[One Sweet Day] radiates a breezy sexiness that Carey, for all the brazen hussiness of her public persona, rarely permits herself to reveal in song.[9] Stephen Holden from The New York Times shared similar sentiments and wrote "On 'One Sweet Day,' the singer joins forces with Boyz II Men, those masters of pleading post-doo-wop vocal harmonies, for a tender eulogy that suggests that the singers have been personally touched by the AIDS crisis."[10] People felt the song was a "stand-out track" and called Carey's vocal performance "bravura belting".[11]

Commercial performance

"One Sweet Day" became Carey's tenth chart topping single on the Billboard Hot 100 and Boyz II Men's fourth. The song remaining at the peak for a record-breaking, sixteen consecutive weeks, from December 2, 1995 to March 16, 1996.[12] Boyz II Men had previously held this record twice, with "End of the Road" (1992) spending thirteen weeks at the top and "I'll Make Love to You" (1994) spending fourteen.[12][13] The former song shares this record with Brandy and Monica's "The Boy Is Mine", and the latter song shared its record with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".[12][13] Carey's 2005 song "We Belong Together" and Black Eyed Peas's 2009's "I Gotta Feeling" managed to stay at number one for fourteen weeks as well.[13] "One Sweet Day" replaced "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" by Whitney Houston at number one, and was replaced by Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me".[12]

The single also debuted at number one, making Carey the first artist to have more than one number-one debut, and the only artist ever to have two consecutive singles debut at the top of the chart.[1] One Sweet Day was the third best-selling single of 1995 in the US, with sales of over 1,300,000, with the second best-selling single being Carey's "Fantasy".[14] The song spent twenty-six weeks in the top forty, was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was ranked number one on Billboard's "Decade-End Charts".[15] Outside the U.S., "One Sweet Day" reached the top-ten in over thirteen countries and topped the chart in Canada and New Zealand, where it was certified platinum. It reached the top-two in Australia (platinum), The Netherlands; the top-five in France (silver) and Ireland and the top-ten in Belgium, Norway (platinum), Sweden and the United Kingdom (silver). In the UK, it is one of Carey's best-selling singles, with estimated sales of over 255,000.[16]

Awards and accolades

"One Sweet Day" won many prestigious awards throughout 1996. At the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, the song won the award for "Favorite Adult Contemporary Single Female 'One Sweet Day'".[17] "One Sweet Day" also won the award for "Son of the Year" at the BMI Awards and a "Special Award for 16 weeks at #1" at the Billboard Music Awards.[17] Together, Daydream and "One Sweet Day" were nominated for six Grammy Awards at the 38th annual ceremony, however, to Carey's surprise, and to the shock of many critics, they lost all of the nominations.[18][19]

Live performances

"One Sweet Day" was performed at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, where Carey was nominated for six awards.[20] The song was also performed at he memorial service for Princess Diana in September 1997, where other performers included Elton John.[20] The song became part of Carey's BET Christmas special in 2001, where she sang the song alongside Boyz II Men.[20] Aside from live television appearances, the song was performed on many of Carey's tours.[21] "One Sweet Day" was performed at every show on her Daydream World Tour (1996) and her Butterfly World Tour (1998).[21] Additionally, the song was performed on select dates on her The Adventures of Mimi tour (2006), as well as Carey's Singapore show on her Angels Advocate Tour in 2010.[22]

Music video

A woman and four men recording a song in a studio.
The video showing Carey and Boyz II Men recording while filming

The song's music video was directed by Larry Jordan.[1] When Carey and Boyz II Men got together to record "One Sweet Day", they did not have enough time to re-unite and film a video.[1] For this reason, a filming crew was present during the song's recording, and filmed bits of Carey and Boyz recording the song.[1] In an interview with Fred Bronson, Walter Afanasieff made the following statements regarding the video for "One Sweet Day":

"It was crazy! They had film crews and video guys, while I'm at the board trying to produce. And these guys were running around having a ball, because Mariah and them are laughing and screaming and they're being interviewed. And I'm tapping people on the shoulder. "We've got to get to the microphone!" They're gone in a couple of hours, so I recorded everything they did, praying that it was enough."[1]

After the song's release, Carey expressed her content with the video. She said that she was happy a real music video was never filmed, fearing that no video could truly capture the song's "precious message". Critics agreed, feeling that the song was a perfect match for the video and its message.[1] Aside from the recording sessions, the video also shared bits of Carey and Boyz bonding and sharing their ideas in the studio, where Carey felt they "bonded".[1]

Cover versions

"One Sweet Day" was performed by the seven finalists on the seventh season of American Idol.[23] The performance was taped due to the "Mariah Carey" themed week, where all the competitors sang songs from Carey's repertoire.[23] The song was additionally sung on the fifth season of the UK TV show The X Factor, by the British boy-band JLS.[24] Their performance received praise from all four judges, who commented how it was an "impossibly hard song to sing" because it was a "Mariah song".[24] The song was also performed by John Adeleye during the seventh season The X Factor. The theme of the night was "#1 songs".[25]

Formats and track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the Daydream liner notes.[26]

  • Mariah Carey – co-production, songwriting, vocals
  • Walter Afanasieff – co-production, songwriting
  • Nathan Morris – songwriting, vocals
  • Wanya Morris – songwriting, vocals
  • Shawn Stockman – songwriting, vocals
  • Michael McCary – songwriting, vocals

Charts

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
December 2, 1995 – March 16, 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single
December 30, 1995 - March 23, 1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by RIANZ (New Zealand) number-one single
December 22, 1995 – January 19, 1996 		Succeeded by

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nickson 1998, pp. 144
  2. ^ Nickson 1998, pp. 140–141
  3. ^ Shapiro 2001, pp. 93–94
  4. ^ a b Nickson 1998, pp. 137–138
  5. ^ "Mariah Carey - One Sweet Dayt - Digital Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Alfred Publishing. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. ^ a b c "Mariah Carey - One Sweet Day – Digital Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Alfred Publishing. Retrieved 2009-05-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ Lamb, Bill. "Mariah Carey 'Daydream'". About.com. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  8. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mariah Carey: Daydream". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  9. ^ Tucker, Ken (1995-10-13). "Daydream (1995)". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  10. ^ Holden, Stephen (1995-10-08). "Pop Music; Mariah Carey Glides Into New Territory". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  11. ^ "Picks and Pans Main: Song". People. Time Warner. 1995-10-16. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  12. ^ a b c d Nickson 1998, pp. 145
  13. ^ a b c Trust, Gary (2009-10-01). "Chart Beat Thursday: Black Eyed Peas, Pearl Jam, Frank Sinatra". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  14. ^ Christman, Ed (1996-01-20). Best-Selling Records of 1995. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 2010-10-23. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  15. ^ a b Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ Mariah Carey official top 20 biggest-selling songs in the UK MTV. retrieved: 2010-05-03.
  17. ^ a b "Mariah Carey Career Achievement Awards". Mariahcarey.com. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  18. ^ Nickson 1998, pp. 152
  19. ^ Shapiro 2001, pp. 98
  20. ^ a b c Nickson 1998, pp. 142
  21. ^ a b Nickson 1998, pp. 155
  22. ^ "Mariah Performs at Formula 1 in Singapore". Mariahcarey.com. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  23. ^ a b "Season 7 Top 12 : Live Episodes : Top 7 Results". American Idol. Fox Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  24. ^ a b Fletcher, Alex (2008-12-13). "'X Factor' obituary: JLS". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  25. ^ McGarry, Lisa (2010-10-09). "X Factor 2010: John Adeleye sings One Sweet Day (Video)". Unreality Tv. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Carey, Mariah (1995). Daydream (Liner Notes) (Media notes). New York City, New York: Columbia Records. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |notestitle= (help); Text "p" ignored (help)
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Mariah Carey: One Sweet Day". Ultratop (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  28. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 62, No. 23, January 22, 1996". RPM. 1996-01-22. Retrieved 2010-09-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Chartverfolgung/Carey, Mariah/Single" (in German). musicline.de PhonoNet. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  30. ^ "Search The Charts". The Irish Charts. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  31. ^ "Profile of Mariah Carey" (in Japanaese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  32. ^ "UK Charts > Mariah Carey". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  33. ^ a b c "Mariah Carey > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  34. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1996". Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  35. ^ Kent, David (2006). Australian Chart Book 1993-2005. ISBN 0-646-45889-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  36. ^ "Disque en France". Disque en France. Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  37. ^ Kent, David (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966-2006. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  38. ^ "IFPI Norsk Platebransje". VG-lista. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  39. ^ "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  40. ^ "Gold & Platinum - May 30, 2010". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-05-30.

References

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