Kelvin Lee
February 15th, 2011
H8
Rolling Stone Project
The Pain of Loss
When one of our precious people suddenly dies, it is natural that we grieve for him or her
and feel complex emotions about the death. “Bye Bye” is the very appealing song for anyone
who has experienced the loss of his or her precious person.
This song was co-written by Mariah Carey, the gifted singer,
and Johntá Austin while Carey and Stargate produced it for
her 11th studio album, E=CM2. When it was first released as
her second single in 2008, it began at number 23 and
reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 while selling
60,000 downloads. It also peaked at number two in UK
R&B (Wiki).
This song, which successfully describes regrets on the death of someone close and long
for the deceased, was a tribute for Mariah Carey’s father. In 2002, when she had difficult time as
a professional singer, she had to experience another heavy burden at the same time; her father
Alfred Roy Carey died of cancer (Fan Page). She had had very few contacts with him after her
parents divorced when she was three years old. In the song, she expresses her strong regrets
about not spending much time with him and impossible wishes to meet him and talk with him
again (Preview).
It is the lyric and the content of the song that has the power to elicit compassion from
many people. Above of all, Mariah Carey doesn’t limit her song by describing only about her
stories on her father Alfred Roy Carey. In the introduction, she
begins the song with a line, ”This is for my people’s who just lost
somebody.” She attempts to generalize the theme of her song to the
universal people who have experienced the losses of precious people
(Mariah). The story about her father brilliantly delivers her
sentiments to listeners who will sympathize her repent about him and
longing for him. As a child, she wonders why he doesn’t show up sometimes, but he never let
her know the reason. It is because he loves her: “You never let me know it, you never let it show/
Because you loved me and obviously.” As a grown-up, she understands his considerateness and
love and regrets that she would have so many things to say to him if he was alive. Her regret is
reinforced by her direct expression like ‘And you never got the chance to see how good I’ve
done’ or ‘I wish that we could spend the holidays together’ in the second verse. Also, she shows
how much she is shocked when he dies, saying “I thought you were so strong that you can make
it through whatever/ It’s so hard to accept the fact you’re gone forever.” In the chorus, she
erupts her emotions of longing for him, her pain of losing him, and her wish to meet him again.
Then she condenses the main theme at the end of the chorus; “Now the hardest thing to do is say
bye” because no one can’t talk to the person who is not in the world.
Applying many poetic elements in the song, Mariah Carey makes it more emotional and
rhythmical. She uses many approximate rhymes which give unity smooth flow in its lyric. For
example, two lines “I thought you were so strong that you can make it through whatever/ It’s so
hard to accept the fact that you’re gone forever” not only have relations in their contexts, but also
sound more in unity and rhythmical. It doesn’t actually have fills between verses. In general, the
fills are added among bridges to add musical excitement and interest to songs (Glossary) .
Instead, she chooses to emphasizes her repent about him by singing words of ‘bye’ repeatedly in
the bridges. Though, her intention doesn’t
make the song sound awkward; it rather fills
the song with her uniquely emotional mood. In
the second verse, imagery is used to describe
that her father stays with her at the night. The
image where her dad and she lie together on
the bed manifests her wishes of being together again. The climax of the song is achieved by her
trademark, high pitch-voice. At the end chorus, she culminates her emotions about her father and
his death and her wishes by harmonizing with her stunning voice. Her high pitch-voice takes the
listeners to the swirls of her repent and her acceptance about his death.
Mariah Carey commented about the song, “Sometimes I hear it and feel that this is going
to touch a lot of people, and that's why it's important that no matter what's ever happened to me
over my career, that I stay the course and continue to write and try and reach people who need
(Mariah) ." She not only writes and sings the song for her father, but also for universal people
who have definitely gotten through similar pains and emotions. Bill Lamb, the music journalist
for pop music, applauded her song, saying “Loosely based around Mariah Carey's loss of her
own father, "Bye Bye" has a universal appeal that may even bring some listeners to tears
(About.com).” Because of this characteristic, the song succeeds in drawing sympathy from the
memories of many people who might lost grandmothers, parents, best friends, cousins, and so on
(Sing365) . I’m also the one who is impressed by the song. Whenever I listen to it, it reminds me
of my grandmother who died several years ago. At her funeral, I couldn’t feel sadness while my
cousins cried a lot because I thought that I didn’t have any good memories about her and get
anything from her. But now, realizing that it was her who raised me whenever my parents went
out to work and who greeted me whenever my family visited her home, I feel profound guilt and
remorse from the bottom of my heart.
As the song which impresses the hearts of many people, it is worthy to be chosen for one
of the best songs in the world. The work of Mariah Carey successfully accomplishes the delivery
of her sentiments through the combination of musical factors and lyrical contents. Moreover, she
doesn’t miss the fact that sadness from the loss of her precious person is the universal emotion
that everyone in this world can feel. The values and opinions of songs can be changed by the
time when they are written and by the personal preferences. However, this universal theme of the
song will absolutely echo in the heart of listeners who are destined to live together with others
who will eventually pass away.