Vanishing

 

"Vanishing"Song by Mariah Carey
General information
Artist	Mariah Carey
Release date	June 12, 1990
Recorded	1990
Genre	R&B
Length	4:11
Album	Mariah Carey
Label	Columbia Records
Songwriter(s)	Mariah Carey Ben Margulies
Producer(s)	Mariah Carey
Credits	"Vanishing" credits
Mariah Carey track list
"Someday"
"Vanishing"
"All in Your Mind"
Audio

Vanishing is the fifth track of Mariah Carey's self-titled debut album. "Vanishing" is the only song on Mariah's debut album in which she has production credits. The song was released on June 12, 1990, through Columbia Records.

Background

"Vanishing" is one of the songs included on Mariah Carey's demo tape, which she gave to Tommy Mottola. This tape played a key role in helping her secure a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1988. The song was written during her teenage years in collaboration with Ben Margulies in the mid-to-late 1980s. It was later included as the fifth track on her self-titled debut studio album, Mariah Carey, released in 1990.

The song is the first song she produced independently, and the only track on the album for which she held sole production credit. Carey often credits the song as one of her favorite from the album, saying in an 1990 interview: "Vanishing" is my favorite song on the album, and I knew that it should only be piano and vocals because when I did the demo of the song, it was a piano/vocal and it was really raw. Just the emotion of the song came across."

The song was never released as a single, in part because Carey chose to preserve its simplicity rather than alter it for commercial appeal: “We tried putting a drum track on it, but it just took away from it. Then I said, ‘Well, maybe this could be a commercial song if we put music on it,’ but I decided that it was better to just preserve the integrity of the song and leave it really simple.”

The song appeared the B-side on several releases, including the 1991 singles "Love Takes Time" and "Emotions," as well as the 1992 maxi single for "I'll Be There." In subsequent years, the song was featured on compilation albums like The Essential Mariah Carey and Playlist: The Very Best of Mariah Carey, both released in 2010.

Composition

The song is composed in the key of B Major. Carey's vocals span from D#3-C#7 on the track. "Vanishing" is a torch song in the form of a ballad that lasts for four minutes and eleven seconds. It is a gospel and traditional pop record influenced by blues, featuring an acoustic piano played by Richard Tee as its sole instrumentation.

The song is about the memories of a past relationship fading away. The lyrics express the protagonist’s the desire to recapture the memories and bring them to life again. The fading of the memories is compared to the fading of a person, as if they were vanishing and drifting away. They are having a hard time seeing the person and feels that the shadows are taking over. The chorus repeats the idea of the person vanishing and drifting away. They reach out for the memories, but they are getting harder to see, and the darkness is coming in quickly. The song ends with the person [a love interest] completely vanishing and fading away.

Critical reception

In his book, Chris Nickson states: “Vanishing” stood in complete contrast, utterly stark, just piano and Mariah’s voice. She was able to produce the track herself—as she’d hoped to do for the whole album—and its intimacy stood in counterpoint to what she saw as “too much production” on the rest of the record. The gospel influence was particularly evident here, with the rougher feel of the keyboard, and a multitracked choir of Mariah's’ offering background vocals. While many critics just ignored the tune in their reviews, Alan Jackson of the prestigious London Observer deemed it the “outstanding track,” and indeed, its very sparseness added considerably to its simple power.

Live Performances

Mariah performed "Vanishing" during the following occasions:

• Saturday Night Live (Season 16, Episode 4) (aired on October 27, 1990)
• Tatou Club Debut Showcase 1990
• NARM Convention, 1991
• Sydney Night #2 - February 6, 1998 - Butterfly World Tour.

"Vanishing" was also part of the set-list for Mariah's 1993 Music Box World Tour. A popular rehearsal footage of Mariah singing the song in preparation for her Saturday Night Live performance can be found on YouTube.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

If I could recapture all of the memories
And bring them to life, surely I would
Hear the distant laughter
Wasn't it you and me surviving the night?
You're fading out of my sight swiftly

[Chorus]
You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing

[Verse 2]
I was so enraptured
No sensibility
To open my eyes
I misunderstood
Now you're fading faster
It's suddenly hard to see
You're taking the light
Letting the shadows inside swiftly

[Chorus]
You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing
You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're

[Verse 3]
Reaching out into the distance
Searching for spirits of the past
Just a trace of your existence to grasp
And if somehow I could recapture
All of the memories
And bring them to life
Lord knows I would

[Verse 4]
But now you're fading faster
Getting so hard to see
Taking the light
Letting the darkness inside swiftly
Lord knows I would

[Chorus]
You're vanishing
Drifting away
You're vanishing
You're vanishing
Drifting so far away
Vanishing

Away

Trivia

• The rehearsal footage of Mariah performing "Vanishing" has over 1.3 million views as of August 2023
• The last time Mariah sung a lyric from the song was in 2008.
• Kelly Clarkson has covered the song while self-isolating with her family during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. Mariah commented on her cover by saying:

“	Kelly, I'll take your track 5 and raise you a track 3 on Meaning of Life! ❤️ @kellyclarkson	”
– Mariah via Twitter