Portrait of a Portrait

Words + Music, Vol. 40

By: Mariah Carey

Narrated by: Mariah Carey

Length: 1 hr and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Mariah Carey is a global music phenom. One of the best-selling and most beloved artists of all time, she is an icon and innovator who has solidified herself as a multi-faceted superstar: visionary singer, songwriter, producer, author, mother, public personality, and prolific storyteller. But beyond that, she is an artist’s artist.

These are her Words + Music.

In this special installment of Audible’s popular music storytelling series, listeners are treated to an exclusive preview of Mariah’s exciting new project “The Butterfly Lounge”, an intimate journey into her wondrous musical world. Portrait of a Portrait is a deep dive into the personal and emotionally unexplored depths of Mariah’s songwriting using the soul-stirring final track on her album Caution as the centerpiece. A gifted writer, she takes you on a rare walk through her lyrics—unpacking the words in “Portrait”—while also revisiting moments of fan-favorite songs and even taking a quick trip to “remix-land” with a fully new, never-before-heard remix of “Portrait”!

A must-listen experience for her “Lambs”—as well as anyone who loves pop music—Portrait of a Portrait presents a genius talent and supreme survivor at her most enlightening.

©2024 Mariah Carey (P)2024 Audible Originals LLC

Insightful, touching and inspiring

Let’s be honest, we would listen to her read a phone book in talking or singing voice. The depth and intelligence both mentally and emotionally are very apparent in her body of work and the breakdown of her lesser known songs is a rare look inside her life.

Portrait of a Songwriter

A great insight into Mariah’s creative process with a fantastic new version of her song Portrait.

Conversation About Writing Processes

Portrait of a Portrait by Mariah Carey
Words + Music Vol. 40
1h 10m narrated by author

Genre: Arts & Entertainment, Music, Memoirs

Featuring: Songwriting Process, Poems, My World, Lyrics, Singing, Song Snippets, Acts, Caution Album, Collaborating, Definitions, Open Lyrics For Relatability, Uplifting, Writing A Remix, David Cole, David Morales, Music, Full Song of "Portrait (Hopeful Child Remix)"

Rating as a movie: PG

Songs for the soundtrack: "Looking In," "My Saving Grace," "Outside," "Fantasy," "Dreamlover," "8th Grade," "Butterfly," "Runaway," "Vision Of Love," "Portrait," "Petals," "Can’t Take That Away (Mariah’s Theme)," "Anytime You Need A Friend (C&C Club Version)," "Dreamlover (Def Club Mix)," "Fly Away (Butterfly Reprise)," "Fantasy (Def Club Mix)," "Honey (Another Taste of Honey David Morales Remix)," "Portrait (Hopeful Child Remix"

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟✍️🎤🎶🎹💿

My thoughts: This is basically a conversation about how Mariah writes her more personal songs and why she chooses the words she uses. She talks about the process of writing several personal songs versus fictional/less personal ones, with a focus on the song "Portrait." She discusses the different writing processes she uses for original songs compared to how she writes a remix, then discusses the new remix she wrote for "Portrait", and "Portrait (Hopefully Child Remix)" and hopes you catch the vibe between the two. It's like a fifteen-minute song, which is long by club mix standards, usually a little over ten minutes is considered long.

Recommend to others: Yes. This is a must-listen for fans.

The moment I didn’t know I needed!

Mariah never ceases to amaze me. I enjoyed this so much! Love you Mimi!! Thank you for being my saving grace… ❤️

Love hearing about her process for remixes

Mariah’s ability to speak with such depth about her songwriting process is so inspiring. You can really tell she holds her songs close to her heart and that they are a
part of her.

Completely mesmerized

Love that by explaining the writing process of "Portrait" she also referenced other huge songs (in my opinion) that were and still are so important for me to go through my daily life situations.

An inside look at some deep cuts

Really fun and insightful share from Mariah on some of her more emotional lyric. Her catalog is so big she could do a series all by herself. Also really fun surprise at the end describing her dance remixes over the years which she rarely talked about in any other interview. Portraits is a touching song and the dance mix is great.

Love this we need more moments like this 💗 🐑

Hearing Mimi speak and go in depth about her lyrics is everything love it 🥹this audible is so beautiful the song writer you are mariah wow 👏🏻I truly can’t wait for the movie or series about your life ⭐️

Natural

She’s so natural, just speaking to us like we’re a friend. She expands on her music and touches on the feelings experienced which led to the creation of them. As a Lamb, it’s everything I wanted to hear. Give us more!!!!

Beautiful Voice and Stories

Mariah Carey does a good job of sharing parts of her life and how they influenced her music. I enjoyed hearing her and got a master class session in how to share your story with others.