Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston, “When You Believe” | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the 8^th edition of Lit Music That Lifts, we’re uplifted by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston performing, “When You Believe.”

Welcome to Lit Music That Lifts (LMTL), or Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 for short! This column picks up where Sunday Refresh 🙏 leaves off, yet it hits different.  Like its predecessor, Music Lifts seeks to highlight songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs that exude fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the 8^th edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2022), we highlight 🎵 “When You Believe” as performed by 🎙 Mariah Carey and 🎙 Whitney Houston.

“There can be miracles when you believe / Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill.” Amen, 🎙 Mariah Carey and 🎙 Whitney Houston! Please, ladies, continue, won’t you with your uplifting musical sermon? “Who knows what miracles, you can achieve / When you believe, somehow you will / You will when you believe.” Yes, yes, yes! It should come as no surprise that 🎵 “When You Believe”, from the 1998 animated motion picture, 🎦 The Prince of Egypt, won the Academy Award for 🏆 Best Original Song. No, the two, gifted divas that performed the end-title duet version weren’t awarded, but decorated songwriter 🎼 ✍ Stephen Schwartz was victorious, deservedly so. “When You Believe” is all about the power of faith.  What better way to sing about faith than have two of the most gifted sings of all time duet? 🎛 Babyface produces this powerhouse rendition.

Whitney Houston is the first voice we hear, setting the tone for the first verse and of course, the tuneful chorus.  Essentially, Houston sings about ample prayer, with little evidence prayers would be answered.  Still, because of faith, even when it seemed like there was no reason to believe, ultimately, “We were moving mountains long before we knew we could.” In the second verse, Mariah Carey echoes the sentiment, asserting, “Hope seems like the summer birds / Too swiftly flown away.” Despite the adversity, she goes on to state, “My heart’s so full, I can’t explain / Seeking faith and speaking words / I never thought I’d say.”  Houston and Carey join forces the rest of the time, inspiring with what can be deemed unshakable faith: “A small but still resilient voice, says ‘Help is very near!’” Nearly 25 years after its debut, “When You Believe” remains one of the greatest pop duets of all time. Furthermore, it’s an awesome testament to faith.  Now that is a better lift than you can get at the gym, any day! Worth noting, the duet also appears on Houston’s 1998 album, 💿 My Love is Your Love and Carey’s 💿 Greatest Hits (2001).

🎙 Various Artists • 💿 The Prince of Egypt (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 📅 1998

Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston, “When You Believe”: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 8 (2022) [📷: Arek Socha, Benjamin Balazs, Brent Faulkner, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Ketut Subiyanto, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, UMG Recordings, Inc.]