Мария Кэри – «Жаңбыр Арасынан» («Through the Rain»)

2002 single by Mariah Carey

"Through the Rain" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey, taken from her ninth studio album, Charmbracelet (2002). It was written by Carey and Lionel Cole, and produced by the former and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song was released as the album's lead single on September 30, 2002, and a shorter version was used as the ending credits theme for a 2002 Japanese drama known as You're Under Arrest. Classified by Carey as a ballad, it is influenced by R&B and soul music genres, and features a simple and under stated piano melody, backed by soft electronic synthesizers. "Through the Rain" was meant to be an insight into Carey personal struggles throughout 2001, and lyrically talks about encouraging others. The song has been well received, with many complimenting its inspirational lyrical content, and described it as an open window into Carey's personal life for listeners. Commercially, it was Carey's lowest charting lead single on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the time, and it was her first lead single to that point not to reach the top ten in the United States. Though stalling at number 81, it became successful on the Billboard dance charts, hitting number one for a week in the United States as well as topping the Hot Singles Sales chart. The song achieved higher placements in international markets, reaching the top spot in Spain and peaking within the top ten in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Carey performed "Through the Rain" live on several television and award show appearances around the world. She debuted the song at the 2002 NRJ Awards, and features it on a one hour special titled Mariah Carey: Shining Through the Rain, which aired three days later on MTV. In the United States, Carey performed the song on Today, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and American Music Awards of 2003. Throughout Europe, Carey performed the song on The Graham Norton Show and on talent competition, Fame Academy. Additionally, "Through the Rain" was included on the set list of Carey's Charmbracelet World Tour: An Intimate Evening with Mariah Carey, which spanned throughout 2003–04. The music video, directed by Dave Meyers, was set in the late 1960s. It features a past and present story line based on Carey's childhood, and stars J. D. Williams and Jamie Lynn Sigler as the singer's parents. The video begins with past scenes of Carey's mother being disowned by her family after becoming romantically involved with a black man, and finds the singer in the present walking through a heavy rainstorm in New York.

In 2000, Carey parted from Columbia Records and signed a record breaking $100 million five album recording contract with Virgin Records America (EMI Records). She often stated that Columbia had regarded her as a commodity, with her separation from Tommy Mottola exacerbating her relations with label executives. Due to this situation, Virgin and 20th Century Fox delayed the release of Carey's film Glitter, as well as its soundtrack of the same name. Both the releases received negative feedback and were commercially unsuccessful. This also resulted in her deal with Virgin being bought out for $50 million. Soon after, Carey flew to Capri, Italy for a period of five months, in which she began writing material for her new album, stemming from all the personal experiences she had endured throughout the past year. Carey later said that her time at Virgin was "a complete and total stress fest [ ] I made a total snap decision which was based on money and I never make decisions based on money. I learned a big lesson from that." Later that year, she signed a contract with Island Records, valued at more than $24 million, and launched the record label MonarC. To add further to Carey's emotional burdens, her father, with whom she had little contact since childhood, died of cancer that year.

Throughout the first years of her career, Carey's musical styles mainly involved pop influenced R&B. Additionally, her image was of a reserved and modestly dressed female, or as Carey's later described it "the 90s version of Mary Poppins". As the 1990s wore on, Carey began featuring rappers on remixes, and began infusing hip hop into her musical palette. As her music changed, so too did her image, which became more sexual, and aimed at younger audiences than the more contemporary appeal of her earlier works. According to Michael Paoletta from Billboard, "Through the Rain" was used not only as a vehicle for listeners to become more in tune with Carey's personal struggles, but also as a means to "re capture" her audience throughout the earlier stages of her career. A contemporary and pop ballad, he felt the song would find "much embrace" from her older fans, while her audience that grew accustomed to her hip hop flavored music would feel "lost and abandoned". In an interview with MTV News, the song's co producer Jimmy Jam described why Carey chose to release it as the lead single: "I think 'Through the Rain' is a great way to start the record, because it is emotional and it kind of speaks directly to the questions people might have about the last year of her life. It's a good idea to get that out of the way and move on to happy, less emotional songs."

The song's official remix features guest vocals from Kelly Price and Joe. The remix incorporates a more up tempo background, and differs melodically from the original. While the album's co producer, Jimmy Jam, described it as a "star search," Sarah Rodman from the Boston Herald felt that even though the remix was more up beat than the original, it "failed to quicken the pulse."

"Through the Rain" is a mid tempo ballad, which is influenced by pop and R&B music genres. The song is built around a piano melody, and features a beat that is accentuated by synthesizers. Aside from its pop driven melody and structure, Jeff Vrabel of the Chicago Sun Times noted an hint of gospel towards the song's crescendo, describing it as "lite gospel". Vocally, "Through the Rain" finds Carey singing in a "restrained" style for the duration of most of the song, as the first verse and chorus are sung in breathy vocals. After the second chorus, the bridge is linked to the song's climax through a long belted note. The Daily Unions David Germain felt the song's composition, as well as Carey's vocal performance were "simple and reserved", with Carey in "complete control" of her voice. "Through the Rain" was written by Carey and Lionel Cole and produced by the former and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes. com by Universal Music Publishing Ltd., "Through the Rain" is set in common time with a tempo of 64 beats per minute. Lyrically, the song features an inspirational message of inner strength, and finds Carey reaching out to listeners. The song uses a rainstorm as a metaphor for troubles in life, while encouraging others to "make it through the rain" through perseverance. The first chorus begins: "When you get caught in the rain / With no where to run / When your distraught and in pain without anyone / When you keep crying out to be saved", illustrating a moment in an individual's life where they are surrounded by conflict. while a writer from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote "it's an insight into her recent troubles." In an interview with MTV News, Carey described the song's lyrical content in depth:
I've always tried to insert positivity into my songs wherever I can, to inspire other people who go through stuff. I mean the stuff they talked about in tabloids and the things that were so overly exaggerated, that's one aspect. I also went through a lot of personal stuff, a lot of family stuff this year. Losing a parent is an intense thing for anybody. It's brought me to another place. People are going to read into it as, 'This is Mariah and her struggle'. But the way I try to word it is, 'It's OK once you say I can make it through the rain.' Not just me going, 'I can make it through the rain,' it's me telling people that if you believe you can get through whatever you're going through, you can get to the other side.

"Through the Rain" received positive reviews from music critics; many complimented Carey's restrained vocal performance, as well as the song's simple instrumental accompaniment, while others criticized it for being overly dramatic. Jon Pareles of The New York Times described it as "inspirational", and felt that due to its vagueness, the song is would be applicable to all listeners, not just Carey. The Daily Unions David Germain commented how the song's simple musical arrangement and Carey's "restrained" vocal delivery aided it in becoming "modest and reserved". Cara DiPasquale from the Chicago Tribune called it a "powerhouse ballad", while Entertainment Weeklys Tom Sinclair wrote "embellished with her trademark vocal pyrotechnics, it is one of those highly personal songs about finding your way out of an emotional wilderness, but it sinks in its own sodden sentimentality". Similarly, a writer from Newsday also described "Through the Rain" as a "powerhouse ballad", and felt it was reminiscent of Carey's previous single "One Sweet Day" (1995). Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Randy Lewis noted how the song was able to effectively take listeners right into Carey's personal struggles from the previous year. Tina Brown from Newsweek felt that while Carey's personal troubles may not have been fully solved, the song made her appear "strong and triumphant". Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In noted that "Through the Rain" "encourages listeners to weather life's storms with the help of faith, prayer and perseverance".

Publication Accolade RankRef. (Reference) Rolling Stone(Readers' Picks) The 10 Best Singles of 2002 7

After premiering in the United States, "Through the Rain" peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. While radio appeal was primarily weak throughout the United States, the song managed to sustain strong airplay throughout Asia. In Canada, "Through the Rain" peaked at number five on the singles chart, and was certified Gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), denoting shipments of over 50,000 units. Throughout Australasia and Europe, the song managed to peak within the top five in several countries. In Australia, "Through the Rain" debuted at its peak position of number fifteen on the singles chart, during the week of November 14, 2002. The following week, the song began its decline, and had a total chart trajectory of ten weeks. The song peaked at number forty five the next week, and fell out of the chart in its eleventh week, while it was at sixty eight. Making its debut at its peak position of number sixteen, "Through the Rain" charted for a total of nineteen weeks in France, before falling out on March 22, 2003. On the Dutch Top 40 chart, the song made its debut at number thirty two. Four weeks later, the song peaked at number nine, before dropping outside the top 40 five weeks later, ending its eleven week run. In total, the song spent three weeks at its peak position of number thirty seven, and a total of seven weeks on the chart. On November 28, 2002, "Through the Rain" debuted at number twelve on the Swedish Singles Chart, and reached a peak of number seven. Though released at the end of the year, it managed to finish at number 83 on the year end chart. The following week, the song dropped to number twenty one on the chart, before dropping outside the top forty two weeks later. It is loosely based on the singer's parents, Alfred and Patricia Carey, during the times that she was conceived. The characters are played by J. D. Williams and Jamie Lynn Sigler respectively and incorporates themes from Charmbracelet as well as from Carey's life. In an interview with MTV News, Carey said that originally, the plot for the video wasn't going to have anything to do with her parents' past experiences with racism, but was changed a few days before shooting began. Three days prior to the album's stateside release, a one hour special titled Mariah Carey: Shining Through the Rain aired on MTV, in which Carey was interviewed and sang several songs from Charmbracelet and of her catalog. During the album's month of release, Carey appeared on several television talk shows, launching her promotional tour on Today, where she performed a four song set list at Mall of America for a crowd of over 10,000. On December 3, 2002, Carey appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she performed "Through the Rain" and "My Saving Grace", and covered a highly publicized interview regarding Carey's hospitalization. On December 4, Carey traveled to Brazil for South American promotion of Charmbracelet, appearing on the popular Brazilian program, Fantástico. She sang "My All", and reprised performances of "Through the Rain" and "I Only Wanted" wearing a long pink gown. She also made a surprise appearance on Show da Virada, singing "Through the Rain" and "My All", while wearing a short silver dress. On December 7, 2002, Carey performed "Through the Rain" in front of a crowd of 50,000 people, at the closing concert of the Mexican Teletón, which took place in the country's Azteca Stadium. One month later, Carey was featured as one of the headlining performers at the 30th annual American Music Awards, held on January 13, 2003. Introduced by Sharon Osbourne, Carey performed "Through the Rain" alongside a complete live gospel choir, and wore a long black evening gown. During the recital, images of newspaper headlines describing Carey's breakdown were projected on a large curtain behind her, with one reading "When you fall down, you get back up." Towards the end of March, Charmbracelet saw release throughout Europe, prompting Carey to appear on several programs in promotion of the album. She first performed the album's leading two singles on the British music chart show, Top of the Pops, followed by a similar set on The Graham Norton Show and Fame Academy. On the latter program, Carey was joined on stage by the show's finalists, as they all sang the climax on "Through the Rain" alongside her.

+Release dates and formats for "Through the Rain"RegionDateFormat(s)Ref(s). (Reference(s))United StatesSeptember 30, 2002Contemporary hit radio, Contemporary hit, Adult contemporary music, adult contemporary, Adult contemporary music#Hot adult contemporary, hot AC radioOctober 14, 2002Rhythmic contemporary, urban AC, urban radioAustraliaNovember 11, 2002CD 1, CD 2Europe—JapanNovember 13, 2002CDBelgiumNovember 14, 2002United KingdomNovember 18, 2002CDCanadaNovember 19, 2002CDCyprusNovember 21, 2002CD 2GreeceUnited States Digital downloadDecember 10, 20022× 12 inch vinyl February 4, 2003 CD

The song was covered by several Asian artists. In 2003, singer Regine Velasquez performed a live rendition of "Through the Rain" as part of an intimate concert that was later broadcast on Asian television. The song was also covered by Rachelle Ann Go in the 2004 singing competition Search for a Star as her winning song. Additionally, while promoting her debut EP in the Philippines in 2007, Charice Pempengco sang an a cappella version of the song's bridge and climax. Nasser Amparna also cover the song on 2018 for the soundtrack of Waves of Life on Philippines. Additionally, his cover is his most streamed song on Spotify.