The Art of Letting Go
2013 single by Mariah Carey
"The Art of Letting Go" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey for the deluxe version of her fourteenth studio album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (2014). It was written and produced by Carey and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and premiered via Facebook on November 11, 2013, as the second single from the album, following a digital release the same day worldwide. Jermaine Dupri, Carey's longtime collaborator and her then-manager, had the idea to premiere the song via Facebook to attract her die hard fans, however, Carey faced problems when an unmastered version of the song was uploaded in place of its final mix, leading the singer to premiere the intended version hours later with an apology and explanation.
"The Art of Letting Go" is an orchestral old-school R&B song, with influences of gospel music, having piano, strings and guitar as its main instrumentation. Lyrically, the song talks about the art and the power of letting go of people and things that are not good in our lives, which can be hurtful and difficult, but extremely necessary. The song received largely positive reviews from music critics, who compared the song to her debut single, "Vision of Love" (1990), while also praising its minimalistic production and her vocals towards the end of the song. It failed to impact the charts, reaching the low regions of the countries it charted.
Background and release
"The Art of Letting Go" was originally the title for Carey's fourteenth studio album, which was scheduled to be released during the spring of 2014, as well as being the second single, following statements that she wasn't ready to release the album in 2013 since she didn't want to "exclude meaningful songs", as well as sustaining an injury to her shoulder while recording the music video for the remix of "#Beautiful", which led her to spend time in recovery.
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