Tear Jerker / Mariah Carey

• "Hero" can be this. The amount of fear and vulnerability she portrays in this song is definitely not to be trifled with.
• In "Outside", she expresses grief of being ostracized for being biracial. The song resonates deeply to mixed heritage audiences who feel her struggle of not fully belonging to one side or the other.
• In "Butterfly", she sings from an alternate perspective of her now ex-husband, Tommy Mottola, whom she wished had "set her free" (both from his label and their marriage). Sadly, from the various setbacks her career she faced as a result of Mottola's meddling, it's made clear that he didn't to let her go that easy.
• "Vision of Love" can be this too. Apparently Tupac would play this whenever he was sad, which definitely adds to the whole mood of waiting and struggling.
• "Love Takes Time" is seen like this as well, as the song is about losing a lover and the time it takes to heal.
• The songs "Petals" and "Languishing", both about her HIV positive sister who repeatedly sold her out to the media.
• "One Sweet Day" with Boyz II Men, though a very hopeful and uplifting song, is a tribute to her Record Producer David Cole (of C+C Music Factory fame), who died of AIDS in early 1995 at the age of 32, and was also inspired by sufferers of the epidemic, including Mariah's sister whose diagnosis at the age of 27 tore their relationship apart.
• "Reflections (Care Enough)" (from the Glitter film) is a heart wrenching ballad about a girl questioning why her mother abandoned her.
  • "Twister", another song from the Glitter soundtrack, was written in dedication to Carey's hairstylist and a friend, Tonjua Twist, who committed suicide in 2000. The song's title is a play on her last name.
• Really, just most of her ballads could count, like "We Belong Together", and "I Wish You Well".
• "Side Effects" can easily be this for anyone that's gone through abuse.
• "I Don't Want to Cry" and "There's Got To Be A Way".
• The ending of her music video for "Bye Bye" shows a photo montage of Carey's deceased loved ones, which includes family members (her father, dog, and grandmother) and past collaborators (Luther Vandross, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Luciano Pavarotti, and David Cole). Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
• The single "We Belong Together", and its accompanying music video.
• Her revelation that she has Bipolar disorder, which re-frames her past strange behavior in a completely different context and pretty ensures that nobody will ever be able to mock her about her diva antics again.
• "Can't Let Go" is a heartwrenching break-up song where she pines for a past lover and her grief in both seeing him move on with another woman and forget about their own previous relationship.
• From her first Christmas album, the single "Miss You Most (At Christmastime)". While the song is more of a lost love/break-up song, numerous comments on YouTube talk about it in remembrance of a passed on loved one.