Someday (or Music Monday, whichever comes first) boy you’re gonna pay ’cause baby I’m the one who’s keeping score.
I’m not vengeful, and neither is Music Monday. Neither will be ignored.
In 1988, a high school-aged singer left home on Long Island, moved to Manhattan, and composed a four track demo tape, but struggled to get a recording deal. A few years later, after singing backup and working several jobs to afford recording sessions, this young singer landed a recording deal, these songs (including today’s song) made the final cut for their debut album.
The year was 1990, the debut album was self-titled, and the self-titled singer was Mariah Carey. Oh, and that song? The optimistic “Someday”!
“Someday” was written by Mariah Carey, along with Ben Margulies, one of fourteen songs they’d composed over a three-year period. This one came from the original demo tape, but was also one of seven songs to make the final cut for Carey’s debut album. The song is dance/pop with the influence of New Jack Swing, a type of dance/pop music style made popular in the mid 1980s and early 1990s, first made popular by Janet Jackson on her 1986 album Control. A good example of this genre is – surprisingly – the Donny Osmond song “Soldier of Love”, which is way better than it has any right to be. The genre combines funk, jazz, rap, and rhythm and blues
The song was the third one released on the album, on November 15, 1990 in the United Kingdom, with a United States release on December 13, 1990. Like her two previous singles, it also reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was her first song to top the Dance Club Songs Chart (doing so in March 1991), and her second on the Radio Songs chart. For year end charts in 1991, “Someday” reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, and for all time Billboard Hot 100 singles from 1958 to 2018, the song holds the #430 spot.
The music video takes place in a school, as a young girl (representing Carey) meets with being ignored by a boy she has a crush on.
At the end of the video, the now grown-up boy gets his, as Carey shows him she hasn’t forgotten.
Oh, and dance party in the school, because in the early 1990s, I’m sure this happened outside of music videos.
Watch the lovelorn girl grow up to be Mariah Carey by clicking play below.
Mariah Carey has admitted that this is one of her favorite songs on the demo and would listen to it on the subway after the studio sessions. She loved watching the kids dance in the music video, but has expressed that she was not happy with the resulting single from the album, as well as the music video. In future compilations (both video and audio), this version of the single, as well as the music video, are replaced with her 1992 appearance on MTV Unplugged.
Admittedly, this is a great version (I love it!), but I’m partial to the original.