CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY

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"Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" is a song written by American singer Mariah Carey and Diane Warren, and produced by Carey, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for Carey's ninth album Rainbow (1999). It was released as the album's third single in 2000 as a double A-side with "Crybaby." It was the center of a public fight between Carey and Sony Music Entertainment concerning Carey's struggle to get it released and Sony's alleged lack of promotion.

Carey co-wrote the song with Diane Warren, though Warren does not usually share songwriting credit. Although there were no conflicts during the recording process, the pair had minor disagreements during the songwriting stages: Carey said that Warren liked to repeat lyrical phrases often. The second song that Carey and Warren wrote together was "There For Me" which was released as a B-side to the "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" single Carey released in late 2001.

The song's protagonist details the struggles of dealing with people who put you down, and how to overcome these struggles through faith, courage, and the power of God. Carey explains in the song's lyrics how although people can try to make her feel down and depressed, no matter what happens, she can't let them win: "There's a light in me that shines brightly. They can try but they can't take that away from me."

Whenever I listen to this song, I can’t but shed a tear when I think of how people out there make others feel as if they don’t matter. Thus setting off our own emotional reaction, that DESTROYS our self-esteem. I would like to think that when you hear this song, you could somehow empathize with the individual that brought such feels to you rather than simply accept their negative energy…