"Can't Let Go" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey from her second albumEmotions. It was released as the album's second single in the fourth quarter of 1991 in the United States and the first quarter of 1992 elsewhere. The protagonist of this synthesizer-heavy ballad laments an ex-lover who has moved on, and though she tries she "can't let go." Carey had fallen out with her songwriting partner Ben Margulies following a financial dispute, and her record label suggested that she work with the other producers of her debut album such as Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden. She chose Walter Afanasieff, who had produced her second single "Love Takes Time", and "Can't Let Go" was one of the songs they created. After the release of the single "Emotions," "Can't Let Go" was promoted on both The Arsenio Hall Show in September 1991 and Saturday Night Live in November 1991 when she was the musical guest in the episode which featured Linda Hamilton as the host. "Can't Let Go" was later included on Carey's compilation albumThe Ballads.
Music and lyrics
"Can't Let Go" is written in the key of F major, ascending up to F major to close the song out — a common pop tonal effect. Mariah's vocals range from the low note of F3 to the high note of B6, at a moderately slow tempo of 81 beats per minute, according to Musicnotes.com.
Critical reception
Allmusic editor Ashley S. Battel wrote that "yearning cries for a lost love in "Can't Let Go" serves to send the listener on a musical journey through time filled with varying emotions. Los Angeles Times editor Dennis Hunt wrote that in this song Mariah is playing a wounded lover. Rob Tannenbaum of Rolling Stone wrote that "moody grandeur" of this song will sound great on radio.
Chart performance
Carey's first six American singles had reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Can't Let Go" ended the streak when it reached number two, and spent 17 weeks in the top 40. The record company had taken the single off from sales before it could reach number 1, in an attempt to boost sales of Emotions. The song topped the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, where it became Carey's fourth number one single; the next single "Make It Happen" would break that streak. "Can't Let Go" ranked 23rd on the 1992 Hot 100 year-end charts. "Can't Let Go" reached the UK top 20 and the Canadian top ten. It became her lowest peaking single at the time in all of the major Anglophone singles markets, and failed to make the Australian top 50.
The single's video, directed by Jim Sonzero, features Carey wearing an evening gown and her hair in a bun. Filmed in black and white, the video starts and closes with shots of a rose open and closed respectively. A radio edit of the song was promoted to radio and used for the video instead of the original song, and the edit eliminates the seraphic pre-intro and removes all of Carey's high notes at the song's beginning and end. Like Carey's previous U.S. singles, "Can't Let Go" won a BMI Pop Award in 1993. In 2015, rapper Rick Ross released a remix version of the song on his eighth studio albumBlack Market, titled "Can't Say No", in which Carey re-recorded her part with various new lyrics.
Copyright issues
In 1992, writers Sharon Taber and Ron Gonzalez filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Carey and Afanasieff citing that "Can't Let Go" was taken from their unknown song, "Right Before My Eyes." The plaintiffs demanded to obtain copies of the studio recording tapes to see if conversation between Carey and Afanasieff would prove them guilty. However, after being reviewed, the only guilty fear apparent was Mariah Carey quoted as saying "Can't Let Go" was sounding "too much like our other song." The lawsuit was later dropped or settled out of court.
