Never Too Far

"Never Too Far"
File:Mariahcareysingle ntf.jpg
Single by Mariah Carey
From the album Glitter
Single Released	2001
Single Format	(Airplay Only)
Genre	Pop
Song Length	4:21
Record label	Virgin
Writers	Mariah Carey Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis
Producers	Mariah Carey Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis
Video Director	Vondie Curtis-Hall
Chart positions	Failed To Chart (USA) #4 (UK)
Mariah Carey single chronology
"Loverboy" 2001	"Never Too Far" 2001	"Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica)" 2001

"Never Too Far" was the second single from Mariah Carey's 10th album, Glitter.

The Song

The single, released in 2001, was co-written and co-produced by Mariah and the Flyte Time team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The love ballad recalls Mariah knowing that although physical distance can sometimes separate lovers, the love they share will make them "never too far" away from each other.

Chart Success

"Never Too Far" was a major flop in the USA. Previously, fans of Mariah were in shock when her single "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" (which charted as "Crybaby" due to technicalities) had failed to hit the top 10 peaking at #28. Consequently, fans were not able to comprehend intelligently of the dilemma, when "Never Too Far" failed to chart at all on the Hot 100. It was the first song ever in Mariah's career that had the ability to, but failed to chart.

It should be noted that this was the first single released by Mariah (that was airplay only) in a time where non-commercial releases could chart. (Although it should be noted that this period had officially started in late 1998, but Mariah had still released CD commercial singles then.) Although a CD commercial single was still relatively essential to a song's sucess at this time, it should be noted that most songs on the Hot 100 at this time, did not have a CD commercial release). The song briefly did make an appearance on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at #5 (equivalent to #105 if the Hot 100 were allowed to have more than 100 positions). The song also was not solicited to R&B Radio. The song also hit #4 in the UK, but overall, was not a big hit by any means.

On a side note it should be noted that the "Never Too Far/Hero Medley", which was later released in the USA, did chart on the Hot 100. The "Never Too Far/Hero Medley" and Never Too Far, although similar, are not to be confused with each other.

Music Video

Mariah was unable to film a music video to promote the release of "Never Too Far" because she was still recovering from her nervous breakdown at the time Virgin Records released the song to radio. The music video of the song is a very simplistic one that shows Mariah performing the song in a scene that is taken directly from the movie, Glitter. In the video, Billie Frank (Mariah's role in the movie) sings the song in her first sold out concert in Madison Square Garden. Since the video was extracted directly from the movie, the entire second verse of the song is missing; this version of the song was never officially released.

Usage In The Glitter Movie

The song is featured prominently in the movie, Glitter. As mentioned above, Mariah performs the song at Madison Square Garden. Whereas the music video only shows the performance of the song, we are given more information about the song's history in the rest of the movie. After facing relationship woes, with Dice beating up Timothy Walker, and Dice being denied permission to produce Billie's debut album, Billie leaves Dice. However, the breakup is good on neither side, as they both miss each other terribly. To deal with their emotional pain, Billie and Dice each begin writing a song separately.

The movie expands on the concept of love and destiny, as apparently even though they are apart, they end up writing the same song! Later, Billie sneaks into Dice's apartment in an attempt to reconcile. He is not home, but the music he has written for "Never Too Far" is. In a touching moment, Billie realizes that they wrote the same song, and kisses the sheet music leaving a lipstick imprint of her lips.

However, tragedy strikes later that night as Timothy Walker, who had been beaten up by Dice, gets revenge on Dice and shoots him to death. News of the death is relayed to Billie moments before her first sold old concert at Madison Square Garden begins. Nevertheless, the show must go on, and Billie somberly walks onto the crowd, who have been festively grooving along to an instrumental track of Loverboy performed by Mariah's dancers. Mariah is in mood for light hearted songs, and commands the band to stop playing "Loverboy" when she reaches the stage. Mariah's then warns the crowd never to take life for granted, before launching into her performance of "Never Too Far".

Remixes

There are no known remixes for this song. There is, however, a radio edit of this song, which cuts down on the lengthy introduction.

Comprehensive Charts

"Never Too Far" Failed To Chart on The Billboard Hot 100
"Never Too Far" Was Not Ranked On The Billboard Hot 100 Year End Charts (2001)
"Never Too Far" Remained in The Billboard Hot 100 for 0 weeks

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	"Never Too Far”	Billboard Hot 100	#Failed To Chart
2001	"Never Too Far"	Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles	#5 (equivalent to #105 if the Hot 100 were allowed to have more than 100 positions
2001	"Never Too Far"	Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles	#17

Official Remixes/Versions List

Never Too Far (Album Version)
Never Too Far (Radio Edit)