Mariah Carey co-wrote "Right to dream" with Willie Nelson and performed it with Nelson's harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, for the soundtrack of Tenneessee. "It's not really country," Nelson said, "It's more Mariah." "Right to dream" is being pushed for an Academy consideration in the "Best Song" category.

"I was humming different melodies while I was on the set and stuff," Mariah said. "I was just thinking that Willie Nelson would be somebody fabulous to collaborate with. I reached out to him and we met after one of his concerts, and he did some guitar for me. I went to his concert with my mom. She's a huge fan of his. We watched his show, and went back to the trailer afterward, and had a nice long talk about writing and the style of the record I was going for. It's so heavily guitar-driven, and I was just thinking his sound would enhance the record."

The resulting song is one of the more low-key and elegant turns from the singer in recent memory. Dressed with delicate, finger-picked guitar embellishments, Mariah's vocals are direct and sturdy, and go for determined optimism rather than late-night desperation. The song, Mariah said, is from the perspective of her "Tennessee" character Krystal, an aspiring singer. "The song has its own arc," she said. "She begins by telling us where she started, like she lays in bed and wonders where she left herself. A lot of people go through that sort of thing. It's kind of about empowerment."

CD-SINGLES

5" CD-single (3163) no catalogue number promo collection Anne Keiski Tracklisting: 1. Right to dream (Album Version)

5" CD-single from the USA (3136) no catalogue number promo collection Stefano Veneziani Tracklisting: 1. Right to dream (Main) 2. Right to dream (Instrumental)