The Roof

Album: Butterfly (1997)
Charted: 96
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Mariah Carey reminiscing about a sexy rooftop encounter during a rainy night. Released as a single in Europe, it fared poorly, peaking at #96 in the UK and #63 in The Netherlands.
  • Mariah Carey co-produced the song with Poke & Tone and Cory Rooney. The track is built around a sample from Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones (Part II)." Carey's use of the 1995 hip-hop track was inspired by her hearing it played on the radio during an upstate New York drive.
  • Mariah Carey started an affair with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter while still married to music mogul Tommy Mottola. This song was inspired by their first kiss on a rain-drenched rooftop.

    Carey recounted in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, they didn't get fully physical until after she divorced her husband. "Neither of us had wanted to cheapen our romance by cheating on my marriage," she wrote. "It would've been justified - they were such seductive situations, and my miserable marriage was in ruins at best - but it wouldn't have been right."
  • The singer also disclosed in The Meaning of Mariah Carey that another Butterfly song, "My All," is about "risking her life to have a night with Jeter in Puerto Rico."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Cheerleaders In Music Videos

Cheerleaders In Music VideosSong Writing

It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.

Shaun Morgan of Seether

Shaun Morgan of SeetherSongwriter Interviews

Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.