Save the Day (Mariah Carey song)

Ms. Lauryn Hill (pictured) was praised for her vocals.

Carey and longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri began working on the song in February 2011. Originally, the idea was to reunite a variety of musicians to conceive the song as a charity single. The inspiration for the song comes from Points of Light Institute.[13] In March 2011, Carey's representative Cindi Berger stated that royalties for "Save The Day", which was originally written for Carey's fourteenth studio album, Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse (2014), would be donated to charities that bring awareness to human rights issues. Berger also said that "Mariah has and continues to donate her time, money and countless hours of personal service to many organizations both here and abroad".[14]

On February 11, 2012, Carey stated on her Twitter account that the song was "in a holding pattern for a very special reason, to be revealed at a later date".[15] Prior to the song release in 2020, Carey and Dupri believed that it was an appropriate time to release the song, with the former commenting, "the lyrics are so appropos to this exact moment".[16]

On August 19, 2020, Carey announced that "Save the Day" would be released as the lead single from her eighth compilation album The Rarities.[17] A day before the song's release, Carey premiered the song during a Zoom virtual private listening party.[16][18] The song was released on August 21, 2020.[19]

On September 13, 2020, Carey delivered a debut television performance of "Save the Day" as part of the U.S. Open Women's Final broadcast.[21] The video featured clips of female tennis stars like Venus and Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and more. Carey tweeted in response saying that she "couldn’t be more honored and moved to share the message of the song with these incredible female champions."[21] The video was filmed outside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.[21] On October 23, 2020, to further promote the song, Carey released a lyric video for the song which encouraged viewers to vote as well as paying tribute to "Breonna Taylor, Congressman John Lewis, trans activist and writer Raquel Willis, Sojourner Truth, Fredrick Douglass, and essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic, with gorgeous portraits drawn by artist Molly Crabapple."[20]

The song has received generally positive reviews. Joe Lynch of Billboard stated that "if you combine the powers of Mariah Carey and Ms. Lauryn Hill, you're off to a strong start.[16] He went on to say that "With heartfelt, affecting vocals delivering a timely message, [...] a few classic Mariah high notes and a sick beat drop courtesy Jermaine Dupri that accompanies the entrance of Ms. Lauryn Hill's voice" and that the song is "is pure MC goodness."[16] Rachel Hunt of Showbiz stated that although fans were disappointed that Lauryn Hill "did not add anything new to the recording" it is still a "towering achievement."[22] Chris Murphy of Vulture called both Carey and Hill the "90's Queens" and that the song sees both "at the height of their powers, saving the day, and channeling the ’90s while they’re at it".[19] He went on to say that Carey "breaks out the whistle tone, while Lauryn raps and interpolates her classic."[19]