It is Starr's biggest hit in the United States, reaching the top-twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and being considered her signature song.

The song was written and composed by Antonina Armato and Giuseppe Cantarelli, and produced by Eumir Deodato.

[6] Starr also recorded the song in Spanish, as "Yo Creo En Ti," which she released as a single.

In 1998, she recorded a salsa version of the song on her album No Lo Voy a Olvidar, as "I Still Believe/Creo en Ti."

According to EMI Music Publishing, the song was written in the key of G major and set in a moderately slow tempo of 59 beats per minute, while Carey's vocal range from G3 to D6.

The melody is based heavily on interpolations of the song "Pure Imagination", which Gene Wilder sang, in character as Willy Wonka, in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and the song features rapped and sung parts by Krayzie Bone (of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) and Da Brat.

According to Jose F. Promis of Allmusic, "[t]he mix is, nonetheless, breezy, laid-back, and typical of mid-'90s urban/hip-hop, and features da Brat saying "lose the ego," all the while self-aggrandizing herself.

Stevie J, who co-produced the original song, enlisted the help of rappers Mocha and Amil to join Carey on a remix he was developing.

Chuck Taylor of Billboard praised the track for featuring "one of the most relaxed, breeziest vocal performances Miss Mariah has ever served up, alongside a simple arrangement that allows her voice to shine through.

"[18] Taylor also noted that "[t]he track also ably walks the line between R&B and pop: For listeners who may have lost the faith with Carey's ventures into hip-hop, this will reel them back into the fold.

Newer fans will love the less-glossy production and the soulful grip that Carey puts around this song of yearning and ache.

"[25] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic picked the track as one of the best on her compilation The Ballads (2008), calling it a "mammoth hit.

"[20] He was positive with the "Morales' Classic Club Mix", describing it as "a standard, but well-made dance remake, [...] quite smooth, with Carey giving a great vocal performance.

[35] The single's music video, which Brett Ratner directed, was shot in early December 1998 and drew heavy inspiration from Marilyn Monroe's 1953 visit to U.S. troops in Korea for a United Service Organizations show.

I always used to watch old footage of performers going overseas, from Bob Hope to Marilyn Monroe singing for people in the service.

"[39] A video for the remix was commissioned and directed by Carey herself, showing her as a peasant girl in a Mexican village as she tends to her goats and gathers water for her family.