Episode 198: Jewel

“You Were Meant for Me”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Song Exploder (@songexploder)

Jewel is a singer-songwriter from Homer, Alaska, who’s received four Grammy nominations and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Her debut album, Pieces of You, came out in 1995, and a 25th anniversary edition was released in November 2020. That album contains the hit song “You Were Meant for Me,” but it turns out it wasn’t a runaway success—not at first. In this episode, Jewel traces the history of making “You Were Meant for Me,” starting with the demo, and moving through all the different versions that were made along the way.

You can buy or stream “You Were Meant for Me” here.


Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Steve Poltz – cowriter
Neil Young
The Stray Gators
Juan Patiño – producer
Peter Collins – producer
Flea