"You Were Meant for Me" is a folk-pop song written by Steve Poltz and Jewel and performed by Jewel on her first album, Pieces of You. It relates the singer's incomprehension of a failed relationship and her inadequate attempts at moving on with her life. "You Were Meant for Me" was released as the second single from Pieces of You and went on to receive a great deal of recognition. It became a hit and reached number two on the US BillboardHot 100 for two weeks, as well as number one on the BillboardAdult Contemporary chart for a single week. In 1997 a reissue of the single containing the unreleased "Foolish Games" allowed the song to rebound to number seven on the Hot 100, eventually totaling 65 weeks in the top 100, which at the time was a record. Worldwide, "You Were Meant for Me" experienced moderate success, reaching number three in Australia, number two in Canada and number 32 in the United Kingdom. "Foolish Games/You Were Meant for Me" ranked at number 15 on Billboard's All Time Top 100 in 2008. When the All Time chart was retabulated for the chart's 55th anniversary in 2013, it remained in the top 20 at number 17. The song was also re-recorded for Jewel's Greatest Hits album with backing vocals from the country trio Pistol Annies.
Background
"You Were Meant for Me" was Jewel's second single to be taken from her debut album. Atlantic Records had Jewel re-record the song for a more radio-friendly version. Initially, the first version that was released was the "Juan Patino Radio Mix". This version omits the first 2 lines of the chorus and the last 4 lines of the second verse, and did not gather much attention. It was later cancelled, with the video pulled from MTV and VH1. Jewel returned again into the studio to record the song for a third time, and the resulting version produced is known as the "radio version" and is featured on Greatest Hits. The original radio version, "Juan Patino Radio Mix", only appeared on a promotional LP titled Phyllis Barnabee Finally Gets a Bra in 1996, and its only commercial release came on a Canadian various artists compilation entitled "Now! 2" that same year. The actual "radio version" was released on a commercial CD single and later on a re-release of Pieces of You. Steve Poltz later referenced the record in his song, "Happier Hour", through the lyrics, "Did I ever tell you I wrote a hit with Jewel? I was truly meant for you and you were truly meant for me."
Composition
"You Were Meant for Me" is written in the key of E minor with a moderate, swinging tempo of 114 beats per minute. The song follows a chord progression of C–G/B–C–Em, and Jewel's vocals span from G3 to C5.
Music video
A music video was directed by Lawrence Carroll for the Radio Edit. Steve Poltz appeared in the video. In the video Jewel and Poltz appeared together in numerous scenes, most of them depicting how both of them wants to be together but always separated. In one scene, Poltz tries to reach for Jewel's hand, but a curtain appears between them and separating their hands. In another scene, Jewel lies in front of Poltz and starts to undress and reveals her underwear, but instead of reaching for him, she moves away from him, leaving Poltz with his arms raised towards her. Other scenes including Jewel lies beside a little pond with some little ships, Jewel sits inside a boat in the middle of a room alone, and Jewel sits on a side of a bedroom while Poltz, shirtless, was in the other side and tries to reach towards her. The video won the award for Best Female Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.
This CD single was re-issued after "Foolish Games" had been released as a single from the Batman & Robin soundtrack. Keeping to the original track listing the single contained a bonus track, the radio edit of "Foolish Games". The song was not listed on the inlay of the single European CD Single
A single by the Irish girl group Bellefire was scheduled for release in June 2004, as the follow-up to "Say Something Anyway". The release was cancelled, although the track received some airplay in some far east countries. It is included on the album Spin the Wheel. A promotional video exists and is included on a special edition of the Spin the Wheel album. The video was directed by Andy Hylton.
Other versions
The song was re-recorded by Hong Kong singer Fiona Sit in April 2005. The album was a success, leading to the release of a second edition, but the song was never promoted as a major single and acted as more of a 'bonus track' of the album.
On the 2007 American Idols Live! Tour, season six winner Jordin Sparks covered an acoustic version of the song and played it on guitar.
The song was performed in The Voice by contestant Lauren Duski in the auditions. Duski would later win as the runner-up.
