Jewel - You Were Meant For Me

The "Album Edit" designation is a bit misleading because the commercial single of "You Were Meant for Me" is not an actual edit of the version found on Jewel's parent album Pieces of You, but a very different re-recording altogether.

Brian, I think what you have there is the original recording of "Foolish Games" on the b-side and the re-recorded single version on your import.

Here's what wikipedia says about "You Were Meant For Me":

"You Were Meant For Me" was Jewel's second single to be taken from her debut album. The single was altered from the album version and re-recorded for a more radio friendly version. A verse was deleted from the original lyrical liner. A commercial single of the song was available in the US (and internationally). The song is credited as either the, 'single edit', 'radio edit' or 'album edit'.

Two versions of "You Were Meant For Me" surfaced before its final release. Version One (aka The Sean Pean Radio Edit) was set for original release. Jewel had re-recorded the song, altered the majority of the lyrics and changed the sound to a more rock version. However after the split of the two, Jewel went back into the studio, re-recorded the version that is most famous now, and created a new music video for the song. Steve Poltz, who cowrote the song with Jewel, also appeared in the video.

And here is what is noted about "Foolish Games":

"Foolish Games" was Jewel's third/fourth and final single taken from her debut album, Pieces of You. It was also the third single to be lifted from the Batman & Robin motion picture soundtrack. Again Jewel re-recorded the single for the soundtrack to a more commercial sound. Another verse was taken from the original lyrical liner to shorten the length of the song. The single version can be found on the soundtrack of Batman and Robin. There was no commercial single issued within the US for "Foolish Games". However a re-released version of the single "You Were Meant For Me" contained a bonus-hidden track of the single version of "Foolish Games". However this was not noted on the back inlay of the CD single, which listed the tracks.

A couple days ago, I picked up a third US promo CD single for "You Were Meant For Me."

PRCD 6605
1. Remix (listed 3:13; actual 3:11)
2. Album Version (listed 4:13; actual 4:12)
3. Acoustic Version (listed 3:38)

Track 1 is the same Juan Patino produced recording that appears on PRCD 6496. This is the more "rock" sounding version mentioned earlier.

Track 2, as best as I can recall, is truly the album version that appears on Pieces Of You (not the hit version).

Track 3 is a live acoustic recording, but the credits on the CD are sparse, and it doesn't say anything about where it was recorded. The only giveaway that it's a live recording is that there is a brief audience applause at the end, and it sounds like a fairly small studio type audience.

So, none of the versions on this promo CD are the hit version.

1994 was the first year I started working in radio, part-time, as a teenager. I obviously wasn't privy to all of the insider info from record promoters, so I don't know the full release history. Assuming promo catalog numbers are chronological, here's what came from Atlantic:

1) PRCD 5998-2 - "Who Will Save Your Soul" 1994 release with "I'm Sensitive" on track 2

2) PRCD 5999-2 - "Save The Linoleum" 1994 EP with LP tracks, live recordings, and non-LP cuts (likely released prior to Pieces Of You)

3) PRCD 6146-2 - "Who Will Save Your Soul" 1995 release with radio interview on track 2

4) PRCD 6416-2 - "You Were Meant For Me" 1995 Juan Patino remix/re-recording w/3 non-LP tracks

5) PRCD 6496 - "You Were Meant For Me" 1-track with Juan Patino remix/re-recording, also released in 1995

6) PRCD 6585 - "Who Will Save Your Soul" late 1995 1-track release

7) PRCD 6605 - "You Were Meant For Me" early 1996 3-track w/Juan Patino remix/re-recording (Jewel still doesn't have any top 40 chart hits at this point)

8) PRCD 6888 - "You Were Meant For Me" late 1996 1-track release with hit version ("Album Edit")

This is a guess on my part, but it seems like the first four releases were likely not aimed at top 40 radio. Perhaps these were sent to college radio and AAA. I'd guess that the first time "You Were Meant For Me" was issued to top 40 was on PRCD 6496, and it tanked. Atlantic then switched to promoting "Who Will Save Your Soul" to top 40 in 1995, and it still wasn't taking off. It looks like they then gave the Juan Patino remix of "You Were Meant For Me" another shot in early 1996, but again had no success.

Finally, "Who Will Save Your Soul" started gaining momentum in May 1996 when it first entered the top 40 on the Radio & Records chart. After two months, it made the top 10, eventually peaking in its third month at #3 and remaining in the top 10 until its fourth month (September 1996).

Now having a major hit on her hands, Jewel recorded the third version of "You Were Meant For Me," which was then sent to top 40 where it went to #1 (and #2 on the Hot 100).