"She Used to Be Mine" is a song written by American singer-songwriter

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles (, ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. She has earned various awards and nominations including nin ...

for ''

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

'', her musical stage adaptation of the 2007 film of the same name. It was recorded by Bareilles for her fifth studio album, '' What's Inside: Songs from Waitress'' (2015), and was released to digital retailers as its

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on September 25, 2015. The song was recorded by

Jessie Mueller Jessica Ruth Mueller (born February 20, 1983) is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in ''Carousel'' and Amalia Balash i ...

for the

cast recording A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

of the Broadway production of ''Waitress'' in 2016, and performed by Mueller and Bareilles at the

70th Tony Awards The 70th Annual Tony Awards were held on June 12, 2016, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2015–16 season. The ceremony temporarily returned to the Beacon Theatre in New York City after three years at Radio City Music ...

. The song was also featured as a bonus track on country singer

Jennifer Nettles Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer. Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...

' Broadway album ''

Always Like New ''Always Like New'' is the fourth solo studio album by American singer Jennifer Nettles. It was released on June 25, 2021, and is her first release under Concord Records. Taking inspiration from Broadway, the album consists of cover songs from Broa ...

'' ahead of her taking over the role of Jenna from Bareilles in October 2021.

Composition

"She Used to Be Mine" is a

sentimental ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

written and composed by Sara Bareilles with a duration of four minutes and ten seconds (4:10). The song is instrumented primarily by the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and also features

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Bareilles' vocal performance has been described as "powerful", with a vocal range of F₃ to D₅. According to the digital sheet music published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is composed in the key of

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

with a "moderately slow" tempo. Lyrically, the song discusses losing one's sense of self and struggling with changes in circumstances, sung from the perspective of the musical's

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, Jenna. In the Broadway production, it is usually played in the key of

G-flat major G-flat major (or the key of G-flat) is a major scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has six flats. Its relative minor is E-flat minor (or enharmonically D-sharp minor), and its parallel mi ...

, and was played in the key of

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable compositi ...

for the original Boston production. When both

and

Betsy Wolfe Betsy Wolfe (born Elizabeth Marie Wolfe; June 1, 1982) is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur. Betsy Wolfe is currently starring in the new Broadway musical ''& Juliet'' as Anne. Previously, Wolfe starred as Jenna Hunterson, the titl ...

took on the roles, the song was played again in F major.

Critical reception

Madison Vain of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' called the song "delicate, nostalgic, and wonderfully theatrical," in the magazine's "7 Tracks We Loved This Week" feature and praised the song as "a beautiful introduction" to the musical's story. Charles Isherwood of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said it is a “gentle but wrenching song, featuring a melody that soars and then recedes in waves, is the high point of the show—and for that matter a high point of the Broadway season. Suddenly, a pleasant and polished but weightless musical comedy rises to transporting heights, and sweeps up your heart along with it.”

Context within the musical

This number takes place in Act 2 of the musical ''Waitress'', when Jenna, the protagonist, is reflecting on her life. Jenna thinks about the kind of person she once was and how her life has disappointed her. Bareilles explained the story behind this song during a Reddit AMA: "I wrote it for the scene in the movie where the lead character, Jenna, feels like she's lost all hope of saving herself from her terrible situation, and she's reflecting on who she thought she would have become.

Expansion beyond Broadway

Bareilles, in an interview with ''

'', said that "the range of who this song speaks to is much broader than I could have anticipated ...The chasm between who we are, and who we thought we would be, is always something we’re negotiating ... In the life of 'Waitress', people make an assumption that it's a very feminine show, and it is, and I love that. But these themes go so far beyond gender." Jesse Green, the co-chief theater critic for

, reflects that the emotional content has a classic arc from sadness and self-criticism to acceptance and triumph.

Live performance

"She Used To Be Mine" was performed at the 2016

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

and

Commercial performance

"She Used to Be Mine" was the most-added song on

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

(Hot AC) radio the week of its release, according to radio monitoring organization ''Mediabase''. The song debuted at number 40 on the ''Billboard''

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen B ...

chart on the chart dated October 17, 2015.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2015 songs 2015 singles 2010s ballads Pop ballads Sara Bareilles songs Epic Records singles Rock ballads Songs written by Sara Bareilles Song recordings produced by Neal Avron Songs about pregnancy Songs from musicals Soul ballads