How Did 'She Used To Be Mine' Come to Be? Composer Sara Bareilles Shares the Origin of the WAITRESS Ballad

In a feature for Bustle, Sara Bareilles shared the personal stories behind some of her most personal songs.

Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for Broadway's WAITRESS which features the anthem 'She Used To Be Mine,' which is one of the standout songs from the show that seems to resonate with audiences most - inspiring thousands of internet covers Bareilles is all too fond of sharing.

Writing about the story behind the song, Bareilles wrote it "was the first song I wrote for the show, and so I was coming from the closest place in myself," Bareilles recalls. "I think it's a very autobiographical song. [Jenna and my] circumstances are different, but the parts of her personality that I really relate to - I mean, it's the chorus of that song: 'she's imperfect but she tries, she's good but she lies, she's messy but she's kind.' That feels like a page out of my diary."

"I think everybody can relate to the idea that no matter where you ended up, you ended up different than you thought you would be," explains Bareilles. "We all have to reconcile the differences with who you thought you would become, and who you actually ended up to be."

About Waitress:

Based on the 2007 motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly, Waitress is the first Broadway and West End musical in history to have four women in the four top creative team spots. The show features original music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, a book by Jessie Nelson, direction by Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro.

Sara is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and a New York Times best-selling author. Since her 2007 debut, Little Voice, she has released five studio albums, including her most recent, What's Inside: Songs from Waitress. Waitress marks her Broadway debut. She is over the moon about it. sarabmusic.com.