Ani DiFranco - "You had time"

The song describes the emotions associated with the breakup of a long-term relationship. The originality of the song lies in the acoustic piano intro of over two minutes.

Writer Nick Hornby featured the song in his work “31 Songs” [also known as “Songbook”, it is a must-read !]. He attributes the two-minute solo to a depiction of the creative process behind the song.

Indeed, the song begins as you would imagine the writer began her process of creating the tune : a simple fiddling around on the piano, then it slowly moves into the body. The chords find their order, then become notes as the melody is laid down. Finally, the piano gives way to guitar strings, and the song starts properly. Without the beginning, you probably wouldn’t hear or feel the emotion and delicate nature of the lyrics.

So it's a song about breaking up. But it's also a song about writing a song about the break up.

Available on the album “Out Of Range”