With the unmistakable alto of Stevie Nicks providing a unique harmonic touch, Vanessa Carlton's album highlight "The One" poignantly follows a union destroyed by her beau's inability to fully commit to her.

As interesting details are strewn about with the honest pen of her poetics, the song satisfies the tabloid scoop hound in all of us as it possibly scripts the demise of a romantic relationship she once shared with producer Stephan Jenkins (of Third Eye Blind fame).

To him and to others all may seem fine ("You're always a golden boy/ And I'm the girl that you enjoy"), but Carlton can't help to yearn for much more than he seems able to give. All she wants is for him to admit that she's 'the one', but he shies away from such a solid declaration ("All the ways you say to me/ Sweet version of 'let's wait and see'"), not realizing how much the dismiss pierces her heart. Still, Vanessa sticks around, anticipating that he'll mature soon enough. But time flies by without change and Carlton finally decides, to his dismay, that it's time to cut her losses ("Came to say that I've moved/ I see your face/ You don't approve").

Through it's span, "The One" strikes you with it's many juxtapositions: her hopeful chirp paired with Nicks' rugged voice; her loyal piano pumping out tones that interchange between the somber and high-spirited; and the teeter-totter of happy/ sad emotions the coupling bears on her. Even after she's freed herself of him, her newfound felicity is continually thwarted by the depressing indie tunes that play on the radio ("The songs they plague me more than I can say") and thoughts of whether he ever mourns his loss when he listens to the mixtape she made him.

Nearly succumbing to frustrating industry execs that didn't understand the value of her classic artistic expression, it's nice to see Carlton continue to fight against the comparably lame, hyper-sexualized trends of the marketplace with pure, honest gems like "The One".

DL: "The One" (YFH)