"Then there's “Thirteen” — a spare, piano ballad that Kweller considers the album's masterpiece.
“‘Thirteen' was a breakthrough for me,” he says. “As a songwriter with pop sensibilities, you can feel pressured to always write big, sing-along choruses. Lately I find myself placing the importance on emotional content and not on standard pop technique. With “Thirteen” I just kept writing verse after verse and never felt the need for a chorus. The words carried the song home. All these emotions were pouring out of me while I was writing it. I was thinking of my wife Liz and all that we've been through in eight years. Thinking about the friends that have come and gone, the people you think you know that you don't, the curveballs life throws you, the good and the bad.” "
In short, Thirteen is about Ben's relationship with Liz Smith (his wife).
Taken from BK's Bio, http://www.atorecords.com/?title=artists&aid=2&what=bio
"Then there's “Thirteen” — a spare, piano ballad that Kweller considers the album's masterpiece.
“‘Thirteen' was a breakthrough for me,” he says. “As a songwriter with pop sensibilities, you can feel pressured to always write big, sing-along choruses. Lately I find myself placing the importance on emotional content and not on standard pop technique. With “Thirteen” I just kept writing verse after verse and never felt the need for a chorus. The words carried the song home. All these emotions were pouring out of me while I was writing it. I was thinking of my wife Liz and all that we've been through in eight years. Thinking about the friends that have come and gone, the people you think you know that you don't, the curveballs life throws you, the good and the bad.” "
In short, Thirteen is about Ben's relationship with Liz Smith (his wife).