"You're Beautiful" is a song by English singer-songwriterJames Blunt. It was written by Blunt,Sacha Skarbek andAmanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album,Back to Bedlam (2004). It was released as the third single of the album in 2005.
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the song reached number one and number two respectively. When released in Canada and the United States, it reached number one on both charts and received widespreadairplay. In 2006, the song won anIvor Novello Award for airplay.[1] The song has sold 625,000 copies in the U.K. as stated by theOfficial Charts Company, and by October 2012 over three million in the U.S.,[2] where it remains Blunt's biggest hit single to date, and his only one to reach the top 40 of the U.S.Billboard Hot 100.
In 2012, a new version of the single was issued in Japan. The Q;indivi+ Remix, featuring Japanese performer Keri, was issued on 28 March 2012.[3][4]
Newspapers have claimed that "You're Beautiful" is about a former girlfriend of Blunt's, Dixie Chassay,[6] casting assistant for theHarry Potter films, although Blunt refuses to confirm or deny this. On 8 March 2006 onThe Oprah Winfrey Show, Blunt said of the song, "It's kind of miserable. It was about seeing my ex-girlfriend on the Underground in London with her new man, who I didn't know existed. She and I caught eyes and lived a lifetime in that moment, but didn't do anything about it and haven't seen each other since."[7] According to Blunt, he wrote the lyrics of the song at home in two minutes after meeting her. Blunt also recountsRyan Adams's song "La Cienega Just Smiled" serving as the inspiration for the backing track.[8] He then finished the song withSacha Skarbek inLos Angeles, withAmanda Ghost also credited as a co-writer.[9] Blunt said of the song: "It's always been portrayed as romantic, but it's actually a bit creepy. It's about a guy (me) who's high and stalking someone else's girlfriend on the subway. And then the stalker kills himself." In an interview withHitQuarters, co-writer Sacha Skarbek said that Blunt brought the title, verses, and the approach of the chorus to a songwriting session. Skarbek's contribution largely focused on the music aspect to the track, contributing chord ideas for the verses, honing the melodies, and making sure the song stuck to, "a couple of key hooks rather than making it too complicated".[10]
Several versions of the song exist. One lyrical version has avulgar word in it ("She could see from my face that I was fucking high") which was released onBack to Bedlam and most of the "You're Beautiful" singles. The radio edit of the song replaces the lyric, changing it to "She could see from my face that I wasflying high". Acoustic, live, and DVD versions have also been released. However, because of the word in question, the album was given aParental Advisory sticker. When asked about the song, Blunt responded, "It's probably one of the least meaningful songs on the album and by no means people's favourite. The album is like a book covering various aspects of life in a specific order."[11]
At the beginning of the song, Blunt sings the first line twice ("My life is brilliant"). The mistimed delivery was left in the final recording but omitted in most radio versions. This is parodied in"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "You're Pitiful": After the initial start, he says "What, was I too early? Oh, sorry. Should I...Do you wanna start over? Or, keep going? Okay. Now? Now?" and then begins the song again.
The video for "You're Beautiful" was filmed at Sa Cova Foradada in Portocolom.
The music video for "You're Beautiful" was filmed on 23 March 2005[12] at Sa Cova Foradada inPortocolom,Mallorca. It was directed by Sam Brown andRobbie Ryan, with Flynn Productions. Blunt removes the upper portion of his clothing in a cold, bare, snowy setting and places all of his personal belongings on the ground. While doing this,seagulls circle overhead likebuzzards.[13] At the end of the video, he jumps off a cliff and falls into the water while he sings the lyrics: "But it's time to face the truth, I will never be with you". According to Blunt, he had to jump twice and suffered a split lip in the jumps.
At least one writer's interpretation is that it shows Blunttaking his own life, perhaps following a Japanese tradition of removing one's shoes and contents of clothing prior to jumping from a great height.[14][15] However, the director of the video states in a "making-of" piece of footage that "the idea [of the video] is built around the last line, where he says, 'I'll never be with you', and that idea of completely forgetting about something, of getting rid of that emotion, and moving on, and I think that the video is a sort of visual manifestation of that emotion."[16]
On 9 November 2021, Blunt announced a 4K remaster of the video on his Instagram.[17]^[a]
The video has been parodied in aDead Ringers spoof, withJon Culshaw impersonating Blunt, singing the song with different lyrics where he explains how he can be cool.[citation needed]
About.com gave the song four and a half stars out of five, saying "The simple power of Blunt's songwriting is effective at conveying the pain of realizing he will never be with the object of his affections."[18]
"You're Beautiful" was ranked number seven in a poll conducted byRolling Stone magazine to identify the 10 most annoying songs.[19]VH1 ranked it number 95 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.[20] In October 2014, Blunt stated it had become so ubiquitous that it was "force-fed down people's throats".[21][22] It has been named as one ofthe worst songs ever recorded, despite its positive critical reviews.[23][24]
"You're Beautiful" is Blunt's most successful single release to date. It was also his first successful single and reached number one in ten countries across the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Mexico, Canada, and the Netherlands. The song peaked within the top five in New Zealand, number four, Australia, number two, France, and Germany. Released on 18 May 2005, it entered at number twelve on 5 June and reached number one six weeks later where it remained for five consecutive weeks. The highest position "You're Beautiful" reached in Australia was number two, where it stayed for two consecutive weeks.
In November 2005, "You're Beautiful" was released in North America where it achieved widespread success. In Canada, it ascended to number one (where it remained for four consecutive weeks) 22 weeks following its debut on the BDS Airplay chart. In the United States, it debuted at number 88 before reaching number one 17 weeks later. It replacedBeyoncé's "Check on It" and itself was replaced byNe-Yo's "So Sick".[25]
The song won the BMI Internet Award for most plays on BMI-licensed websites in 2007 and was the first song to receive this honor at BMI's London Awards.[29]
The single was released in four official physical formats. CD1 includes an exclusive acoustic recording of "Fall at Your Feet", a cover taken from theBBC Radio 1 live lounge sessions. CD2 includes an exclusive acoustic version of "High", plus the video for "You're Beautiful" and "Making-Of" footage. The 7" vinyl includes an exclusive acoustic version of "So Long, Jimmy". The fourth physical format was an exclusive version of CD1, only available atHMV, which includes an additional third track, in the form of an acoustic version of "You're Beautiful". This version was also sold in Australia.[30]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^"ManchesterOnline.co.uk".Watch James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" video – what it's about. Archived fromthe original on 5 March 2006. Retrieved11 March 2006.
^Gordenker, Alice (17 January 2006)."Suicide | The Japan Times". Search.japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved2 April 2014.
