Beautiful Day

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"Beautiful Day"
Single by U2
from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind
B-side	"Summer Rain" "Always"
Released	9 October 2000
Format	CD, cassette, 12"
Recorded	HQ, Windmill Lane Studios, Westland Studios and Totally Wired in Dublin, and South of France
Genre	Rock, alternative rock
Length	4:08
Label	Island
Producer	Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno with additional production by Steve Lillywhite
U2 singles chronology
"Sweetest Thing" (1998) "Beautiful Day" (2000) "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (2001)
Music video "Beautiful Day" at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash)

"Beautiful Day" is the first song and lead single from U2's 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date. It was their fourth #1 single in the UK and their first #1 in the Netherlands, while the single also was #1 for a week in Australia. The song peaked at #21 in the U.S., the band's highest position since "Discothèque" in 1997. The song won three Grammy Awards in 2001.

Contents 1 Composition 2 Reception 3 Live history 4 Music video 5 Track listings 6 Charts 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Composition

According to Bono, "Beautiful Day" is about "a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has."^[1] In recent interviews, Bono also mentioned that "Beautiful Day" could be seen as a modern Christmas song.^{[citation needed]}

The song is an optimistic anthem that opens with a drum machine and a rhythm sequencer. The verses are relatively quiet before The Edge's guitar and the song's signature riff join in for the choruses. The Edge recorded this song on his Gibson Les Paul Standard and plays the song live with his Gibson Explorer, which helps add the distinctive shimmering, chiming sound that made the band unique when they first debuted in the early 1980s.

Bono wrote the song from his villa on Eze Beach in France.

In an episode of the Sundance Channel's Iconoclast, R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe said "I love that song. I wish I'd written it, and they know I wish I'd written it. It makes me dance, It makes me angry that I didn't write it." Beautiful Day also opens ITV's football show "The Championship", and previously ITV's "Premiership".

[edit] Reception

"Beautiful Day" is the most well-known track on the All That You Can't Leave Behind album, and has been regarded as one of U2's most famous songs. The song hit No.1 on charts in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland and also boosted sales of All That You Can't Leave Behind. "Beautiful Day" is included on The Best of 1990-2000 and U218 Singles. The song won three Grammys in 2001: "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal". In 2008 the song was chosen to play over the end titles of the children's film Nim's Island, starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler. The song was played at the conclusion of the 2008 Commencement Exercises of Columbia University.

In 2009 "Beautiful Day" was ranked by Rolling Stone as the ninth best song and the third best single of the decade.^[2][3]

[edit] Live history

Ever since its tour debut at the first date of the Elevation Tour on 24 March 2001 in Miami, "Beautiful Day" has been played at every single full tour concert, as well as a number of promotional appearances and concerts not connected with a tour. On the Elevation Tour, "Beautiful Day" was normally the second song played, though it did open one show and was played late in the setlist at two concerts. During the Vertigo Tour, it has appeared in the first half of the main set. It is featured on the live films Elevation 2001: Live from Boston, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, and Vertigo 2005: Live From Chicago. The song was also performed on stage to open the Live 8 concerts, with slightly different lyrics that mentioned the different sites that Live 8 concerts took place in, along with "Vertigo" and "One", at Hyde Park in London. It was performed live in New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXVI and for the New Orleans Saints first game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. During the band's five night stand on The Late Show with David Letterman (2 - 6 March 2009) to promote their most recent album No Line on the Horizon, "Beautiful Day" was the only song not from that album to be performed all week.

[edit] Music video

The song's video showed the band walking around in Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport, with scenes of the band playing on a runway interspliced with large jets taking off and landing overhead. The only airline to be actually identified is that of MEA through the taking off and landing of the two MEA jets A310s and A300s. The video is directed by Jonas Åkerlund.

An alternative video for the song, shot in Èze, France, was featured on the The Best of 1990-2000 bonus disc and the U218 Videos DVD. A month before the album release, a live version of the song was filmed in Dublin on the rooftop of The Clarence hotel. It is featured on the extra features of the Elevation 2001: Live from Boston DVD.

[edit] Track listings

[edit] Charts

Chart (2000)[4]	Peak position
Australia Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	7
Austria Singles Chart	7
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Belgium Singles Chart	6
Dutch Top 40	1
Finland Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	17
Irish Singles Chart[5]	1
Italian Singles Chart	1
Latvian Airplay Top	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	27
Swiss Singles Chart	6
UK Singles Chart[6]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	21
U.S. Modern Rock Tracks	5
U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks	14
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	19
U.S. Top 40 Tracks	15
U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1

[edit] See also

• List of covers of U2 songs - Beautiful Day

[edit] References

Preceded by "On a Night like This" by Kylie Minogue	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single 22 October 2000	Succeeded by "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller
Preceded by "Black Coffee" by All Saints	UK number one single 15 October 2000 – 22 October 2000	Succeeded by "Stomp" by Steps
Preceded by "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Modjo	Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single 30 February 2001	Succeeded by "Lovin' You" by Kristine W

Pop How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb All That You Can't Leave Behind track listing
"Beautiful Day"  • "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"  • "Elevation"  • "Walk On"  • "Kite"  • "In a Little While"  • "Wild Honey"  • "Peace on Earth"  • "When I Look at the World"  • "New York"  • "Grace"  • "The Ground Beneath Her Feet"

v • d • e U2's singles discography 1980s 1980: "Another Day" • "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" • "A Day Without Me" • "I Will Follow" • 1981: "Fire" • "Gloria" • 1982: "A Celebration" • 1983: "New Year's Day" • "Two Hearts Beat as One" • "Sunday Bloody Sunday" • 1984: "Pride (In the Name of Love)" • 1985: "The Unforgettable Fire" • 1987: "With or Without You" • "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" • "Where the Streets Have No Name" • "In God's Country" • 1988: "One Tree Hill" • "Desire" • "Angel of Harlem" • 1989: "When Love Comes to Town" (with B.B. King) • "All I Want Is You" 1990s 1991: "The Fly" • "Mysterious Ways" • 1992: "One" • "Even Better Than the Real Thing" • "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" • 1993: "Numb" • "Lemon" • "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" • 1995: "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" • "Miss Sarajevo" (as Passengers) 1997: "Discothèque" • "Staring at the Sun" • "Last Night on Earth" • "Please" • "If God Will Send His Angels" • "Mofo" • 1998: "Sweetest Thing" 2000s 2000: "Beautiful Day" • 2001: "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" • "Elevation" • "Walk On" • 2002: "Electrical Storm" • 2004: "Take Me to the Clouds Above" (LMC vs. U2) • "Vertigo" • 2005: "All Because of You" • "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" • "City of Blinding Lights" • "Original of the Species" • 2006: "One" (with Mary J. Blige) • "The Saints Are Coming" (with Green Day) • 2007: "Window in the Skies" • 2008: "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" (with The Dubliners, Kíla, and A Band of Bowsies) • 2009: "Get on Your Boots" • "Magnificent" • "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"

v • d • e Grammy Award for Record of the Year 1959 1960s "Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)" · "Mack the Knife" · "Theme from A Summer Place" · "Moon River" · "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" · "Days of Wine and Roses" · "The Girl from Ipanema" · "A Taste of Honey" · "Strangers in the Night" · "Up, Up and Away" · "Mrs. Robinson" 1970s "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" · "Bridge over Troubled Water" · "It's Too Late" · "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" · "Killing Me Softly with His Song" · "I Honestly Love You" · "Love Will Keep Us Together" · "This Masquerade" · "Hotel California" · "Just the Way You Are" 1980s "What a Fool Believes" · "Sailing" · "Bette Davis Eyes" · "Rosanna" · "Beat It" · "What's Love Got to Do with It" · "We Are the World" · "Higher Love" · "Graceland" · "Don't Worry, Be Happy" 1990s "Wind Beneath My Wings" · "Another Day in Paradise" · "Unforgettable" · "Tears in Heaven" · "I Will Always Love You" · "All I Wanna Do" · "Kiss from a Rose" · "Change the World" · "Sunny Came Home" · "My Heart Will Go On" 2000s "Smooth" · "Beautiful Day" · "Walk On" · "Don't Know Why" · "Clocks" · "Here We Go Again" · "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" · "Not Ready to Make Nice" · "Rehab" · "Please Read the Letter"