You're Beautiful

This article is about the 2005 song released by James Blunt. For the South Korean television drama, see You're Beautiful (TV series).

"You're Beautiful"
Single by James Blunt
from the album Back to Bedlam
Released	30 May 2005 (2005-05-30) (See release history)
Format	CD single
Recorded	2004
Genre	Pop rock, soft rock
Length	3:34 (Album version) 3:22 (Single edit)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	James Blunt Sacha Skarbek Amanda Ghost
Producer	Tom Rothrock
James Blunt singles chronology
"High" (2005) "You're Beautiful" (2005) "Wisemen" (2005)
Music sample James Blunt - "You're Beautiful"

"You're Beautiful" is a pop rock song co-written by British singer James Blunt, Sacha Skarbek, and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album Back to Bedlam (2004). It was released as the third single from the album in 2005. In the UK and Australia the song reached number one and number two respectively. When released as the debut single from Back to Bedlam in Canada and the U.S., it reached number one on both charts and received widespread airplay. In 2006, the song won an Ivor Novello Award for airplay. The song has sold 625,000 copies in the UK as stated by the Official UK Charts Company, and 2,866,000 in the US by November 2011. It remains Blunt's biggest hit single in the USA to date, and his only one to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Writing and inspiration

Newspapers have claimed that "You're Beautiful" is about a former girlfriend of Blunt's, Dixie Chassay, casting director for the Harry Potter films, although Blunt refuses to confirm or deny this. On the 8 March 2006 episode of the Oprah Winfrey program, 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." Several versions of the song exist. One lyrical version has an explicit word in it ("She could see from my face that I was fucking high") which was released on Back to Bedlam and most of the "You're Beautiful" singles. The radio edit of the song replaces the explicit lyric, changing it to "She could see from my face that I was flying high". Acoustic, live and DVD versions have also been released. However, because of the word in question, the album was given a Parental 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." In an interview with HitQuarters, co-writer Sacha Skarbek said their collaboration on the song began when Blunt brought the title 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."

Music video

The music video for "You're Beautiful" was directed by Sam Brown. The video shows Blunt committing suicide, following a Japanese tradition of removing one's shoes and contents of clothing prior to jumping from a great height. 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 like buzzards. At the end of the video, he jumps off a cliff and lands into the depths of icy water while he sings the lyrics: "But it's time to face the truth, I will never be with you". The video was filmed in Mallorca, Spain. The video has been parodied in a Dead Ringers spoof, with Jon Culshaw impersonating Blunt, singing the song with different lyrics where he explains how he can be cool.

Critical reception

Despite positive reviews "You're Beautiful" was ranked number seven in a poll conducted by Rolling Stone to identify the 10 most annoying songs. In another poll by the British tabloid The Sun it was voted the most irritating song of all time. Also, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio listed it as the 96th Worst Song Ever, and "[o]ne of the worst songs ever to best define cloying: 'To cause disgust by supplying too much of something originally pleasant.'" VH1 ranked it number 95 on its list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the '00s.

Chart performance

"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, Canada, and the Netherlands. The song peaked within the top five in Australia, France, and Germany. "You're Beautiful" accomplished a feat rarely seen on the modern UK Singles Chart by ascending the chart following its début. Released on 30 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 last song to début outside of the top ten and climb to number one was The Outhere Brothers' "Boom Boom Boom" (1995). 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) twenty-two weeks following its début on the BDS Airplay chart. In the United States, it débuted at number eighty-eight before reaching number one seventeen weeks later. It replaced Beyoncé's "Check on It" and itself was replaced by Ne-Yo's "So Sick". The song became the first non-urban or American Idol song to reach the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in 2001. However, "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani has also been credited for that accomplishment, but due to its hip-hop based influences, it's been disputed. This also became the first single by a British artist to reach number one since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" (1997). It achieved success on the Billboard Pop 100, Hot Digital Songs, Adult Contemporary, and Adult Top 40 formats. It has been certified sixfold platinum in the U.S. for digital sales of 1,200,000 copies.

Awards

At the 2007 Grammy Awards the song received three nominations: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. For the video, Blunt won the MTV Award for Best Male Video and Best Cinematography.

Release

The single was released on four official physical formats. CD1 includes an exclusive acoustic recording of "Fall At Your Feet", a cover taken from the BBC 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 at HMV, which includes an additional third track, in the form of an acoustic version of "You're Beautiful". This version was also sold in Australia.

Track listing

UK CD Single #1

1. "You're Beautiful" (Edit) - 3:22
2. "Fall At Your Feet" (Acoustic) - 2:25

UK CD Single #2

1. "You're Beautiful" (Edit) - 3:22
2. "High" (Acoustic) - 4:03
3. "You're Beautiful" (The Making Of The Video) - 3:00
4. "You're Beautiful" (Video) - 3:23

UK 7" Single

1. "You're Beautiful" (Edit) - 3:22
2. "So Long, Jimmy" (Acoustic) - 4:14

Australian CD Single

1. "You're Beautiful" (Edit) - 3:22
2. "Fall At Your Feet" (Acoustic) - 2:25
3. "You're Beautiful" (Acoustic) - 3:35

Release history

Country	Release date
United Kingdom	5 May 2005 (2005-05-05)
Worldwide	May 2005 (2005-05)
United States	13 December 2005 (2005-12-13)

Charts

Chart (2005/2006)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	2
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart	1
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart	3
Canadian Singles Chart	1
Danish Singles Chart	4
Dutch Top 40	1
Dutch Single Top 100	1
French Singles Chart	5
German Singles Chart	2
Irish Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	4
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 5)	3
Swiss Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	23

Year-end charts

End of year chart (2005)	Position
German Singles Chart	16
Swiss Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart	4
End of year chart (2006)	Position
Swiss Singles Chart	34
UK Singles Chart	123

Decade-end charts

Chart (2000–2009)	Peak position
German Singles Chart	85
UK Singles Chart	39
US Billboard Hot 100	86

Certifications

Country	Certification
Australia	Platinum
Belgium	Gold
Canada	2×Platinum
Germany	Platinum
Italy	Gold
United Kingdom	Silver
United States	2×Platinum
Sweden	Platinum
Switzerland	Gold

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2006 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 2006 (U.S.)

References

General sources

• "Amazon.com". James Blunt — releases and track listings. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=music&field-artist=Blunt%2C%20James/026-4870978-4599646. Retrieved 12 March 2006. 
• "ARIA.com". Australian airplay and sales charts. http://www.aria.com.au/. Retrieved 11 March 2006. 
• "Billboard". Billboard Hot 100 chart. http://billboard.com. Retrieved 11 March 2006. 
• "Dot Music". United Kingdom sales chart. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles.shtml. Retrieved 11 March 2006. 
• "IFop.com". French sales chart. Archived from the original on 6 March 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060306191016/http://www.ifop.com/europe/index.asp. Retrieved 11 March 2006. 
• "Jam.canoe.ca". Canadian airplay and sales charts. http://jam.canoe.ca/. Retrieved 11 March 2006.