Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
"Beautiful Boy" | |
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Song | |
B-side | "Watching the Wheels" |
"Beautiful Boy" | |
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Song |
"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is a song written and performed by John Lennon. It was released on the 1980 album Double Fantasy, the last album by Lennon and Ono released before his death.
Paul McCartney has stated this is one of his favourite songs composed by Lennon, and when he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1982 included it as his favourite in his selection, as did Yoko Ono as the only John Lennon song in 2007.[1][2]
It was used as the B-side of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to promote the compilation album The John Lennon Collection in November 1982.
Lyrics
The song was written for Lennon's son, Sean, his only child with Yoko Ono. It begins with John comforting his son from what is presumably a nightmare and develops into John passionately describing the love he has for his son and the joy Sean gave him.
At the end of the song, John Lennon whispers, "Good night, Sean. See you in the morning. Bright and early."
The lyrics of "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" contain the famous Lennon quote "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." However, the expression of this sentiment can be traced back to a 1957 Reader's Digest article, which attributes it to Allen Saunders.[3]
Personnel
- John Lennon – vocals, acoustic guitar, vocoder
- Earl Slick – acoustic guitar
- Hugh McCracken – lead guitar
- Tony Levin – bass
- George Small – keyboards
- Robert Greenidge – steel drum
- Arthur Jenkins – percussion
- Randy Stein – English concertina
Cover versions
Celine Dion version
"Beautiful Boy" was recorded by Celine Dion for her album, Miracle (2004). It was released on 11 October 2004, in North America and parts of Europe as the first promotional single.[4]
The song reached number two on the Quebec Airplay Chart. "Beautiful Boy" was also popular on adult contemporary charts, peaking at number 18 in the US and number 32 in Canada. It also reached number 30 on the Hungarian Airplay Chart.
Dion performed this song on a few US TV shows, including Live with Regis and Kelly.
Charts
Chart (2004–05) | Peak position |
---|---|
Canada AC (Billboard)[5] | 32 |
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[6] | 30 |
Quebec (ADISQ)[7] | 2 |
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[8] | 18 |
Other versions
- Former Monkee Micky Dolenz covered the song on his 1991 album, Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep.[1]
- A cover of the song by Richard Dreyfuss was included in the 1995 film Mr. Holland's Opus.
- In 1998, "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" was covered by Japanese trio Dreams Come True as the B-side to their "Ahaha" single, which was later released on a 65th anniversary tribute album in 2005.[9]
- In 2006, it was covered by UK rock band Feeder as part of a tribute album, given away with Q magazine, titled Lennon: Covered Vol 2.
- In 2007, it was covered by Ben Harper for the benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
- The Israeli singer Alma Zohar translated the song and performed it in Hebrew.
In other media
- In 2014, Lennon's version was played in the DreamWorks movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman as background during Mr. Peabody's journey through his memories of Sherman as he grew up. The song was also included as track 7 on the movie soundtrack.[10]
- US sitcom The New Normal used the song in its season one finale, "The Big Day".[11]
- "Beautiful Boy" is played by autistic character in the CBS show "God Friended Me" in 2018.
- The line "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans" is referred in the 2015 video game Life is Strange.
References
- ^ "Paul McCartney: Desert Island Discs". BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ "Yoko Ono: Desert Island Discs". BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Life Is What Happens to You While You're Busy Making Other Plans". Quote Investigator. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- ^ Glatzer, Jenna (2005). Céline Dion: For Keeps. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-5559-5.
- ^ "Celine Dion Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ "Le Palmarès". ADISQ. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
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- ^ DCT Official Singles
- ^ Mr. Peabody & Sherman
- ^ Template:Cite article