You're Beautiful

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"You're Beautiful"
Single by James Blunt
from the album Back to Bedlam
Released	30 May 2005 (UK) May 2005 (Europe) November 2005 (elsewhere)
Format	CD single (worldwide) 7" single (UK) Digital download (U.S.)
Genre	Pop/Soft rock
Label	Atlantic records
Writer(s)	James Blunt S. Skarbek A. Ghost
Producer(s)	Tom Rothrock
Certification	Platinum (BPI) Platinum (RIAA)
Chart positions
#1 (Brazil, Canada, Latvia, Netherlands, UK, U.S., Israel, Norway) #2 (Australia, Germany) #5 (France)
James Blunt singles chronology
"Wisemen" (2005)	"You're Beautiful" (2005)	"High" (re-release) (2005)

"You're Beautiful" is an adult contemporary song by British singer James Blunt for his 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 début single from Back to Bedlam in Canada and the U.S., it reached number one on both charts and received widespread airplay.

Contents 1 Writing and inspiration 2 Chart performance 3 Trivia 4 Other pop culture references 5 Formats and track listings 6 Charts 7 Notes 8 References

[edit] Writing and inspiration

"You're Beautiful" is about a former girlfriend of Blunt's, namely Dixie Chassay^[1], casting director for the Harry Potter films.^[2] 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."^[3] Two versions of the song exist, one with edited lyrics for radio play (flying high), the other having the explicit lyrics "fucking high" which were released on Back to Bedlam and most of the "You're Beautiful" singles. James Blunt has released more than five different versions of this single. The album cover images differ, and some of them have the censored lyrics and some do not. A new version of the song includes "flying high", as it was in the MTV online.

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."^[2]

Some have assumed that the music video for "You're Beautiful" alludes to suicide.^[4] Blunt removes the upper portion of his clothing in a cold, bare, snowy setting and places all of his personal belongings on the ground. Whilst he does this, seagulls circle overhead like buzzards.^[5] 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". A follow-up video first played at the Brit Awards in February 2006 shows three beautiful mermaids swimming underwater. Suddenly, Blunt is shown to be jumping into the water with them. They frolic together for the duration of the song; however, at the line "But it's time to face the truth/I will never be with you," Blunt returns to the surface, leaving the mermaids behind. The video is now played during Blunt's live performances during the singing of "You're Beautiful."

[edit] Chart performance

"You're Beautiful" was Blunt's first hit and his most successful single release to date, reaching 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".^[6] This also became the first single by a British artist to reach number one since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" (1997).^[7] It achieved success on the Billboard Pop 100, Hot Digital Songs, Adult Contemporary, and Adult Top 40 formats.

It was certified six-fold platinum in the U.S. for digital sales of 1,200,000 copies before the RIAA changed their guidelines for certification in June 2006. It is now certified one-fold platinum.^[8]

[edit] Trivia

• "You're Beautiful" was used as an episode song of Fuji Television's Japanese television drama "Doctor in love" (Kobayakawa Nobuki no Koi 小早川伸木の恋[1])
• The song was featured (twice) in the 100th episode of Smallville, "Reckoning". The beginning of the song, the "happy" part, was played earlier, and later it was the "sad" ending.
• "You're Beautiful" is regularly featured in the Brazilian telenovela (soap opera) Belíssima which is shown internationally on the Rede Globo network.
• Numerous amateur recreations of the video have appeared on YouTube.
• Claudia De'Alwis, in a coma after surviving a 15-foot headfirst fall from a balcony, awoke when "You're Beautiful" played on the radio. The song, reportedly the girl's favorite, is credited by some for her recovery.[2]
• Film director Michael Winner chose the song as one of his Desert Island Discs in October 2005.
• It was played several times in the second season of the reality show Beauty and the Geek on the WB.
• In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs", "You're Beautiful" was voted 3rd.
• In 2006, an AOL article placed "You're Beautiful" in the number 4 position on its list of the 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time.

[edit] Other pop culture references

• A parody of the song was made by the British sketch-show Dead Ringers. Entitled "It's Bloody Cold", it featured Jon Culshaw as Blunt sitting in the snow and jumping into a swimming pool in an attempt to be seen as cool by the other major British singers (Robbie Williams, Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Morrissey and Craig David are explicitly named among these.) It also claimed that the name "James Blunt" is Cockney rhyming slang.[3]
• "Weird Al" Yankovic composed and recorded a parody of "You're Beautiful" entitled "You're Pitiful," intended for release on his twelfth album. Yankovic had done so with permission from Blunt himself. However Blunt's label, Atlantic Records, chose to forbid Yankovic from releasing his parody. Yankovic removed the song from his album to avoid conflict with the record label, and in June of 2006 posted it as a free download on his own website. [4]
• The Internet Sketch Comedy show Moron Life did a parody of the song entitled "My Testicles."
• The song and video were parodied on the FOX sketch show, MADtv. Nicole Parker played James Blunt and wore a prosthetic male torso when it came time to strip off her shirts during the song. MADtv renamed the song to "I'm Beautiful". [5]
• The song has also been parodied in an office setting: "My Cubicle", created by comedy website Morning Sidekick. Several versions are circulating, one audio-only, one with a video showing the lyrics on a blank background, and several fan-created music videos in which an actor acts out the actions in the lyrics. [6] (Video)
• Comedy band Exactly Midnight has parodied this song in a rendition called "Far From Beautiful" and, in an interesting twist, tells a tale about how James Blunt stole the tune from them.[7]
• Some have noticed the guitar line's striking resemblance to the "Lonely Man" theme by Joseph Hartnell that played over the end credits of the 1970's Incredible Hulk TV series.

• At the 2006 Bill & Ted show at Halloween Horror Nights (Orlando), James Blunt is revealed to be loved by Lex Luthor, who has the song on his Kryptonipod and misfires a missile directed toward Bill and Ted because they pointed at a building and said "Look! It's James Blunt!"

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "You're Beautiful".

• UK CD 1

1. "You're Beautiful" [Album version]
2. "Fall at Your Feet" [Acoustic version]

• UK CD 2 / Australian/New Zealand CD single

1. "You're Beautiful" [Edited version]
2. "High" [Acoustic version]
3. "You're Beautiful" [Making of]
4. "You're Beautiful" [Music video]

• UK 7"

[edit] Charts

Chart (2005/2006)	Peak position [9]
UK Singles Chart	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary	1
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	5
U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Tracks	40
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart	1
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	2
New Zealand Chart	4
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Swiss Singles Chart	2
German Singles Chart	2
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Top 40	1
Latvian Airplay Top	1
Czech IFPI Chart	1

Preceded by "Check on It" by Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug	Billboard Hot 100 number one single March 11, 2006	Succeeded by "So Sick" by Ne-Yo
Preceded by "Ghetto Gospel" by 2pac featuring Elton John	UK number one single July 23, 2005 - August 26, 2005	Succeeded by "I'll Be OK" by McFly

[edit] Notes

[edit] References