Beautiful (MercyMe song)

"Beautiful"
Single by MercyMe
from the album The Generous Mr. Lovewell
Released September 17, 2010[1]
Format Digital download
Recorded

2009-2010 in the United States

Genre Contemporary Christian
Length 4:21
Label INO
Writer(s) MercyMe, Dan Muckala, Brown Bannister
Producer(s) Bannister
Muckala
MercyMe singles chronology
"All of Creation"
(2010)		 "Beautiful"
(2010)		 "Move"
(2011)

"Beautiful" is a song by Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by MercyMe, Dan Muckala, and Brown Bannister, the song was written for the daughters of the band's members. The song's lyrics revolve around self-worth and the love of God. "Beautiful" was released on September 17, 2010 as the second single from MercyMe's 2010 album The Generous Mr. Lovewell.

"Beautiful" received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics and attained success on Christian radio, peaking at the top spot on Billboard magazine's Christian Songs, Christian AC Indicator, Christian AC Monitored, and Soft AC/Inspo charts. "Beautiful" ranked at number 7 on the 2011 year-end Christian Songs chart, as well as at number 10 on the 2011 year-end Hot Christian AC chart.

Background and composition

"Beautiful" was written and composed by the members of MercyMe, Dan Muckala, and Brown Bannister.[nb 2] "Beautiful" was written for the daughters of MercyMe's band members.[2] Lead singer Bart Millard, in an interview with Kevin Davis of New Release Tuesday, stated that "We [MercyMe] wrote the song with our daughters in mind. The band has 15 kids among all of us... Satan targets our girls from a materialistic way, telling them how to act and how to look, what to eat and not to eat",[2] also commenting that "I try to tell my kids all the time that they are perfect and I know my daughters need to get their confidence in themselves from me. The way they want to be treated by men needs to come from me".[2]

"Beautiful" is a ballad with a length of four minutes and twenty-one seconds.[3] It is set in the key of G major and has a moderate tempo of 69 beats per minute,[4] with a vocal range spanning from D4-B5.[4] Lyrically, the song is about self-worth and the love of God,[2] specifically aimed at young women and daughters.[2] However, the song also has a broader theme; Millard noted in an interview that that "All of us have felt unlovable at some point. At times, I feel worthless. I have an argument with a friend, all that I’ve come to like about myself is suddenly falling apart. Who can love me if I don’t even like myself? It’s hard to drag ourselves out of this way of thinking. We are taught to live according to these expectations. We think we need approval and accomplishment to validate our lives. But what does God tell us? He says, “You’re beautiful. You are made for so much more than all of this.” He loves us, even in our failings".[2]

Reception

Critical response

Critical reception to "Beautiful" was generally mixed to positive. Andy Argyrakis of Today's Christian Music commented on his review of The Generous Mr. Lovewell that "Of course, there's the token ballad or two, including "Beautiful" and "Won't You Be My Love," both of which are sure to further MercyMe's radio domination, while providing a soothing and tender touch to the plugged in periods".[5] Kevin Davis of Christian Music Review opined that "Having three young daughters, I’m extremely moved by the passion behind the lyrics speaking of how the world says we are never good enough, yet Christ saw something beautiful in us worth dying for".[6] Jesus Freak Hideout reviewer Roger Gelwicks was less positive, commenting that the song (along with an album cut, "Free") "lack[s] anything to be held onto musically, and they do tend to drag on for too long and therefore bore the listener".[7]

Chart performance

"Beautiful" debuted at number 42 for the chart week of October 2, 2010 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart.[8] The song advanced to number 22 in its second chart week,[9] and to number 15 in its sixth chart week.[10] The song advanced to number 10 the next week,[11] and spent four weeks at number 9 (from weeks eight to eleven) before dropping back to number 10 in its twelfth chart week.[12] "Beautiful" dropped to number 16 for the chart week of January 8, 2011 (its fifteenth week on the chart),[12][13] but advanced to number 6 the following week and spent two consecutive weeks at that spot.[12] Starting with the chart week of February 18, 2011, the song spent four consecutive weeks at number 2[12] before advancing to the top spot in its twenty-fifth chart week.[12] "Beautiful" held the top spot for one week (the chart week of March 19, 2011) before dropping to number 5.[12] The song spent fourteen more weeks on the chart before dropping out,[12] having spent a total of forty weeks on the Christian Songs chart.[12]

"Beautiful" also peaked at the top spot on the Christian AC Indicator, Christian AC Monitored, and Soft AC/INSPO charts.[14] "Beautiful" ranked at number 45 on Billboard magazine's 2010 year-end Christian Songs chart;[15] it also ranked at number 7 on the 2011 year-end Christian Songs chart,[16] number 10 on the year-end Hot Christian AC chart,[17] and number 27 on the year-end Christian Digital Songs chart.[18]

Other uses

"Beautiful" was included on the compilation album WOW Hits 2012.[19]

Music video

MercyMe in the music video for "Beautiful"

A music video was released for "Beautiful".[20] The video features the band performing the song in a live concert setting.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2010-2011) Peak
position
Billboard Christian Songs[12] 1
Billboard Christian AC Indicator[14] 1
Billboard Christian AC Monitored[14] 1
Billboard Soft AC/Inspo[14] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
Billboard Hot Christian Songs[15] 45
Chart (2011) Position
Billboard Christian Songs[16] 7
Billboard Hot Christian AC[17] 10
Billboard Christian Digital Songs[18] 27

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by
"Your Love" by Brandon Heath		 Christian Songs number-one single
19 March 2011 – 26 March 2011 		Succeeded by
"You Are More" by Tenth Avenue North


References

Notes
  1. ↑ According to the inner liner notes of the album.
  2. ↑ According to the inner liner notes of the album.
Footnotes
  1. ↑ "Lovewell LIVE". MercyMe. 9/7/10. Retrieved 1 September 2011. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Davis, Kevin (9 March 2011). "#195 - "Beautiful" by MercyMe". New Release Tuesday. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Jared. "The Generous Mr. Lovewell - Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "MercyMe - Beautiful Sheet Music". Musicnotes. Simpleville Music. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Argyrakis, Andy. "The Generous Mr. Lovewell (Review)". Today's Christian Music. CCM Magazine. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Davis, Kevin (26 April 2010). "MercyMe - The Generous Mr. Lovewell (2010)". Christianmusicreview. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  7. ↑ Gelwicks, Roger (1 May 2010). "MercyMe, "The Generous Mr. Lovewell" Review". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Christian Songs Archive (2 October 2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Christian Songs Archive (9 October 2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Christian Songs Archive (6 November 2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "Christian Songs Archive (13 November 2010)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 "Beautiful - MercyMe". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Christian Songs Archive (8 January 2011)". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Lovewell Live Spring Tour". MercyMe.org. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Year-end Christian Songs chart (2010)". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Year-end Christian Songs chart (2011)". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Year-end Hot Christian AC chart (2011)". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Year-end Christian Digital Songs chart (2011)". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  19. ↑ "Wow Hits 2012 – Various Artists". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "MercyMe - Beautiful - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 7 October 2011.