"Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" is a song recorded by British girl group

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

from their second compilation album, '' Ten'' (2012). It was written by Rachel Moulden and produced by Jim Eliot. The song received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who thought that ballads were not the group's best efforts. Upon the release of ''Ten'', it charted at number 97 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The accompanying music video was directed by Paul Caslin, and consists mostly of beauty shots from each member. The song was performed on a few programmes, such as '' Children in Need 2012'' and ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

''. In a 2023 interview,

Nadine Coyle Nadine Elizabeth Louise Coyle (born 15 June 1985) is an Irish singer, actress and model. In 2002, Coyle was selected as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud, with whom she has been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive UK top te ...

expressed an intense dislike for "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me", sarcastically referring to it as a "mirage" that "didn't happen". She previously felt so negatively towards the song that when it was going to be the comeback single from their 2012 greatest hits and reunion album, ''Ten'', she initially declined to participate, only agreeing once it was changed to " Something New". Nadine disagrees with the message of the song, saying "Beautiful ’cause you love me’? We’re beautiful anyway!"

Background and composition

To follow the success of " Something New", the group decided to release "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" as the second single from their compilation album ''Ten''. The song officially premiered on BBC Radio 2 on 13 November 2012, while the digital release took place on 17 December 2012. It was also sent to

mainstream radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

in the United Kingdom. "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" was written by Rachel Moulden and produced by Jim Eliot. It is the second Girls Aloud single to not be produced by

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

, their previous one being "

Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...

". Its lyrics were deemed "striking and memorable" by Sam Lansky of

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. Amy Sciaretto of PopCrush noted that the lyrics address to "how the love of a good man can make you beautiful, and that love, not looks, are what’s important in life." This is the only Girls Aloud single where Coyle does not sing co-lead vocals.

Reception

Critical response

"Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" received mixed reviews from

. Ian Wade of BBC Music called the song a "blub-friendly empowerment cut complete with its own fireworks". Lee Williscroft-Ferris of ''So So Gay'' stated that the song "is as schmaltzy as the title suggests, the lyric ‘You don’t love me ’cause I’m beautiful / I’m beautiful ’cause you love me’ dripping in the kind of self-indulgent emotion one might not expect from the band. Still, it’s a classy number." Rebecca Twomey of '' Marie Claire'' deemed it a "silky smooth love song," while Chris Younie of

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. I ...

said that the "emotionally-charged, touching ballad ... may not be a typical Girls Aloud pop-dance banger, but trust us when we say it's still amazing." A ''

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'' critic said the track "ain't bad", concluded that it occupies "a similar lyrical space to

Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...

' '

Unpretty "Unpretty" is a song by American group TLC, released on May 17, 1999, through LaFace and Arista Records as the second single from the band's third studio album, ''FanMail''. It was written by Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and the producer Dallas A ...

' rewrite ' Ugly', and a similar space in the canon to " Too Much" by the Spice Girls." However, Douglas Wolk of

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stated the song, "just drag the album 'Ten''down... in particular, belongs on the same icky-valentine shelf as

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount; 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After l ...

's "

You're Beautiful "You're Beautiful" is a song by English singer-songwriter James Blunt. It was written by Blunt, Sacha Skarbek and Amanda Ghost for Blunt's debut album, ''Back to Bedlam'' (2004). It was released as the third single of the album in 2005. In th ...

". Jon O'Brien of omg! called the song "an overly-slushy love song which could quite easily have been a reject from

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...

's last album." Lucas Villa of

Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * Tr ...

described the song as "about feeling pretty in the presence of a loved one", and yet described the song as "awkwardly reminiscent of the ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler a ...

'' line: “I don't hate you because you're fat. You're fat because I hate you.” A

Contact Music Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...

reviewer considered the song "big and ballady and seems to be more in keeping with the big saccharine American pop tradition of such staples rather," but stated that "the biggest overriding problem with this track though is that the beginning of it reminds us, for some unsure reason, of

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017), also known as T P-T, was an English socialite and television personality. She appeared in several television shows, including the reality programme '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me ...

's recent disastrous foray into the world of pop. Something no one should ever have to witness." Amy Sciaretto of PopCrush wasn't "sure that Girls Aloud are the correct people to deliver that message" because they are "five stunning women who likely never had anyone tell ‘em they were ugly." Sam Lansky of Idolator thought that the track "may not rival Girls Aloud's best work, but it's not a complete disappointment." Lewis Corner of Digital Spy said that Girls Aloud wouldn't be a true pop group "if they solely focused on tracks of a high BPM rate and ignored a good ol' fashioned slowie," adding that ballads released by them "have always received a frosty reception on their first few plays, and this one was no different."

Chart performance

Upon the release of ''Ten'', "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" charted at number 97 on the

. During the release week of the single, it failed to chart at the

and it became the first single of the group to not chart inside the top-forty.

Music video

The accompanying music video premiered on 4 December 2012 through the group's

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

account and was directed by Paul Caslin. Opening with a drop of liquid, the video consists mostly of beauty shots from each member until they join each other on a living room with nothing but a couch. The video also featured product placement of a

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digital camera, Nikon 1 J2. James Robertson of ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' stated that "the accompanying video is as pretty as the title suggests... but our favourite bit has to be the most unsubtle product placement we've ever seen." Some music critics compared the work to the Spice Girls' music video "

Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" is a song by English girl group the Spice Girls for their greatest hits album ''Greatest Hits'' (2007). It was written by the Spice Girls, Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, whilst produced by the latter two. I ...

Live performances

Girls Aloud first performed "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me" on 16 November 2012 at '' Children in Need 2012''. The group also performed the song at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball in December 2012. On 14 December 2012, Girls Aloud appeared on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

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, performing a mash-up of the song with a cover of

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. After initially pursuing a career in music production, Simon Cowell signed him to his record labe ...

and

Emeli Sandé Adele Emily Sandé, ( ; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a Scottish singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, by an English mother and a Zambian father ...

's "

Beneath Your Beautiful "Beneath Your Beautiful" is a song by British musicians Labrinth and Emeli Sandé. Written by Labrinth, Mike Posner and Sandé, it was promoted as the sixth single from Labrinth's debut album, '' Electronic Earth'' (2012), and is included as ...

". On 25 December 2012, the group performed the song on ''

'' Christmas Special. In 2013, the group performed the song on Ten: The Hits Tour.

Credits and personnel

;Recording *Recorded at Studio Spendido,

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. *Strings recorded at Air Edel,

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. ;Personnel *Songwriter – Rachel Moulden *Producer, mixer – Jim Eliot *Vocal production – Jonathan Shakhovskey, Emily Wright *Drums, keyboards, synths, bass, programming, FX – Jim Eliot *Piano – Fred Cox *Violin – Everton Nelson, Natalia Berner, AJ Dods, Richard George, Sally Herbert *Viola – Bruce White, Clare Finnimore *Cello – Ian Burdge, Johnny Byers *Strings – Sally Herbert Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Ten''.

Charts

Release history

References

External links

Girls Aloud's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me 2010s ballads 2012 singles 2012 songs Girls Aloud songs Parlophone singles Pop ballads