"Beautiful in My Eyes" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Joshua Kadison Joshua Kadison (born February 8, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and writer, who was born in Los Angeles, California. He is perhaps best known for the top 40 hits " Jessie" and " Beautiful in My Eyes" from his debut album '' Pai ...

. It was released in February 1994 as the second single from his 1993 debut album, '' Painted Desert Serenade'', surpassing the performance of his debut single and breakout hit " Jessie", reaching No. 19 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charting in four other countries, including Australia, where it peaked at 5. In 1995, it was

re-released In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Re ...

in the United Kingdom, reaching the top 40 and peaking at No. 37 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 ...

Background

Kadison described the song as being about "a love that just lasts forever, and you'll always be beautiful in my eyes." Years after its release, the song was often mistaken as an

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

song, due to Kadison's baritone voice being similar to John's and in how he plays the piano on it.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' wrote, "Kadison follows the slow-growing " Jessie" with another easy-going, piano-driven

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cur ...

wrapped with sugary, romantic prose and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-spiked background vocals. Kadison's earnest, wide-eyed performance keeps things from flying too far over the top. Song will test his base at

top 40 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 ...

, although it is an easy bet for immediate AC action." Fell and Rufer from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' remarked that it was released on the one-year anniversary of the release of his first single, complimenting it as a "fabulous production that builds to a string-laden climax." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave it three out of five, commenting, "Another obvious smash from this softcore

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

. Despite the comparative UK failure of "Jessie", one of these songs is going to take off here, but which one?"

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end chart

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1993 songs 1994 singles Joshua Kadison songs Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Rod Argent