"Not Pretty Enough" is a song by Australian

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

singer-songwriter

Kasey Chambers Kasey Chambers (born 4 June 1976) is an Australian country singer-songwriter and musician born in Mount Gambier. She is the daughter of fellow musicians, Diane and Bill Chambers, and the younger sister of musician and producer, Nash Chambers. ...

, produced by her brother

Nash Chambers Nash Chambers (born 8 May 1974, Mount Gambier) is an Australian record producer, talent manager, audio engineer and multi-instrumentalist. He is a former member of the family country music group, Dead Ringer Band (1986–98), with his father Bil ...

for her second studio album, ''

Barricades & Brickwalls ''Barricades & Brickwalls'' is the second studio album by Australian country music singer Kasey Chambers released in Australia on 3 September 2001 by Essence Records and on 12 February 2002 on Warner Bros. Records in the U.S. The album was main ...

'' (2001). It was released as the album's third single on 14 January 2002 in Australia as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

. It became a number-one hit in Australia the same year, and it also found success in New Zealand, where it reached number four. In the United States, it was serviced to

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

radio in late January 2002. The song was written by Chambers as a commentary on the reluctance of commercial radio stations towards playing her music, despite her being an established performer. However, the single prompted Chambers' commercial breakthrough and was most-added song to radio station playlists in 2002.

Reception

In 2017, the song was selected for the National Film and Sound Archive's

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

collection of historically and culturally important recordings.

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

said, "2009's The Loved Ones, a horror film about an obsessed stalker, put Kasey Chambers' hit in the mouth of its villain. But it wasn't subverting the song; it was just making the subtext into text. "Not Pretty Enough" is a ballad about over-stepping boundaries and weaponising self-hatred. The creepiness is already there. It’s a gloriously uncomfortable tilt into the painful things about love."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2001 songs 2002 singles APRA Award winners EMI Records singles Kasey Chambers songs Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Kasey Chambers Warner Records singles