"Beautiful" is a song written by

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

that was first released on her 1971 award-winning album ''

Tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

''. It has also been covered by other artists, such as

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

and Richard Marx, and included on several of King's live albums. It was also used as the title song of the 2014

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

'' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''.

Lyrics and music

According to King, she did not consciously attempt to write "Beautiful" but it came to her spontaneously. It stemmed from her realization while riding the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

that the way she perceived others reflected how she herself felt. She has also stated that because it came to her spontaneously, she initially didn't realize some of the professional details of the song, such as the lack of

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

in the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

, which if she was writing the song consciously she would have included. ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cove ...

'' critic

Jon Landau Jon Landau (born May 14, 1947) is an American music critic, manager, and record producer. He has worked with Bruce Springsteen in all three capacities. He is the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and recei ...

describes "Beautiful" as an "uptempo song." The lyrics reflect themes present throughout the ''Tapestry'' album, such as the importance of self-esteem and positive outlook. Within the song, beauty is defined not as an attractive outward appearance but as inner beauty. In the verses of the song, the singer sings about the unhappy people she sees around her. The message is emphasized by setting the verses in a

minor key In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a chord, scale, or key. As such, composition, movement, section, or phrase may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor. Intervals Some intervals ...

and to a straightforward

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

and singing at a relatively low pitch. The refrain, describes the need for optimism and self-esteem in order to be successful, and is reinforced by being set in a

major key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding '' chords'', ...

and to a syncopated rhythm and at a higher pitch. Instrumentation for "Beautiful" includes King playing piano and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, Charles Larkey on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Joel O'Brien on drums and

Danny Kortchmar Daniel "Danny Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassidy, ...

conga drum The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s. Author James Perone praises the song as "great sleeper track" but criticizes the use of the synthesizer, which although not prominent he believes sounds synthetic, detracting from the song's emphasis on being real. ''

Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' critic Mark Coleman states that King's performance "rescues 'Beautiful' from the sentimental deep end."

Personnel

*Carole King –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Additional musicians

* Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar –

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

*Charles "Charlie" Larkey –

*Joel O'Brien – drums

Other releases

A live version of "Beautiful" was included on King's 1994 album '' In Concert''. Another live version, recorded on June 18, 1971 at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, was released on King's 1996 album '' Carnegie Hall Concert: June 18, 1971''. Another live version was included on the 2007 album ''Welcome to My Living Room''. The studio version was also included on the 2007

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''The Best of Carole King''.

covered "Beautiful" as the opening track of her 1971 album '' Barbra Joan Streisand''.

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

recorded "Beautiful" for her 1972 album release ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

''. Richard Marx covered "Beautiful" on the 1995

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

'' Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King''.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic William Ruhlmann described Marx's version as one of the best covers on the album. "Beautiful" has also been covered by Julie Conant and by The Overtures. And, more recently, by Jonathan Rayson on his 2006 album "Shiny and New". "Beautiful" is part of the cast recording for the

'' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''. It is sung in Act 2 by the actress portraying Carole King. On its opening night on Broadway, it was sung by

Jessie Mueller Jessica Ruth Mueller (born February 20, 1983) is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in ''Carousel'' and Amalia Balash in ...

. The song is also included on the Broadway Cast Album of the musical.

References

{{Authority control Carole King songs Songs written by Carole King 1971 songs Song recordings produced by Lou Adler Richard Marx songs Barbra Streisand songs