What Makes You Beautiful
By One Direction
Up All Night
Introduction
"What Makes You Beautiful" is the debut single by British-Irish boyband One Direction, from their debut studio album, Up All Night (2011). It was released by Syco Records on 11 September 2011 as the first single by the band, who finished third on the seventh series of television show The X Factor. Written by Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk and Savan Kotecha and produced by Yacoub and Falk, "What Makes You Beautiful" is an uptempo teen pop song.
"What Makes You Beautiful" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, after setting a Sony Music Entertainment pre-order record and selling 153,965 copies in its first week. The single also topped the Irish and Scottish Singles Charts, and reached the top ten on the Australian and New Zealand Singles Charts, Flemish Ultratop 50 and the Canadian Hot 100. In the United States, the single became the highest Billboard Hot 100 debut for a U.K. act since 1998.
The music video for "What Makes You Beautiful" was directed by John Urbano and premiered on 19 August 2011, and shows One Direction spending time on Malibu, California beach. The band has performed the song live on television shows, including Red or Black?, Children in Need 2011, Dancing on Ice and eighth series finale of The X Factor, as well as on their Up All Night Tour. The song won the Best British Single award at the 2012 BRIT Awards, which was held on 21 February 2012.
Background and Release
After finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010, One Direction was signed to Syco Music. "What Makes You Beautiful" was written by Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk and Savan Kotecha, and was produced by Yacoub and Falk (as mentioned above).
After recording the song at Cosmos Studios and Kinglet Studios in Stockholm, the band felt relieved to have a song that they were happy to release as their debut single. Liam called the song "perfect", and Harry said "When we were recording in the studio we knew instantly that we wanted this track to be our first single." Harry also spoke to MTV News, "I think for us we wanted to release something that wasn't cheesy but it was fun. It kind of represented us, I think it took us a while to find it but I think we found the right song." Liam added, "We always wanted [the single] to be something that people didn't expect and then when we heard it, it wasn't what we expected either so it kind of fitted perfectly."
"What Makes You Beautiful" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 10 August 2011, and was released by Syco Music in Europe, Australia and New Zealand via digital download on 11 September 2011. A CD single was released in the United Kingdom on 12 September, and followed in Australia and Germany on 25 November 2011 and 2 December 2011, respectively. The single was released in Canada via digital download, 31 January 2012. "What Makes You Beautiful" was released 14 February 2012 in the United States and was sent by Columbia Records to U.S. contemporary hit radio (CHR) playlists on 28 February 2012.
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What Makes You Beautiful
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Lyrics
Liam:
You're insecure, don't know what for
You're turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or.
Don't need make-up, to cover up
Being the way that you are is en-o-ough.
Harry:
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you-o
Chorus (All):
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell.
You don't know-o-oh! You don't know you're beautiful.
If only you saw what I could see, you'd understand why I want you so desperately.
Right now
I'm lookin' at you and I can't believe,
You don't know
O Oh
You don't know you're beautiful
O Oh
Harry: That's what makes you beautiful!
Zayn:
So c-c'mon, you got it wrong
To prove I'm right I put it in a so-o-ong
I don't know why, you're being shy
And turn away when I look in to your eye-eye-eyes
Harry:
Everyone else in the room can see it
Everyone else but yo-ou.
Chorus (Everyone):
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
If only you saw what I can see
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
Oh oh
Harry:
That's what makes you beautiful!
Everyone:
Na na na na na na naaaa na na,
Na na na na na na.
Na na na na na na naaaa na na,
Na na na na na na.
Harry:
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip you're hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell...
You don't know you're beautiful!
Chorus (Everyone):
Baby you light up my world like nobody else
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed
But when you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
If only you saw what I can see
You'd understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
Oh oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
Oh oh
Harry:
That's what makes you beautiful!