As the 15th anniversary of the hit song arrives, is it time to reassess this harshly appraised ballad?Modern Toss on James BluntIt is 15 years since James Blunt released his debut album Back to Bedlam, and with it, unleashed You’re Beautiful upon the world. The third single off the album, You’re Beautiful went to No 1 in the
UK,
Canada,
Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands and Italy. It kicked
Beyoncé off the top of the charts in the US, making Blunt the first Brit to get to No 1 there since Elton John, with that other upbeat banger Candle in the Wind, seven years earlier. It was nominated for three Grammy awards, despite Blunt declaring it “one of the least meaningful songs on the album”, and won an
MTV VMA award, despite the video being, well, a guide to drowning.
But ask anyone about it now and they will tell you it’s annoying. It’s a terrible song. No one wants to hear it. A former colleague who had it as the first dance at her wedding says that is now her “greatest shame”. Even 15 years later, “James Blunt” is still deployed as sweary rhyming slang by people on
Twitter, which seems like a weird use of anyone’s time.