Beautiful Now
"Beautiful Now" | ||||||||||||||||
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Single by Zedd featuring Jon Bellion | ||||||||||||||||
from the album True Colors | ||||||||||||||||
Released | May 13, 2015 | |||||||||||||||
Format | ||||||||||||||||
Recorded | December 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Genre | Progressive house | |||||||||||||||
Length | 3:38 | |||||||||||||||
Label | Interscope | |||||||||||||||
Writer(s) | ||||||||||||||||
Producer(s) | Zedd | |||||||||||||||
Zedd singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||
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"Beautiful Now" is a song by Russian-German musician Zedd, featuring vocals from American singer Jon Bellion from his second studio album, True Colors. It was written by Zedd, Bellion, Antonina Armato, Tim James and Desmond Child. The song was released on May 13, 2015. The song was commercially successful and has been featured on a number of worldwide music charts.
Background
On May 8, 2015, as part of his True Colors promotional campaign, Zedd premiered "Beautiful Now" at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois. Five days later, he announced that he would release the song onto iTunes at 9:00 PM PST.[1] A few hours prior to its release, he tweeted the lyrics from the song's beat break: "BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BABABAH BAH BAH BAH BABABAH BABABABA"[2]
Composition
"Beautiful Now" is a progressive house song written in the key of D major. It runs at 128 bpm.[3]
Music video
The music video for "Beautiful Now", directed by Jodeb, was released on June 11, 2015.
Synopsis
The video intertwines five different stories together. The first is of a woman who supposedly drowned her female lover in a pool; the second involves an elderly Central American man who is journeying on an unsuccessful mountain climbing attempt; the third involves the son of a man whose home is invaded by armed robbers; the fourth involves Zedd portraying a liquor store robber who becomes hostile with the management; and the fifth depicts a distraught girl laying down on a railroad. As the song progresses, the video intercuts to scenes of family happiness, dancing and rejoicing before concluding the five stories. The first woman's lover is pulled from the water before drowning, and the ex realizes the gravity of the situation; the old man attempts to climb the mountain and falls, but survives, without reaching the summit; the armed robbery victim's son confronts the hostiles at gunpoint and subdudes them; Zedd's character reflects over what sunk him to his current point in life and seems to resolve to change his ways; the suicidal girl is missed by the train and reflects on her life and why she chose such an extreme act.[4]
As of the end of November 2016, the video has over 85 million views on Zedd's Vevo channel.
Track listing
- CD single and digital download[5]
- "Beautiful Now (featuring Jon Bellion)" – 3:38
- Remix[6]
- "Beautiful Now (featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix]" – 3:18
- Remixes – EP[7]
- "Beautiful Now (Zonderling Remix)" – 3:55
- "Beautiful Now (Marshmello Remix)" – 3:15
- "Beautiful Now (KDrew Remix)" – 4:00
- "Beautiful Now (Dirty South Remix)" – 3:19
- "Beautiful Now (Charlie Darker Remix)" – 4:15
- Remix[8]
- "Beautiful Now (featuring Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix]" – 2:53
Grey remix
On July 29, 2015, Los Angeles-based duo Grey released their remix of "Beautiful Now" on SoundCloud as a free download. The remix is known for its significant deviation in sound from the original, using a vocoder to give Bellion's vocals a different melody and robotic distortion, and accompanying them with a darker and melodically distinct background inspired by Egyptian music. The remix quickly began receiving coverage across electronic music websites and communities, and was acclaimed for its uniqueness and originality. It also became notable for only being Grey's first release despite its professionality, leading to speculation that the alias belonged to an experienced group of producers now going anonymous.[9] The alias belongs to brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha, the former of whom previously operated under the alias Singularity.
Eventually, the remix came to the attention of Zedd, who liked and reposted the remix to his official SoundCloud page, and later released the track for purchase on iTunes on September 11, 2015.[10] Zedd has since continued to actively support Grey, playing their remix of Skrillex and Diplo's "Where Are Ü Now" featuring Justin Bieber at his True Colors Tour. He also went on to call Grey "hands down the best electronic music act right now" on Twitter.[11] Grey has since officially remixed two other songs from True Colors; "Papercut" and "True Colors".
Charts
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
Argentina (Los 40 Principales)[12] | 1 |
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[13] | 33 |
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 27 |
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[14] | 17 |
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] | 32 |
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[15] | 15 |
France (SNEP)[16] | 190 |
Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)[17] | 5 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] | 91 |
Netherlands Dance (Dance Top 30)[18] | 24 |
Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[19] | 11 |
US Billboard Hot 100[20] | 64 |
US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[21] | 5 |
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[22] | 1 |
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[23] | 3 |
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[24] | 15 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
---|---|---|
Italy (FIMI)[25] | Gold | 25,000 |
Poland (ZPAV)[26] | Platinum | 20,000* |
United States (RIAA)[27] | Gold | 500,000^ |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
See also
References
- ↑ "Zedd confirms on twitter album's next single". Twitter. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd post on twitter the song's chorus". Twitter. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
- ↑ Zedd "Beautiful Now" Sheet Music musicnotes.com
- ↑ "What does Zedd's "Beautiful Now" music video mean?". JeffGluck.com. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
- ↑ "Beautiful Now [feat. Jon Bellion]". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Beautiful Now (feat. Jon Bellion) [Dirty South Remix] - Single by Zedd". iTunes. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ↑ "Beautiful Now (Remixes) [feat. Jon Bellion] - EP by Zedd". iTunes. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Beautiful Now (Rock Mafia Remix)". Spotify.
- ↑ Lucas. "Zedd Uploads Gorgeously Dark "Beautiful Now" Remix From Mysterious New Artist - Your EDM". Your EDM.
- ↑ "Beautiful Now (Grey Remix) [feat. Jon Bellion] - Single". iTunes.
- ↑ "Zedd on Twitter". Twitter.
- ↑ "Lista del 14/11/2015". PRISA. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- 1 2 "Ultratop.be – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- 1 2 "Ultratop.be – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Zedd. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ↑ "The Official Lebanese Top 20 - Zedd". The Official Lebanese Top 20. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- 1 2 "Dutchcharts.nl – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- ↑ "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Zedd. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for Zedd. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Zedd. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Mix Show Airplay for Zedd. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Zedd – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Zedd. Retrieved September 2, 2015.
- ↑ "Italian single certifications – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved August 23, 2016. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Zedd feat. Jon Bellion in the field Filtra. Select 2016 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
- ↑ "Polish single certifications – Zedd feat. Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
- ↑ "American single certifications – Zedd featuring Jon Bellion – Beautiful Now". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH