For such a popular song, You’re Beautiful is pretty dark. The video ends with James Blunt killing himself, after a falsetto lament to seeing his ex-girlfriend with someone else. “It’s time to face the truth,” he cries. “I will never be with you.”
Blunt’s heartfelt delivery struck a chord with romantics everywhere, and his debut hit reached number one in 10 different countries. It’s still his biggest-selling track, but he’s not tired of it, yet. Though “if I had the radio on all the time,” he concedes, “and they kept playing that song then yes, I’d probably turn it off.”
Plenty of listeners do already. It’s one of those tunes you love or hate, and parodies appeared after it hogged the airwaves for much of 2005. According to “Weird Al” Yankovic, Blunt personally endorsed his version, called You’re Pitiful. But record label bosses intervened. Yankovic eventually gave it away for free on his website.
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