Beautiful Ones

Album: Coming Up (1996)
Charted: 8
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The second single from Suede's Coming Up album, this song's working title was "Dead Leg" after bassist Mat Osman threatened to give new guitarist Richard Oakes a dead leg if he was unable to write a Top 10 single. Oakes reached into his back pocket and came up with a riff that he'd had for a long time. He and co-writer vocalist Brett Anderson then built the whole song around it.

    According to an interview with NME, they tried it on 20 different guitars before they were happy with the final recording.

    It was worth the effort: the song did reach the UK Top 10, peaking at #8.
  • Brett Anderson told NME his lyrics were intended "to be a celebration of the madness of our lives." The title was changed from "Dead Leg" to "The Beautiful Scum" but Anderson thought that "was a bit too marginal as a title. It was a bit odd and sounded like it was trying a bit too hard so I changed it to 'Beautiful Ones.' It's just a list of craziness I suppose."
  • The video was directed by Pedro Romhanyi, who had filmed the clip for Suede's 1993 single, "Animal Nitrate." That one caused some controversy when it was banned for its depiction of two men engaging in a kiss, but this visual was more straightforward featuring the band shot in black and white performing the song, interspersed with some cutaways. Asked for his memories of the video, Osman said:

    "I think it's a really typical '90s video in that, we look good in it, we're playing the song, there are a couple of cutaways, and it probably cost £100,000. It's OK, it's a nice video, it shows what we looked like at the time and captures some of the excitement of the song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

The Punk Photography of Chris Stein

The Punk Photography of Chris SteinSong Writing

Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.