"Scars to Your Beautiful" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Alessia Cara | ||||
from the album Know-It-All | ||||
Released | November 13, 2015 (streaming) July 26, 2016 (airplay) | |||
Recorded | 2015 | |||
Genre | Synth-pop | |||
Length | 3:50 | |||
Label | Def Jam | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | ||||
Alessia Cara singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Scars to Your Beautiful" on YouTube |
"Scars to Your Beautiful" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara. Def Jam Recordings and Universal Music Group serviced it to contemporary hit radio on July 26, 2016, as the third single from her debut studio album Know-It-All (2015) on November 13, 2015. A pop ballad, the song was written by Cara along with its producers Pop & Oak, Sebastian Kole, and DJ Frank E.
In the United States, "Scars to Your Beautiful" peaked at number eight. It marked Cara's second top-ten single on US Billboard Hot 100. [1] It also reached the top ten in Australia, Iceland, Slovenia, and Sweden.
Cara felt motivated to make the song after viewing an episode of Botched. [2] In an interview with Idolator's Mike Wass, Cara stated about the process behind the song:
"Basically, that song is about body image. It's directed at women, but I think men can relate to it as well. It's just a song about these things that certain women go through on a daily basis in order to feel loved or in order to love themselves. I think that's such a thing that goes on in today's world. These weird things are instilled in us. You know? They tell us that we’re not good enough or that there's only one kind of beauty. This song basically is contradicting that idea. It's saying, 'Well, if the world doesn't like how you look then they should change. They should change their perspective. You don’t have to change yourself.' I mean, I thought that that was important, you know, just to put out next. Especially because I think that's kind of the direction we're going in, you know, with 'Here'. 'Here' was about not belonging anywhere and 'Wild Things' was about finding a space you belong. Now 'Scars To Your Beautiful' is basically about embracing yourself and finally coming to that conclusion where you feel love and you can love yourself. I think it's cool to put out third because I feel like I have a bigger platform now. The point of the song is to reach as many women, or people, as possible." [3]
Cara also noted that the song was inspired by Christina Aguilera's 2002 ballad "Beautiful". [4]
The Guardian 's Kitty Empire said that "There's substance on Scars to Your Beautiful, where Cara tackles the beauty myth à la Beyoncé. The verses pack some good stuff – 'What's a little bit of hunger? I can go a little bit longer.'" and later went on to say "the thumping motivational chorus merely suggests we are all stars." [5] Katy Iandoli of Idolator stated "Scars to Your Beautiful is a modern-day version of TLC's 'Unpretty', in its acknowledgment of the beauty in both visible and invisible imperfections." [6]
Billboard ranked "Scars to Your Beautiful" at number 77 on their Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks" list, commenting “Body-positivity anthems typically don't get this dark, but on "Scars To Your Beautiful," Alessia Cara isn't afraid to talk cutting, tears and eating disorders, before getting to the uplifting chorus, where she delivers some of the most empowering, horizon-expanding lyrics of this year: ‘You don't have to change a thing / The world could change its heart.’” [7]
The music video was published on July 11, 2016, with a cameo appearance by singer JoJo. [8]
On the concept of the music video, Cara said in an interview with Cosmopolitan : "I wanted to do this kind of video for a very long time. Since we had this song — and since we knew it was going to be a single — I had this vision of many different cinematic shots of different kinds of people. I wanted all kinds of people — young, old, whatever their situation, whether it's visible scars, non-visible scars — just a bunch of different women, and there are some men in there as well because it can reach out to guys too. But I wanted real shots of real people telling their stories, and showing the story through little vignettes." [9]
The song is featured in episodes of the television shows The Bold Type and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit .
The song was used in the international trailer of A Wrinkle in Time , [10] as well as the background music for the introduction video of Dirt Rally 2.0 .
In 2018, the song was featured in television commercials for ULTA Beauty.
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [60] | 5× Platinum | 350,000‡ |
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [61] | Diamond | 250,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [62] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [63] | 2× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
France (SNEP) [64] | Platinum | 200,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [65] | 3× Gold | 600,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [66] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [67] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
Norway (IFPI Norway) [68] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [69] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [70] | 2× Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [71] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
Sweden (GLF) [72] | 3× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [73] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [74] | 5× Platinum | 5,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format | Version | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | July 26, 2016 | Digital download | Original | [75] | |
Top 40 radio | Def Jam | [1] | |||
October 21, 2016 | Digital download | Remixes EP | [76] | ||
United Kingdom | November 8, 2016 | Top 40 radio | Original | [77] | |
Italy | December 2, 2016 | Radio airplay | UMG | [78] | |
DACH | January 20, 2017 | CD single |
| [79] [80] |
Alec Shane Benjamin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, his 2018 breakthrough "Let Me Down Slowly" from his album Narrated for You reached the top 40 in over 25 countries.
"Roses" is a song by American DJ duo the Chainsmokers. It was released on June 16, 2015, as the second single from their debut EP, Bouquet (2015). The song features American singer Rozes. It was written by the Chainsmokers member Andrew Taggart and Rozes, and produced by the Chainsmokers.
"Levels" is a song by American singer Nick Jonas. It was released on August 21, 2015, by Island, Safehouse and Republic Records. The song was written and produced by Ian Kirkpatrick and The Monsters and the Strangerz, with additional songwriting provided by Sam Martin, Sean Douglas, Talay Riley and Like Mike. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Colin Tilley and was released on August 30, 2015. The song is the first and only single from Nick Jonas X2, the reissue of Nick Jonas. The song was listed by SPIN Magazine as the 11th best song of 2015. The dance remixes of "Levels" reached number one on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart in its December 12, 2015 issue.
"Here" is the debut single by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara, released on April 30, 2015 as lead single from her EP Four Pink Walls and her album Know-It-All, both debuting in the same year. Created around a sample of "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes from his album Black Moses, "Here" is a pop and R&B song about people who secretly hate parties.
"Wild" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan from his fourth extended play (EP), Wild (2015). It was written by Sivan and Alex Hope, and a revised version features a contribution from Alessia Cara. The song was released on 3 September 2015 and promoted as its lead single. It is also featured on Sivan's debut studio album, Blue Neighbourhood (2015).
Blue Neighbourhood is the debut studio album by Australian singer Troye Sivan. It was released internationally on 4 December 2015 via EMI Music Australia and Capitol Records. The album was preceded by Sivan's fourth extended play Wild, which served as a 6-song opening installment to Blue Neighbourhood.
Know-It-All is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara. It was released on November 13, 2015 through Def Jam Recordings. The album followed the release of her debut extended play (EP) Four Pink Walls (2015), which Cara regarded as a preview of the album. Know-It-All contains the five original songs from Four Pink Walls as well as five new songs recording for the album. Cara co-wrote all the tracks and worked closely with Pop & Oak and Sebastian Kole amongst others. The album led Cara to receive the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2018.
"Wild Things" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara for her debut studio album, Know-It-All (2015). It was released to digital retailers on October 27, 2015, as a promotional single before being sent to contemporary hit radio on February 2, 2016, as the album's second official single. The song was written by Alessia Caracciolo, Coleridge Tillman, Thabiso "Tab" Nkhereanye, and James Ho, and was produced by the latter. Official remixes were commissioned in the spring of 2016 and were released on an extended play on May 13, 2016, one of which features a guest verse from American rapper G-Eazy.
"Final Song" is a song by Danish singer and songwriter MØ. It was released on 13 May 2016 for her second studio album, Forever Neverland, but was only included on the Japanese release of the album. The song was written and composed by MØ and Noonie Bao alongside MNEK, who produced the song. "Final Song" was released by Chess Club and RCA Victor and premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 12 May 2016 at 7:00 PM BST at Annie Mac. It was released on YouTube the same day and on iTunes Store the following day. It reached the top 5 in Denmark, the top 20 in Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom, and the top 100 in Canada and Sweden.
"Starving" is a song by American singer Hailee Steinfeld and American duo Grey, featuring Russian-German producer Zedd. The song was written by Grey members Michael Trewartha and Kyle Trewartha, Robert McCurdy, Christopher Petrosino, and Asia Whiteacre. It was released on July 22, 2016, through Republic Records and Universal Music Group. "Starving" is included on the Japanese edition of Steinfeld's debut extended play, Haiz (2015). It serves as the record's third and final single.
"Ain't My Fault" is a song by Swedish singer Zara Larsson from her second studio album So Good (2017). It was released on 2 September 2016 through TEN Music Group and Epic Records as the third single from the album. The song received positive reviews from critics upon its release and peaked at number one in Sweden, the top ten in Norway and Romania, and the top 20 in ten additional countries. It is certified Gold or higher in sixteen countries. The remix version of the song features American rapper Lil Yachty.
"All Time Low" is a song by American singer Jon Bellion. It was released to digital retailers on May 13, 2016, through Visionary Music Group and Capitol Records, and later to Top 40 radio on August 30, 2016, as the lead single from his debut studio album, The Human Condition (2016). Bellion co-produced and co-wrote the song along with Mark Williams, Raul Cubina, and Travis Mendes. Bellion also performed an acoustic version of the song on his YouTube channel.
"How Far I'll Go" and its reprise are two musical numbers from Disney's 2016 animated musical feature film Moana. It was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with additional music and co-produced by Mark Mancina on its reprise. The song was performed in the film by American actress and singer Auliʻi Cravalho in her role as Moana. It was released along with the album on November 18, 2016. Canadian singer Alessia Cara also recorded the song for the Moana soundtrack. The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 89th Academy Awards and Best Original Song at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara has released three studio albums, one live album, four extended plays, twenty singles, ten promotional singles and thirty music videos. She signed to EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings in 2014, and began recording her debut album the same year.
"Stay" is a song by Russian-German electronic music producer Zedd and Canadian singer Alessia Cara. The single was released on 23 February 2017 through Interscope Records, and is also featured on the Japanese edition of Cara's second studio album, The Pains of Growing. The official music video was released on YouTube on 18 April 2017.
"1-800-273-8255" is a song by American rapper Logic featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara and American singer-songwriter Khalid. It was released on April 27, 2017, through Visionary Music Group and Def Jam Recordings, as the third single from Logic's third studio album, Everybody. The song's title is the previous phone number for the American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Although the lifeline later changed its phone number to the simpler "988" in July 2022, the original number remains active. It was written by its three performers alongside Dylan Wiggins, Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, and 6ix, the latter of whom produced the track with Logic. "1-800-273-8255" eventually peaked at number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
The discography of American singer-songwriter Khalid consists of three studio albums, one mixtape, one extended play, 45 singles, and nine promotional singles.
NOTD is a Swedish musical production duo composed of Tobias Danielsson and Samuel Brandt. They are best known for their songs "I Wanna Know" featuring Bea Miller and "So Close" with Felix Jaehn featuring Captain Cuts and Georgia Ku.
"Let Me Down Slowly" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin, originally released as a solo version in 2018 and included on his mixtape Narrated for You before being re-released as a duet with Canadian singer Alessia Cara in early 2019. Billboard called the track Benjamin's "vulnerable breakout hit".
Jonathan Percy Starker "JP" Saxe is a Canadian singer and musician. He is best known for his collaboration with American singer Julia Michaels titled "If the World Was Ending" which was released in 2019. The song was nominated for a 2021 Grammy. His "hero" grandfather, noted cellist János Starker, was a multiple nominee and Grammy winner.