Beautifully

Jay Brannan

Every time he goes, she dies
Every time she comes, she cries

He was her long, bright future
In the middle of a wrong, dark road
He loved her, but he wasn't too sure
If he could return the love she showed
When she said, my love extends
Beyond the realm of being friends
He kissed her head
And quietly he said

It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me
She said, how beautiful do I have to be?
When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully

Well, ten thousand tears passed by
But she never let him see her cry
And he called up down one night
He said, let's get in the car and just drive

He talked a lot about loneliness
But why, she didn't know
And some song about Memphis
Was playing on the radio
She said, let's stop the car and slow dance
Won't you just give me a chance?
He took her hand
And hoped she'd understand

It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me
She said, how beautiful do I have to be?
When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully

Well, she'll burn that bridge
And build a house
And swallow the smoke in her mouth
She'll feel the burn
And then make the choice
To put the fire in her voice

It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me
She said, how beautiful do I have to be?
When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see
And I have loved you beautifully


Lyrics submitted by JaimeHancock

Beautifully song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment
    Soo. I can relate to this song personally.. I fell really hard for one of my now ex-guy friends. [his stupid step father won't let us be friends anymore.] I told him how I felt, he told me, "It's too hard to have a girlfriend right now." Hugged me, kissed the top of my head, and then said," Not now, maybe later." ...a Few days go by, I got in a fight with an ex girlfriend of his. Of course he stood on her side. and then he started dating some other chick. the day after the fight I had with his ex. Me and him made up as friends, We worked at a haunted trail together, he got me to start smoking.. Few months past, I know I spent over a 1000 dollars on the boy.. he maybe spent 30 dollars on me. It's my 16th birthday party.. he brings his at the time girlfriend down to my house, knowing I don't like her, but i was nice and told him he could bring her down anyways. Later that night I get a call from him saying he needed my help...again. I told him to walk down and we would talk about what was going on.. The girl had talked him into having unprotected sex and was freaking out about being pregnant. Well, we all knew she wasn't. But what can you tell a 16 year old girl raised in the south? who is VERY hard headed and controlling at that. Well, I was told the plan B pill was 50 dollars, I first told him I didn't have the money to bail him this time. and he better not let it happen again.. "Oh I won't." but dang how am I gonna do this? My brother said he'd only pay for half of it... Please do this for me, Laura. Fine, whatever. The next day we went to the mall, I gave him $30 dollars, i was told I would get it back, it's been over 4 months, I'll never get it back. So I'm moving on from him, even though he's still my neighbor. :[ I've found a really cool guy I'm liking so far. So we'll see what happens. But the meaning to me was you fall for the guy, who doesn't like you. he tells you he doesn't like you as much back, then you find hope, and start looking for someone else.
    Laura32594on July 12, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning
    I think this song is about two very good friends and she has fallen very deeply in love with him. I think when he sees her he sees himself. I think he doesn't necessarily like himself that much, and he has tried the best he could to reciprocate her love. When he tells her he has loved her beautifully, I think he is trying to tell her that he has loved her the best he can. She knows it is not enough, but she is drawn to him anyway.
    Serandipation August 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I think this is a story about two best friends, or very good friends, and one falls in love with the other, but that love isn't reciprocated, possibly because the male is gay but doesn't know how to tell her or just because he doesn't like her that way. The last verse lets us know that she'll be stronger after all of this, even though she doesn't get the boy she loved. GREAT SONG.
    mesho6on July 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This reminds me of two of my really good friends. They liked each other, and started dating. She really saw a future with him, and thought that they would get married. After a couple months, he realized he just wasn't in love with her, and he didn't see them having a future. They broke up after 6 months of dating. She's over him, and I'm happy to see her looking at other guys as possibilities again. :) Like the last verse, there's hope. And that's a great thing.
    LNikkyon May 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    i'm pretty sure he's a gay artist-so he might be talking about the realization that he's gay and can't be with a woman anymore. so she's a beautiful girl but isn't beautiful to him because he's not attracted to her. so she's trying to come to terms with the fact that they can't be together anymore, and is trying to convince him she's still good enough for him.
    kaygeeon September 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I can relate to this. I fell in love with a bi guy and he supposedly fell in love with me too. Well he talked about how he can see himself marrying me and how I am the only exception for a girl. But he now he won't even look at me like that. He is my best friend and I love him...but he is gay and more interested in guys right now. I've been there for him for years now, even when he came out to his parents. When we talk about us he just says that it can't happen, he's not into girls..then he tells me he loves me. This song fits us perfectly. I love Jay Brannan, he helps me with a lot!
    JadaBaby1994on October 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    It took a few thousand times it seems, for me to figure out what I thought the meaning of this song is. The part that finally got my brain in motion was the line "some song about Memphis was playin on the radio" odd as it may seem- parts of my brain associated that with homosexuality. And finally everything started to coming together. The first time I heard this song and many times after it, I thought to myself, what kind of a person says that to someone? "Its not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me" that seemed like such an awful thing to say to someone - especially a friend. But now it makes perfect sense. The man loves his friend, and though he recognizes that love, he knows it's not the love that she's admitting to. That's painful to swallow, and I hurt for them- anyone really, who can't reciprocate feelings of romantic love. I've lost good friends over similar situations.
    daunoblivionon October 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    It just might be possible I have people following me around writing songs about my life. I definitely relate to this song. And it's so sad. Two people. Unrequited love. It's the worst situation ever.
    BellaVidaMiaon March 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    How terrible does it suck that I'm the guy in this song. That I'm always the guy on the other side of love songs, who girls hate and cry because they can't have him. I'm not a jerk, just quiet and eager and sad and naive and scared :(
    GrapesOfWreckon December 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Like someone mentioned before I truly believe the artist is speaking about not being able to give the love back to the girl because he is gay. I have always dedicated this song to my first love and thought it meant he wasn't attracted to me as much as he was to other girls. I lost my virginity to him a few days ago (I am 23), and he told me the next day he was gay. I found this song because after 3 years my heart we broken again and I realized what it really meant. I feel like he can't love me because I am a girl and I'll always feel I'm not beautiful to him.
    amamaron February 17, 2015   Link

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