Beautiful Day

Infobox Single
Name = Beautiful Day


Artist = U2
from Album = All That You Can't Leave Behind
Released = October 9, 2000
Format = CD, cassette, 12"
Recorded = HQ, Windmill Lane Studios, Westland Studios and Totally Wired in Dublin, and South of France
Genre = Rock, Alternative rock
Length = 4:08
Label = Island
Producer = Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno with additional production by Steve Lillywhite
Last single = "Sweetest Thing"
(1998)
This single = "Beautiful Day"
(2000)
Next single = "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
(2001)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = All That You Can't Leave Behind
Type = studio
prev_track = N/A
prev_no =
this_track = "Beautiful Day"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of"
next_no = 2Extra tracklisting
Album = The Best of 1990-2000
Type = greatest
prev_track = "Mysterious Ways"
prev_no = 2
this_track = "Beautiful Day"
track_no = 3
next_track = "Electrical Storm" (William Orbit Mix)
next_no = 4Extra tracklisting
Album = U218 Singles
Type = greatest
prev_track = N/A
prev_no =
this_track = "Beautiful Day"
track_no = 1
next_track = "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
next_no = 2 "Beautiful Day" was the first single from U2's 2000 album, "All That You Can't Leave Behind". It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date. It was their fourth #1 single in the UK and was #1 for a week in Australia. The song peaked at #21 in the US, the band's highest position since "Discothèque" in 1997. The song won three Grammy Awards in 2001.

Composition

According to Bono, "Beautiful Day" is about "a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has."Fact|date=May 2007

The song is an optimistic anthem that opens with a drum machine and a rhythm sequencer. The verses are relatively quiet before The Edge's guitar and the song's signature riff join in for the choruses. The Edge recorded this song on his Gibson Les Paul Standard and plays the song live with his Gibson Explorer, which helps add the distinctive shimmering, chiming sound that made the band unique when they first debuted in the early 1980s.

In an episode of the Sundance Channel's "Iconoclast", R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe said "I love that song. I wish I'd written it, and they know I wish I'd written it. It makes me dance, It makes me angry that I didn't write it." Beautiful Day also opens ITV's football show "The Championship", and previously ITV's "Premiership" referring to soccer making a beautiful day.

Response

"Beautiful Day" is the most known track on the "All That You Can't Leave Behind" album, and has been regarded as one of U2's most famous songs. The song hit No.1 on charts in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland and also boosted sales of "All That You Can't Leave Behind". "Beautiful Day" is included on "The Best of 1990-2000" and "U218 Singles".

The song won three Grammys in 2001: "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal".

In 2008 the song was chosen to play over the end titles of the children's film Nim's Island, starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler.

Sen. Barack Obama is using the song as his entrance for campaign events during his 2008 Presidential Run

Live history

Ever since its tour debut at the first date of the Elevation Tour on March 24, 2001 in Miami, "Beautiful Day" has been played at every single full tour concert, as well as a number of promotional appearances and concerts not connected with a tour. On the Elevation Tour, "Beautiful Day" was normally the second song played, though it did open one show and was played late in the setlist at two concerts. During the Vertigo Tour, it has appeared in the first half of the main set. It is featured on the live films ', ', and "". The song was also performed on stage to open the Live 8 concerts, with slightly different lyrics that mentioned the different sites that Live 8 concerts took place in, along with "Vertigo" and "One", at Hyde Park in London. It was performed live in New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXVI and for the New Orleans Saints first game in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Music video

The song's video showed the band walking around in Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport, with scenes of the band playing on a runway interspliced with large jets taking off and landing overhead.

An alternative video for the song, shot in Èze, France, was featured on the "The Best of 1990-2000" bonus disc and the U218 Videos DVD. A month before the album release, a live version of the song was filmed in Dublin on the rooftop of "The Clarence" hotel. It is featured on the extra features of the "Elevation 2001: Live from Boston" DVD.

Track listings

Version 1

#"Beautiful Day" (Album Version) (4:06)
#"Summer Rain" (4:06)
#"Always" (3:46)

This is the common CD release. A cassette single was released with only "Summer Rain" as the B-side. The Australian CD edition also had an enhanced video of "Last Night on Earth" (Live from Mexico City).

Version 2

#"Beautiful Day" (Album Version) (4:06)
#"Discothèque" (Live from Mexico City December 3, 1997) (5:10)
#"If You Wear that Velvet Dress" (Live from Mexico City December 3, 1997) (2:43)

This is the "live" release. The Australian edition also had "Last Night on Earth" (Live from Mexico City) as an extra audio track.

Version 3

#"Beautiful Day" (Album Version) (4:06)
#"Summer Rain" (4:06)
#"Always" (3:46)
#"Discothèque" (Live from Mexico City December 3, 1997) (5:10)
#"If You Wear that Velvet Dress" (Live from Mexico City December 3, 1997) (2:43)

This CD version, with almost all available B-sides, was only released in Japan.

Live Version

#"Beautiful Day" (Live from Slane Castle) (4:34)

This version is a digital only release on iTunes, and it was taken off of the DVD release "".

Chart positions

Covers

* Power pop/Christian rock band Sanctus Real covered the song for "", a collection of U2 cover songs re-recorded by Christian rock artists.
* Kurt Nilsen covered this song and took home the crown during the World Idol competition, pitting the #1 "idols" from all the countries with the "Pop Idol" shows.
* Matt Darey (Sunburst) although his song shares the same name as the famed U2 song, it is not a cover. The chorus makes an allusion musically and lyrically to the original, but this is not a full blown cover.
*Christian rapper Pigeon John says, in the song "Brand New Day" from his 2006 album "Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party", "it's a brand new day, I know U2 said it, but I'm going to say it my way." This is possibly a mistaken reference to this song. It is not, however, a cover.
* Hady Mirza, the winner of second season of Singapore Idol covered this song during the Asian Idol in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was crowned the very first Asian Idol
* Melodic heavy metal guitarist Axel Rudi Pell covered the song on his 2007 album Diamonds Unlocked, a collection of cover tracks from a variety of sources.

External links

* [http://www.u2wanderer.org/disco/sing045.html Discography entry at U2 Wanderer] --Comprehensive details on various editions, cover scans, lyrics, and more.
* [http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/song2.html Beautiful Day's performance history at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com] --Lists all concerts at which "Beautiful Day" has been performed.