Beautiful World (Devo song)
"Beautiful World" is a song by the American new wave band Devo, written by Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh. It appears on their fourth studio album New Traditionalists.
| "Beautiful World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Devo | ||||
| from the album New Traditionalists | ||||
| Released | 1981 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:35 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Devo | |||
| Devo singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Most of the songs on New Traditionalists are darker and more direct than on previous Devo albums. The exception to this is "Beautiful World," whose message seems optimistic at first but changes as the song progresses. This is made even clearer by the song's promotional video.
In addition to the standard 7" single, "Beautiful World" was also released as a picture disc. This version features the same image of a paper mask of a cosmonaut's face as the standard single sleeve and is cut in the shape of the cosmonaut's head. The picture disc version also includes a different B-side: the spoken word "Nu-tra Speaks (New Traditionalist Man)."[1]
Promotional music video
"Beautiful World" is considered by many fans and critics to be Devo's greatest music video, setting the tune to a series of connected images from film archives. The video features the character Booji Boy prominently, as he initially watches scenes of beautiful women, futuristic cars and other happy elements, which by the end of the song have been replaced by images of race riots, the Ku Klux Klan, World War I, famine in Africa, car crashes and nuclear explosions, which puts a much darker slant on the song's lyrics. The video was slightly censored for broadcasts on the ABC-TV music show Countdown. A small segment of archive footage depicting a woman on fire was considered unsuitable for the show's early evening timeslot—despite the fact that the 'flames' were animated, not real—and this censored version is still screened occasionally on the ABC's music video series rage, including a mid-1990s episode hosted by Devo.
Track listing
7" single
- "Beautiful World" – 3:32
- "Enough Said" – 3:25
Picture disc
- "Beautiful World" - 3:32
- "Nu-tra Speaks (New Traditionalist Man)" - 2:16
Chart performance
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100[2][3] | 102 |
| Australia ARIA Top 100[4] | 14 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Top 50[5] | 15 |
Other versions
- It was covered by indie rock band Harvey Danger
- It was covered by the synthpop band Information Society, with vocals by Gerald Casale of Devo.
- It was covered by Rap/rock group Rage Against the Machine on their final studio album Renegades.
- It was covered by musician and photographer Louis Guidone[6]
References
- https://www.discogs.com/Devo-Beautiful-World/release/577716
- "allmusic ((( Devo > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
- Whitburn, Joel. Bubbling Under Singles & Albums (1998): 64
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 88. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "charts.nz - Discography Devo". © 2006-2010 Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
- https://louisguidone.bandcamp.com/track/beautiful-world