(Lyrics taken from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/onedirection/whatmakesyoubeautiful.html)
[Verse 1]
[Liam]
You're insecure,
Don't know what for,
You're turning heads when you walk through the door,
Don't need make-up,
To cover up,
Being the way that you are is enough,
Analysis:
There is girl who suffers from self-esteem
issues. However, Liam asserts this does not mean she doesn’t have value. She can be beautiful by just being
herself. She doesn’t need to change her appearance or personality, as implied
by the verb “are”, a conjugation of “to be,” which implies that the way she
acts or presents herself is enough to be beautiful.
[Bridge]
[Harry]
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,
Analysis:
Just because she is unaware of her beauty does
not mean that other people do not see her beauty.
[Chorus]
[All]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Analysis:
The girl in question is radiantly and uniquely
beautiful. Though she suffers from self-esteem problems she has a certain level
of personality present in her hair flipping. However her shy smiling at the
ground betrays her body image issues and lack of confidence. She is unaware
that she is beautiful.
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
The speaker sees a beauty in this girl that she
herself cannot see. And if she could understand what he sees then she would not
have her self-esteem issues. However, her beauty appears to stem from her
humility, implying that this beauty is not entirely physical, though the vagueness
of the line still allows for that.
[Verse 2]
[Zayn]
So c-come on,
You got it wrong,
To prove I'm right,
I put it in a song,
I don't know why,
You're being shy,
And turn away when I look into your eye eye eyes,
Her self-esteem issues are a failure for her to
understand her own beauty. However, this man seems to think that by singing a
thought he makes it true. This is a logical fallacy so intense it brings the
rest of his argument into question. Putting that aside for now though, he ends
this rather week stanza with a declaration of his bafflement at the girl’s
self-esteem issues. Perhaps he is ignorant to societal standards.
[Bridge]
[Harry]
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,
The repetition of this line calls attention to
the importance of the fact that everyone else is aware of her beauty, even if
the girl is not.
[Chorus]
[All]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
See previous chorus analysis.
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na Na Na [x2]
I believe this sequence serves to fill
up extra time in the song, but may also serve to be a repeated denial of the
girl’s self-esteem issues in the hope that she will begin to see her inherent
beauty.
[Middle 8]
[Harry]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
[All]
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
[Chorus]
[All]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful ([Zayn:] Oh),
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately ([Harry:] Desperately),
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
[Harry]
That's what makes you beautiful
Rather than repeat my previous analysis of the last paragraphs, I
will summarize my critique now. Though this song suffers from a few weak
points, such as vague points and the entire stanza sung by Zayn, it has many
strong point and appears to be working to encourage girls to not fear that they
may be being judged as ugly or invaluable and instead to focus on their
inherent beauty, which could well stem from a physical beauty or from an inner
beauty. The overall message and theme of this song is a positive one. Girls, don’t
live your life in constant fear of judgment or being called “ugly.” You are beautiful
whether you know it or not.
In conclusion,I think this song has a pretty decent message, one that girls need to hear more often in a world populated by Usher and LMFAO. Also, though I try my hardest not to enjoy this song, it's too catchy for me not to like it. Here's a link to my favorite covers so far, as well as the original.
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