Lyrics

"You're Beautiful Inside"

 

You’re beautiful inside 

That’s what they’ll say to you 

Darling you know it’s true  

So there’s no reason to hide 

 

You’re beautiful inside 

So don’t let them get to you 

There’s nothing that you can do 

So be the way that you are 

 

You’ll be my queen  

I’ll be your soldier  

And when this is over 

You’ll be something to see 

And I’ll be your guiding light 

If you’ll be my one true love 

Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side 

 

You’re beautiful inside 

The darkness that follows you 

Like a picture that faded through 

You find so deep in the night 

 

You’re beautiful inside 

And oh if they only knew 

All the trouble that you’ve been through 

You try to leave it behind 

 

You’ll be my queen  

I’ll be your soldier  

And when this is over 

You’ll be something to see 

And I’ll be your guiding light 

If you’ll be my one true love 

Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side

 

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah 

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

 

You’re beautiful inside 

The walls closing in on you 

All the things that you’ll never do  

And now you’re going to fly 

 

You’re beautiful inside 

You better see this through 

Tell the world that you’re leaving soon 

And come, run right into the night 

 

You’ll be my queen  

I’ll be your soldier  

And when this is over 

You’ll be something to see 

And I’ll be your guiding light 

If you’ll be my one true love 

Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side

 

 © 2021 Andrew J Stenehjem (ASCAP) 

Lyric Video

Background Information

The inspiration and meaning behind this song came from a few different places. I’d been wanting to write a 3/4 song because I love some of Hawksley Workman’s songs in this style. The phrase “You’re Beautiful Inside” came to me along with the music, so that was the seed that I used to start figuring out what else it could say. 

I was thinking about how the phrase “You’re Beautiful Inside” could be said for a variety of reasons and with a variety of intentions. It could be said to someone with good intent to tell them that they appreciate their non-physical attributes. It could be said in a condescending way to imply that their physical appearance is lacking. 

One idea that kept coming up for me was the idea of a person with physical deformities, and the story of “The Elephant Man”. I ended up imagining a twist on the story in “The Elephant Man”, with a man finding a woman with an unusual physical appearance who’s forced to be a sideshow in a circus. He attempts to rescue her and set her free, though it’s unclear exactly what his intentions are and what he’s encouraging her to do.

 As with all of the songs on my debut album, I wrote,  performed, recorded and mixed myself it in my 104 year-old house.