Beautiful Life (Ace of Base song)

"Beautiful Life" is a song by Swedish band Ace of Base, released on 20 October 1995.[1] In North America, it was the first single released from The Bridge; in Europe, it followed "Lucky Love". The song peaked at number 3 in Canada, and number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and in the UK. In addition, it was a Top 10 hit in Denmark, Finland, France and Hungary, and a Top 20 hit in Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Scotland. In 2017, BuzzFeed listed the song at number 51 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s".[3]

"Beautiful Life"
Artwork for US release; international release uses different typeface for the song title and includes the band's name
Single by Ace of Base
from the album The Bridge
Released20 October 1995[1]
GenreEurodance, Dance-pop [2]
Length3:38
LabelMega
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Ace of Base singles chronology
"Lucky Love"
(1995)		 "Beautiful Life"
(1995)		 "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry"
(1996)
Music video
"Beautiful Life" on YouTube
Audio sample
  • file
  • help

Background and release
"I was at the Canary Islands in Spain, and the last evening I just heard the song ‘Beautiful Life’ in my head. I have the ability to hear three different melodies in my head at the same time — it’s very helpful while composing songs. Melody, bass and a flute on a chourus for example. It was melancholic to leave the islands and it was a wonderful evening, with the mood and sunset. It was a beautiful life!"

—Jonas Berggren talking to Idolator about how the song was made.[4]

The song was written on 1 January 1994 by band member Jonas Berggren while he was in the Canary Islands. At the time, "The Sign" had just hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list, which inspired him to write the song. On a late flight home he heard some chords, and started humming, and there the song was made. He had to record it swiftly so he wouldn't forget it. Berggren incorporated gospel elements into the song and the roof-raising gospel singing toward the end was made by a four-piece female group that Denniz Pop had. They tracked those vocals many times over for maximum soulful impact.[5]

The single proved quite successful worldwide, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart in December 1995.[6] It also hit #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. "Beautiful Life" peaked within the Top 10 in Canada, Denmark, Finland, France and Hungary.

In a 2018 interview, Ulf Ekberg told that Michael Jackson, after asking to meet the band when they performed "Beautiful Life" at World Music Awards in Monaco, told them that he thought that it was the best song that he had heard in so many years.[7]

Critical reception

The Baltimore Sun noted the song as "technotinged" and added that it "tempers its impetuous pulse and seemingly happy message with a memorably sad melody."[8] Larry Flick from Billboard described the song as a "jaunty, incredibly catchy li'l ditty that indulges in Euro-NRG dance rhythms while continuing to mine the Abba-esque pop melodies". He noted that "even the act's detractors will find it impossible to resist the sugar-coated confection, with shoulder-shaking percussion and sing-along chorus."[9] Cash Box stated that "for this track, the quartet has jumped into this decade with a rocking dance beat that embodies the group's European heritage."[10] The Daily Vault's Michael R. Smith described the song as a "high-octane techno gem".[11] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "Those asking the musical question—can Ace Of Base repeat? The answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!"[12] Music & Media called the song a "hyper-kinetic rhythm topped off by a killer hook that's part of your system before you realise it."[13] Neil Strauss from The New York Times commented that "Beautiful Life" is "pure treacly pleasure, with bubbling keyboards and a fast, chirpy rhythm that will inspire most listeners to forget that the 70's ever ended and accept the chorus -- "It's a beautiful life"—for one night of disco-era hedonism."[14] Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In said it is "a joyful admonition to hang tough when times get hard."[15] Øystein Molander from Romerikes Blad stated that with songs like "Beautiful Life" and "Lucky Love", Ace of Base shows "that they have become worthy heirs of ABBA and Roxette."[16] J.D. Considine for Spin magazine noted in a writeup about The Bridge that "the real genius of Ace of Base lies not with perky singing... but with the ability to make melancholy sound so damned appealing." The evaluation continues to narrow in scope as he continues to say "even the cheerfully titled 'Beautiful life' dampens its club-savvy stomp with a heartbreaking minor key chorus."[17] People wrote that the song "offers a blast of jumpy techno".[18] Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service said that the "contagious" "Beautiful Life" is "a high-energy dance song that rings with unbridled optimism (and eschews the reggae cadence of the group's previous American hits)." He added that "the Berggren sisters sing in ABBA-esque exclamation points on the song."[19]

Music video

The video for the song was directed by Richard Heslop, who would go on to direct the band's later video for "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry". The video was shot on YFO Studios in Gothenburg in October 1995.[20] The music video included computer-generated bubbles which whisked the band from place to place. According to music channel VH1 in the United States, the band's record label, Arista Records, insisted the bubbles be removed from the video, leading to a somewhat strange-looking U.S. video, with the band members looking at (and reacting to) bubbles that were no longer there. In Europe, both versions of the video were released. In addition to the two alternate videos, remix videos were also created, and VH1 released a Pop-Up Video version of the video in 1998.

Track listings

Personnel

Charts

Cover versions

Indie band Jukebox The Ghost recorded a cover of the song for Engine Room Recordings' compilation album Guilt by Association Vol. 2, which was released in November 2008.[50]

In 2015, the American dance-pop trio Punch !nc recorded a reimagined version of the song, titled "Heaven (Beautiful Life)." This version has reached number six on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart.[51]

Russian metal cover project Even Blurry Videos released their version of the song on YouTube in November 2019.

Appearances in other media
  • This song was included on the Night at the Roxbury (1998) soundtrack and was featured in the advertising campaign for the movie.
  • The song was featured by the Filipino dance group "The Streetboys" (members like Vhong Navarro, Jhong Hilario and others) performed in the variety show in the Philippines, Eat Bulaga! in 1996.
  • The song was used in a TV advertisement for Lincraft in Australia.
  • The song was the first to be played the night that the Florida Marlins won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series.
  • The song was also heard in the Adam Sandler films, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry from 2007 and You Don't Mess With The Zohan from 2008.
  • The Colombian latin pop singer Sara Tunes produced a new version of the song with a more electronic sound which has a rhythm similar to house music or dubstep, originally included on her second studio album, titled "XOXO".
  • In the episode "The Eye of the Kong" of the web series Game Grumps, a MIDI version of the song is played as part of a montage.[52]
  • The song appeared on the episode from the TV show Hindsight, "Auld Lang Syne".
  • The song featured on the soundtrack for Russian TV series Olga on TNT.
  • The song is featured in the episode from the Netflix original series Everything Sucks!, "I Just Wanna Be Anybody".
  • Wrestlers LJ Cleary, Nathan Martin and Darren Kearney, better known as More Then Hype, use this as an entrance theme when they come to the ring.

References
  1. "Ace of Base's success fuels Swedish confidence". Billboard. 28 October 1995. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  2. "Beautiful Life". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  3. Stopera, Matt; Galindo, Brian (11 March 2017). "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  4. "The 50 Best Pop Singles Of 1994 (Featuring New Interviews With Ace Of Base, TLC, Lisa Loeb, Real McCoy & Haddaway)". idolator.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  5. "Ace of Base Founder Discusses 'New' Album, Shares the Stories Behind the Band's 5 Biggest Hits". billboard.com. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  6. Billboard – Google Boeken. 16 December 1995. Retrieved 15 January 2012 – via Internet Archive.
  7. "When Ace of Base rode the wheel of fortune". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. "'Bridge' puts Ace of Base on the path to new respect Music review: With "The Bridge," the Swedish band shows it goes far deeper than the catchy lyrics that made its reputation". The Baltimore Sun. 14 November 1995. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  9. "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. 28 October 1995. p. 88. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. "Pop Singles: Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 9 December 1995. p. 7. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  11. "Ace of Base - The Bridge". The Daily Vault. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  12. Sholin, Dave (13 October 1995). "Gavin Picks > Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. No. 2075. p. 78. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  13. "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 4 November 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  14. Strauss, Neil (1996). "POP MUSIC;New Releases". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  15. Waliszewski, Bob. "The Bridge – Plugged In Online Album Reviews". Plugged In. Focus on the Family. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  16. Molander, Øystein (7 November 1995). "Verdige arvtakere". Romerikes Blad (in Norwegian). p. 22. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  17. J.D. Considine (February 1996), "Ace of Base – The Bridge", Spin magazine
  18. "Picks and Pans Review: The Bridge". People. 4 December 1995. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  19. Campbell, Chuck (28 November 1995). "NEW RELEASES: ACE OF BASE, THE AMPS, OZZY OSBOURNE". Scripps Howard News Service. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  20. Ace of Base gallery
  21. "Australian-charts.com – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  22. "Austriancharts.at – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  23. "Ultratop.be – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  24. "Ultratop.be – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  25. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2872." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  26. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2846." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  27. "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 2866." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  28. "Top 10 Denmark" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  29. "Ace of Base: Beautiful Life" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  30. "Lescharts.com – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  31. "Offiziellecharts.de – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  32. "Top 10 Hungary" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  33. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (13.01.1996 - 19.01.1996)" (PDF). Dagblaðið Vísir – Tónlist. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  34. Search for Irish peaks Archived 2 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  35. http://www.charts-surfer.de/musiksuche.php
  36. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Ace of Base" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  37. "Dutchcharts.nl – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  38. "Charts.nz – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  39. "Scottish Singles Chart (04 February 1996 – 10 February 1996)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  40. "Swedishcharts.com – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  41. "Swisscharts.com – Ace of Base – Beautiful Life". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  42. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  43. "Ace Of Base Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  44. Allmusic. Ace of Base | Billboard Singles.
  45. "Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box (16 December 1995). Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  46. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1996". The Australian Record Industry Association Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  47. "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1996". RPM. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  48. Canada Top 50 Dance Tracks of 1996
  49. "1996 Year-End Sales Charts: Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  50. Matthew Solarski (19 November 2008). "My Brightest Diamond, Frightened Rabbit Do Covers". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 June 2009.
  51. Chart history for Punch !nc from Billboard
  52. Nintendo Land: The Eye of the Kong – PART 7 – Game Grumps. Game Grumps. 2012. Event occurs at 12:13.
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