There are billions of songs about being in love and even more about losing love, but there aren’t many about being in love yet lying awake at night terrified everything will go away. That’s precisely what singer-songwriter Benson Boone has given us with “Beautiful Things,” an earnest folk-rock tune that landed today and debuted inside the Top 5 of the Genius Top Songs chart.
Boone—who appeared on American Idol before building a massive social media audience and signing with a deal with Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons—wrote “Beautiful Things” with Jackson Lafrantz Larsen and the track’s producer, Evan Blair. In the opening verse, Boone sets himself up as a narrator who’s been through some hard times. But now everything is working out.
And I see my family every month
I found a girl my parents love
She’ll come and stay the night, and I think I might have it all
But Boone is apparently familiar with The Book of Job.
And I thank God every day
For the girl he sent my way
But I know the things he gives me, he can take away
On the pre-chorus, as the guitar strumming gets a bit more urgent, Boone lets his fears take hold.
Please stay
I want you, I need you, oh God
Don’t take
These beautiful things that I’ve got
Boone takes a step back on the second verse and wonders why he’s so fixated on the possibility of things going wrong.
I found my mind, I’m feelin’ sane
It’s been a while, but I’m finding my faith
If everything’s good and it’s great, why do I sit and wait ’til it’s gone?
He never arrives at a proper answer, but these things take time. In the “Beautiful Things” music video, Boone and his band perform on a mountaintop—a great place for contemplating love and faith and why you can’t allow yourself to be happy.
You can read all the lyrics to “Beautiful Things” on Genius now.
