Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is a song written and performed by John Lennon. It was released on the 1980 album Double Fantasy, the last album by Lennon and Ono released before his death.

"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)"
Single by John Lennon
from the album Double Fantasy
A-side"Watching the Wheels"
Released11 April 1981
Recorded1980
GenrePop rock
Length4:02
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)John Lennon
Producer(s)
John Lennon singles chronology
"Woman"
(1981)		 "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)"
(1981)		 "Love"
(1982)
Double Fantasy track listing
14 tracks
Side one
  1. "(Just Like) Starting Over"
  2. "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
  3. "Cleanup Time"
  4. "Give Me Something"
  5. "I'm Losing You"
  6. "I'm Moving On"
  7. "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)"
Side two
  1. "Watching the Wheels"
  2. "Yes, I'm Your Angel"
  3. "Woman"
  4. "Beautiful Boys"
  5. "Dear Yoko"
  6. "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him"
  7. "Hard Times Are Over"

Paul McCartney has stated this is one of his favourite songs composed by Lennon, and when he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1982 included it as his favourite in his selection, as did Yoko Ono as the only John Lennon song in 2007.[1][2]

It was used as the B-side of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to promote the compilation album The John Lennon Collection in November 1982.

Lyrics

The song was for Lennon's son, Sean, his only child with Yoko Ono. It begins with John comforting his son from what is presumably a nightmare and develops into John passionately describing the love he has for his son and the joy Sean gave him.

At the end of the song, John Lennon whispers, "Good night, Sean. See you in the morning. Bright and early."

The lyrics of "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" contain the famous Allen Saunders 1957 Readers Digest quote "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.

Personnel

Celine Dion version
"Beautiful Boy"
Single by Celine Dion
from the album Miracle
Released4 October 2004 (2004-10-04)
Recorded2004 Digital Insights Recording, Chartmarker Studios, Sony Studios
GenrePop
Length3:53
Label
Songwriter(s)John Lennon
Producer(s)David Foster
Celine Dion singles chronology
"You and I"
(2004)		 "Beautiful Boy"
(2004)		 "Miracle"
(2004)

"Beautiful Boy" was recorded by Celine Dion for her album, Miracle (2004). It was released on 4 October 2004, in North America and parts of Europe as the first promotional single.[3]

The song reached number two on the Quebec Airplay Chart. "Beautiful Boy" was also popular on adult contemporary charts, peaking at number 18 in the US and number 23 in Canada.[4][5] It also reached number 30 on the Hungarian Airplay Chart.

Dion performed this song on a few US TV shows, including Live with Regis and Kelly.

Charts
Chart (2004–2005) Peak
position
Canada AC (Billboard)[5] 23
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[6] 30
Quebec (ADISQ)[7] 2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[4] 18

In other media
  • In 2014, Lennon's version was played in the DreamWorks movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman as background during Mr. Peabody's journey through his memories of Sherman as he grew up. The song was also included as track 7 on the movie soundtrack.
  • US sitcom The New Normal used the song in its season one finale, "The Big Day".[8]
  • "Beautiful Boy" is played by autistic character in the CBS show God Friended Me in 2018.
  • The line "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans" is referred in the 2015 video game Life Is Strange.
  • The same line is referred in the song 'Right Side Of Wrong' from Bon Jovi, which was released on their Album 'Bounce' in 2002.
  • "Beautiful Boy" (2018) by Felix Van Groeningen was named after Lennon's song, his song is also sung by the main character to his own son.
  • In "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995), the song is sung and signed in American sign language by the title character (played by Richard Dreyfuss) to his deaf son, Cole.

References
  1. "Paul McCartney: Desert Island Discs". BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. "Yoko Ono: Desert Island Discs". BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. "R&R Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. 1 October 2004. p. 20. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  4. "Celine Dion Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  5. "R&R Canada AC Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. 3 December 2004. p. 48. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  6. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. "Le Palmarès". ADISQ. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  8. "Yoko Ono Approves Use of John Lennon Song in 'The New Normal'". Rolling Stone. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
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