"Beautiful Things" is a pop-rock ballad where Benson Boone contemplates life's unpredictable nature and the fear of losing the beautiful things he cherishes.
Boone thanks God for the gifts he has received while hoping his current happiness will endure. The chorus encapsulates the emotional core of the song as he pleads to the heavens.
Please stay
I want you, I need you, oh, God
Don't take
These beautiful things that I've got
The song explores the universal fear of impermanence. It confronts the fragility of happiness, the fleeting nature of time, and the constant shadow of loss that looms over even the most beautiful moments.
Boone wrote "Beautiful Things" with Jack LaFrantz and the song's producer Evan Blair. They recorded "Beautiful Things" on the first day they worked together.
The Toronto native Evan Blair has also worked with the likes of Nessa Barrett ("
I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead"), Dove Cameron ("
Boyfriend") and Anne-Marie ("
Sad Bitch").
After teasing the song on TikTok and Instagram, Boone released it on January 18, 2024, through Night Street Records and Warner Records. By that date, the previews had amassed over 130 million views on social media.
In the "Beautiful Things" music video, Boone and his band perform on a mountaintop. Boone's choice of a mountain for the visual isn't accidental. The soaring heights reflect the song's yearning for permanence, and the treacherous slopes remind us that happiness is fraught with impermanence.
Benson Boone wrote "Beautiful Things" at his piano on September 29, 2023, shortly after relocating to Los Angeles.
Recalling the moment to Billboard, he said he couldn't sleep one night and, feeling restless, descended to his living room where he had placed his grandmother's old piano. There, Boone began playing and created the melodies for "Beautiful Things." The following day, during a studio session, he brought the piece to life.
The lyrics were inspired by a relationship Boone had just gotten into. "For the first time in my life, I felt like I was extremely out of control of the way this relationship would turn out," he told Billboard.
Boone had always confidently ended past relationships, believing himself the architect of his romantic destiny. Now, facing the potential loss of something truly precious, he grappled with an unfamiliar and potent fear: the fear of being left. The tables had turned, and the prospect of abandonment gnawed at him with an intensity he'd never known.
The song takes a sonic pivot in the middle. Boone explained that during the initial writing phase he struggled to find a chorus for the verse melody, so he ended up creating two separate song ideas. However, during the studio session with Jack LaFrantz, the suggestion to combine the two ideas into one song came up. This integration proved challenging to structure, with discussions over whether to go for an all-slow approach or incorporate three choruses. It took two weeks of post-production to reshape the song and crack the code.
"Beautiful Things" won for Best Alternative at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where Boone also performed the song. He was nominated for Best New Artist, which went to Chappell Roan.
"Beautiful Things" was the most-tagged song globally on Shazam in 2024.
Boone sang "Beautiful Things" at the Grammy Awards in 2025 in a performance that involved getting his tuxedo ripped off by Heidi Klum and Nikki Glaser, and an impressive flip off a piano. He was nominated for Best New Artist but lost to Chappell Roan.
In 2024, "Beautiful Things" reigned supreme as the planet's biggest hit, earning the IFPI Global Single Award. This prestigious award recognizes the year's best-performing single across all digital platforms worldwide.
"Beautiful Things" broke the record for the slowest climb to #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart when it reached the top spot in its 55th week on the listing.
"
If You're Gone" by Matchbox Twenty previously held the record when it ascended to #1 in October 2001 on its 42nd week on the tally.
