Beautiful Girl
by INXS

Album: Welcome to Wherever You Are (1992)
Charted: 23 46
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a frightened runaway the singer has befriended and wants to protect in a fatherly way. She goes from "doorway to doorway, corner to corner" trying to survive.
  • The song's lyricist, Andrew Farriss, was inspired to write it by the birth of his newly born baby daughter. In an interview with Debbie Kruger, the INXS keyboardist explained: "I just had the birth of my first daughter, Grace, and I was very much realizing that life had changed for me dramatically because I became a parent and I'd just gone that next step in my life. I was writing lyrics like 'Baby Don't Cry' and 'Beautiful Girl' and lyrics just about how wonderful it is to have something else in your life besides yourself to worry about and think about. So I began to have some interesting conversations with Michael (Hutchence), where he was still interested in writing fairly dark introspective lyrics, and I was trying to write very positive happy songs at a point in my life."
  • This song was used for an American TV awareness campaign about the effects of anorexia.
  • INXS singer Michael Hutchence explains on the album's promo interview disc: "In Australia, you technically can't be homeless, because we have systems to support people. But there are still a lot of runaways in the area where I live in Sydney (when I'm there). They're real normal kids who get into prostitution and drugs and it’s a real mess. Because they're so naive. I mean, these aren't city street kids, which is a whole different breed."

Comments: 1

  • Deblea from TexasBeautiful song, timeless and open ended, which leaves the listener a lovely gift ...to imagine where it is in their life.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Donny Osmond

Donny OsmondSongwriter Interviews

Donny Osmond talks about his biggest hits, his Vegas show, and the fan who taught him to take "Puppy Love" seriously.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.