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

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.