Beautiful Stranger
"Beautiful Stranger" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on May 19, 1999, by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records as a single from the soundtrack of the film, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the song with William Orbit. The soundtrack for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was a much expected release and Madonna's song was chosen by the album's executive producers to promote it. "Beautiful Stranger" has appeared on three separate Madonna greatest hits collections: GHV2 (2001), Celebration (2009) and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022). Musically, "Beautiful Stranger" is a psychedelic pop and disco song that features heavily reverberated guitars and bouncy drum loops. Its lyrics tell the tale of a romantic infatuation.
For other uses, see Beautiful Stranger (disambiguation)."Beautiful Stranger"
May 19, 1999
February 1999
- Guerilla Beach
- (Los Angeles, California)
- Enterprise
- (Burbank, California)
4:22
- Madonna
- William Orbit
- Madonna
- William Orbit
The song received positive feedback from music critics who praised the production and Madonna's progress with her music, following her critically acclaimed album Ray of Light (1998). It was a commercial success reaching the top of the charts in Canada, Finland, Iceland and Italy, number two in the United Kingdom and top-ten in many markets. Although the song was not commercially released in the United States, it reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to airplay. It reached number one on the US dance charts. "Beautiful Stranger" also earned Madonna her fifth Grammy Award, winning the trophy for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
The song's music video, directed by Brett Ratner, prominently features Madonna singing in a club, visited by Mike Myers as his character Austin Powers. At the end of the video Madonna seduces Myers and goes off in his car. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film in 1999. Madonna performed the song on her 2001 Drowned World Tour, and it has been covered by some artists, including a critically acclaimed version by Australian rock band DMA's.
Recording and composition[edit]
Recording for "Beautiful Stranger" took place in February 1999 at the Guerilla Beach Studios in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Enterprise Studio in Burbank, California.[13] Along with writing and producing the song with Madonna, Orbit also played the keyboards and the guitar on the track. Damian LeGassick did the programming and additional keyboard while Emma Fowler played the flute. The engineering team included Pat McCarthy, Mark Endert and Dave Chelsea, with McCarthy also mixing the track. Jeff Gregmay and Wassim Zartek were the assistant recording engineers.[14] According to the sheet music published by Musicnotes.com, "Beautiful Stranger" is set in common time and is composed in a key of F♯ major with a mid dance tempo of 128 beats per minute. The song begins with a basic sequence of E–B–F♯–A–C♯ before moving to the main chord progression of C♯sus4–C♯7.[15]
"Beautiful Stranger" is a psychedelic pop[16] and disco[17] song and begins with a musical instrumentation reminiscent of "Light My Fire" (1967) by The Doors and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967) by The Beatles. The song's main structure is backed by guitar, while drums come in during the choruses. Around the 1:06 mark, there is a hint of mellotron and flute being played like The Beatles' 1967 songs "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "The Fool on the Hill".[18] The song has similar composition to Madonna's endeavors with her previous album Ray of Light, mixed with psychedelic music.[19] USA Today's Ken Barnes has suggested that the chorus, riff, instrumentation and structure of "Beautiful Stranger" were based on American rock band Love's 1966 single "She Comes in Colors".[20][21][22] The band's record company—Rhino Records—executive Gary Stewart stated that "Certainly, the riff and instrumentation [of 'Beautiful Stranger'] are reminiscent of 'She Comes in Colors,'" and that the "da da da da da" chorus on the track seems to be based upon "an instrumental flourish that's an integral part of the [Love] record. It may be a conscious or an unconscious homage." Madonna denied any such influence, claiming that she had never heard of Love.[20]
According to Michael Paoletta from Billboard, "no fierce-ruling club DJ in 1999 would [have] dared play the original jangly rock-etched version of the song". Hence the song was remixed by Victor Calderone, who kept the basic structure of the song, while mixing it with tribal infused beats. Unlike many of his then releases—where he removed the bulk of the song's lyrics for remixing—with "Beautiful Stranger" he kept them. Paoletta described the remixes as "if Calderone fully understands the importance of a song and understands how best to unite deft beats and a dazzling vocal performance."[5] The remixes include a rock-leaning version as well as Calderone's Club and Radio mixes.[23]
Chart performance[edit]
In the United States, "Beautiful Stranger" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 78 on June 12, 1999.[41] It was Madonna's first soundtrack single to chart on the Hot 100 since her rendition of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" reached number eight in March 1997. "Beautiful Stranger" also debuted at number 28 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.[42] It gradually climbed up the Hot 100 and peaked at number 19 on July 13, 1999, on the strength of radio airplay only.[43][44] Promis said that the relative low placement was due to the CD singles not being released.[23] "Beautiful Stranger" was successful on the Billboard dance charts, reaching number one on the Dance Club Songs chart.[45] It placed at number 31 on the year-end ranking for Dance Club Songs in 1999.[46] In Canada, "Beautiful Stranger" was able to top both the RPM Top Singles and Adult Contemporary charts, while also reaching a peak of number four on the Dance/Urban charts.[47][48][49] While the song was commercially released in Canada, it was ineligible to chart on the Canadian Singles Chart as Warner did not submit the necessary barcode information to Nielsen SoundScan.[50]
In Australia, "Beautiful Stranger" debuted at number eight on the ARIA Charts, and reached its peak of number five the next week, staying there for two weeks in total. It gradually descended down the charts, present within the top 50 for a total of 16 weeks.[51] It was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 35,000 copies of the single.[52] At the year end tabulation, the song ranked at number 34 on the Singles chart.[53] In New Zealand, "Beautiful Stranger" debuted at its peak position of number five. The single gradually descended down the charts, and was present for a total of 14 weeks.[54]
In the United Kingdom the song debuted at its peak of number two on the UK Singles Chart with first-week sales of over 135,000 copies. The song spent 16 weeks on the singles chart, with seven of those being within the top 20.[55][56] "Beautiful Stranger" also became one of the most played songs on UK radio, receiving over 2,462 plays per week, breaking the previous record held by Cher with her single "Believe".[57] According to the Official Charts Company, the song has sold 535,000 copies in the United Kingdom as of August 2016 and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).[58][55] Across Europe, "Beautiful Stranger" reached the top twenty of the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching the top of the charts in Finland and Italy.[51] It received a silver certification in France for shipment of 125,000 copies.[59] The song reached a peak of number two on the European Hot 100 Singles chart, also ranking number two in the 1999 year-end tabulation behind Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time".[60][61]