James Bluntâs life is brilliant.
From recording songs in the bathroom at Carrie Fisherâs house and knowing the truth behind the mysterious cut on Ed Sheeranâs face to possibly preventing World War III (for real), nothing about Blunt is exactly what youâd assume. Even the singerâs world-renowned single, âYouâre Beautiful,â is largely misinterpreted, as he explained to The Huffington Post.
âEveryone goes, âAh, heâs so romantic. I want âYouâre Beautifulâ as my wedding song.â These people are fucked up,â said Blunt, bluntly.
The success of Bluntâs mid-2000s hit put the singer on the map and reportedly led to him having the U.K.âs best selling album of that decade, but itâs also caused him a bit of frustration over the years. Some, like those people playing it at weddings, still donât seem to know what the song is actually about.
The singer said, âYou get labeled with these things like, âOh, James Blunt. Isnât he just a soft romantic?â Well, fuck that. No, Iâm not. âYouâre Beautifulâ is not this soft romantic fucking song. Itâs about a guy whoâs high as a fucking kite on drugs in the subway stalking someone elseâs girlfriend when that guy is there in front of him, and he should be locked up or put in prison for being some kind of perv.â
Blunt has now released his new album, âThe Afterlove,â which is as surprising as the true meaning of that song â mostly because it doesnât sound like a James Blunt album, according to Blunt.
The singer said his previous albums were all related to each other and more âlyrically filtered,â but for this, collaborators such as Sheeran and OneRepublicâs Ryan Tedder inspired him to really âsay something.â
Blunt credits Sheeran and Tedder with helping him open up on the album about when âYouâre Beautifulâ became a phenomenon and the backlash he received. He even pokes fun at it in his first single, âLove Me Better,â saying, âWouldâve said youâre beautiful, but I used that line before.â
âWe start off saying, âOK, people say the meanest things. Iâve been called a dick. Iâve been called worse than that,â and I wanted to beep out the words, so you can put in your own word ... because then youâd probably do what rhymes with blunt,â the singer said with a laugh.
He continued, â[As] we progressed, we [said] we should say things that are associated with being in the position Iâm in. Legally, Iâm barely allowed to say the word âbeautiful,â contractually obliged not to. So thatâs why we thought weâd mess around with it.â
Is it an annoying song? No, itâs not, unless itâs shoved down your fucking throat a shitload.James Blunt
In past interviews, Blunt supposedly âconfessesâ that âYouâre Beautifulâ became annoying. Now, more than a decade after its release, we asked about his real feelings toward the song.
Blunt explains he was âreally luckyâ to sing something people actually love.
âBut too much of a good thing turns into a bad thing eventually, and it got a lot of airplay, and it doesnât take much to work out that kind of thing. I love hamburgers, but if you give me a hamburger for every meal Iâm gonna tire of it,â he said. âIs it an annoying song? No, itâs not, unless itâs shoved down your fucking throat a shitload.â
He continued, saying that dismissing the song would be disrespectful to fans, âThe fact that you and I are talking really is only because of that song. Itâs one of the highlights of the concerts. Not the highlight, but one of them, and for me itâs a highlight because itâs almost the end of the concert and nearly time for a beer.â
The singer hasnât revealed which of his ex-girlfriends his worldwide hit is about, and he tells us he never will because âthat person never asked for that.â
But if you are in the camp that finds the song âannoying,â rest assured that Blunt wonât catch eyes with another ex on the subway in order to write a follow-up anytime soon.
âThe weird thing about the subway is no one looks at each other. So I play the O2 in London. Itâs a 20,000 capacity venue, and then Iâll take the subway to my gig, and everyoneâs going to my gig, and no one looks at you. If anyone does, they say, âHey, you look exactly like James Blunt, only smaller.ââ