| Beautiful World | |
| Cover: | Devo-beautiful-world-virgin.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Devo |
| Album: | New Traditionalists |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 3:35 |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Producer: | Devo |
| Prev Title: | Through Being Cool |
| Prev Year: | 1981 |
| Next Title: | Working in the Coal Mine |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
"Beautiful World" is a song by American new wave band Devo, written by Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh. It appears on their fourth studio album New Traditionalists.
Most of the songs on New Traditionalists are darker and more direct than on previous Devo albums. The exception to this is "Beautiful World," whose message seems optimistic at first but changes as the song progresses. This is made even clearer by the song's promotional video.
Record World called it a "positive pop piece" that is "a polished, multi-format rocker."[1]
In addition to the standard 7-inch single, "Beautiful World" was also released as a picture disc. This version features the same image of a paper mask of a cosmonaut's face as the standard single sleeve and is cut in the shape of the cosmonaut's head. The picture disc version also includes a different B-side: the spoken word "Nu-tra Speaks (New Traditionalist Man)."[2]
The music video was inspired by the works of experimental film collagist Bruce Conner.[3] [4] The video features the character Booji Boy prominently, as he initially watches scenes of beautiful women, futuristic cars and other happy elements, which by the end of the song have been replaced by images of race riots, the Ku Klux Klan, World War I, famine in Africa, car crashes and nuclear explosions, which puts a much darker slant on the song's lyrics.
| Chart (1981–1982) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100[5] [6] | 102 | |
| Australia ARIA Top 100[7] | 14 | |
| New Zealand RIANZ Top 50[8] | 15 |