The inspiration and meaning behind this song came from a few different places. I’d been wanting to write a 3/4 song because I love some of Hawksley Workman’s songs in this style. The phrase “You’re Beautiful Inside” came to me along with the music, so that was the seed that I used to start figuring out what else it could say.

I was thinking about how the phrase “You’re Beautiful Inside” could be said for a variety of reasons and with a variety of intentions. It could be said to someone with good intent to tell them that they appreciate their non-physical attributes. It could be said in a condescending way to imply that their physical appearance is lacking.

One idea that kept coming up for me was the idea of a person with physical deformities, and the story of “The Elephant Man”. I ended up imagining a twist on the story in “The Elephant Man”, with a man finding a woman with an unusual physical appearance who’s forced to be a sideshow in a circus. He attempts to rescue her and set her free, though it’s unclear exactly what his intentions are and what he’s encouraging her to do.

As with all of the songs on my debut album, I wrote, performed, recorded and mixed myself it in my 104 year-old house.

Lyrics

You’re beautiful inside
That’s what they’ll say to you
Darling you know it’s true
So there’s no reason to hide

You’re beautiful inside
So don’t let them get to you
There’s nothing that you can do
So be the way that you are

You’ll be my queen
I’ll be your soldier
And when this is over
You’ll be something to see
And I’ll be your guiding light
If you’ll be my one true love
Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side

You’re beautiful inside
The darkness that follows you
Like a picture that faded through
You find so deep in the night

You’re beautiful inside
And oh if they only knew
All the trouble that you’ve been through
You try to leave it behind

You’ll be my queen
I’ll be your soldier
And when this is over
You’ll be something to see
And I’ll be your guiding light
If you’ll be my one true love
Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

You’re beautiful inside
The walls closing in on you
All the things that you’ll never do
And now you’re going to fly

You’re beautiful inside
You better see this through
Tell the world that you’re leaving soon
And come, run right into the night

You’ll be my queen
I’ll be your soldier
And when this is over
You’ll be something to see
And I’ll be your guiding light
If you’ll be my one true love
Come and be with me tonight, stay by my side