"
Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" is the fourth single from the debut album
Life in Cartoon MotionLife in Cartoon Motion is the debut album by pop singer Mika, produced by Greg Wells and Mika, mixed by Greg Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, released on Island Records on February 5, 2007 in the UK, and on Universal/Motown Records on March 27, 2007 in the...
of singer,
MikaMika , sometimes stylised MIKA, , is a London-based, Grammy-nominated and BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music...
. It reached #9 in the UK charts. It was released on 23 July 2007. It was inspired by, and written for the
Butterfly Lounge, the first
Size AcceptanceThe fat acceptance movement, also known as the size acceptance movement, fat liberation movement or fat power, is a grassroots effort to change societal attitudes towards acceptance of fat people...
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
in
Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,846,293, though a July 2008 estimate placed the population at 3,010,759, making it the second most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and...
. The club is mentioned specifically in the lyrics "Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge.
"
Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" is the fourth single from the debut album
Life in Cartoon MotionLife in Cartoon Motion is the debut album by pop singer Mika, produced by Greg Wells and Mika, mixed by Greg Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, released on Island Records on February 5, 2007 in the UK, and on Universal/Motown Records on March 27, 2007 in the...
of singer,
MikaMika , sometimes stylised MIKA, , is a London-based, Grammy-nominated and BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music...
. It reached #9 in the UK charts. It was released on 23 July 2007. It was inspired by, and written for the
Butterfly Lounge, the first
Size AcceptanceThe fat acceptance movement, also known as the size acceptance movement, fat liberation movement or fat power, is a grassroots effort to change societal attitudes towards acceptance of fat people...
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
in
Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 2,846,293, though a July 2008 estimate placed the population at 3,010,759, making it the second most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and...
. The club is mentioned specifically in the lyrics "Get yourself to the Butterfly Lounge. Find yourself a big lady”, and is now their theme song. When Mika performed this song at
Oxegen 07Oxegen '07 was the fourth Oxegen festival to take place, following the dissolution of its predecessor Witnness in 2004. It took place on the weekend of Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8 at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland. The festival was headlined by Muse and Snow...
he dedicated it to
Beth DittoMary Beth "Ditto" Patterson is an American singer-songwriter, most famous for her work with the indie rock band The Gossip.-Personal life:...
of
The GossipGossip are a three-piece American indie rock band fronted by Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie...
, who had performed on Stage 2/NME before him. A B-side of the single is "
Standing in the Way of Control"Standing in the Way of Control" is a single by the American indie rock band The Gossip from the album of the same name. The remix by Le Tigre was released in 2005, the original was then released as a single in 2006, and was re-released again on February 26 2007...
".
Music video
The video was filmed on May 19, 2007 and features several curvy women running down
Croydon high streetNorth End is a pedestrianized road in Central Croydon which is the main equivalent to a high street in Croydon. The road holds both of the main shopping centres, Centrale and Whitgift Centre plus a forthcoming one called Park Place. The road offers many well-known shops such as WHSmith, Next, Zara...
and
Surrey Street MarketSurrey Street Market is a market that sells mainly meat & vegetables as well as a range of other items through the week in Croydon, south London. It has a Royal Charter dating back to 1276 linking it to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The market is regularly used as a location for TV, film and...
in corsets and dresses. The finale of the video features a whole gathering of curvy women celebrating.
In popular culture
- Mika has also rerecorded the track as the promo theme for the second season of the American Dramedy series "Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series created by Silvio Horta, which premiered on The American Broadcasting Company on September 28, 2006. The series revolves around Betty Suarez, an unglamorous and good-natured girl, and her incongruous job at the ultra-chic New York City...
", but with altered lyrics to say "Hey Betty, You Are Beautiful" in its chorus.
- In Australia, Crazy John TV advertisements used a sample of this song.
UK CD single
- "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Album Version) - 4:08
- "Instant Martyr"
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (Live from Hong Kong)
- "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Tom Middleton Remix) - 5:52
7" Vinyl single
- A1. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Album Version) - 4:08
- B1. "Standing in the Way of Control" (Live from Radio 1's One Big Weekend)
12" vinyl single
- A1. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Tom Middleton Remix) - 5:52
- A2. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Bonde Do Role Remix) - 3:48
- B1. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Lo-Fi-Fnk Remix) - 6:12
- B2. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" (Hick Nurdman Remix) - 5:44
Charts
| Chart (2007/2008) |
Peak
position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
|
23 |
| Estonia Singles |
5 |
| Billboard Euro Hot |
28 |
| Billboard Canadian Hot 100 |
86 |
| Belgian Singles Chart |
5 |
| Dutch Top 40 |
4 |
| Finland Singles Top 20 |
5 |
| Irish Singles |
9 |
| Italian Singles Chart |
47 |
| German Singles Chart |
19 |
| Norway Singles Top 20 |
18 |
| Austria Singles Chart |
8 |
| Switzerland Singles Chart |
29 |
| Latvia Singles Chart |
9 |
| Lebanon Singles |
5 |
| Swedish Top 60 Singles |
26 |
| UK Singles Chart |
9 |
Certifications
| Country |
Certification |
Sales/Shipments |
| Australia |
Gold |
35,000+ |
External links