Beautiful Lyrics
Katie Ladner, Alice Lee, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Barrett Wilbert Weed & Elle McLemoreBeautiful
VERONICA:[Spoken] September 1st, 1989.
Dear Diary: I believe I'm a good person. Ya know, I think there's good in everyone,
but here we are first day of senior year. I look around at all these kids I've known all my life, and I ask myself: What happened?
KIDS:
Freak! Sl ut! Burnout! Bug-Eyes! Poser! Lard-a ss!
VERONICA:
We were so tiny, happy and shiny,
playing tag and getting chased.
KIDS:
Freak! Sl ut! Loser! Shortbus!
VERONICA:
Singing and clapping,
laughing and napping,
baking cookies, eating paste.
KIDS:
Bull-d*ke! Stuck-up! Hunchback!
VERONICA:
Then we got bigger.
That was the trigger,
Like the Huns invading Rome -
[Spoken] Sorry!
Welcome to my school,
This ain't no high school:
This is the Thunderdome.
Hold your breath
and count the days,
We're graduating soon.
KIDS:
White trash!
VERONICA:
College will be paradise
If I'm not dead by June!
But I know, I know, life can be beautiful.
I pray, I pray for a better way.
If we changed back then,
we could change again.
We can be beautiful...
(A PREPPY STUD knocks a HIPSTER DORK to the floor.)
HIPSTER DORK:
[Spoken.] Ow!
VERONICA:
Just not today.
[Spoken.] Hey, are you okay?
HIPSTER DORK:
Get away, nerd.
KIDS:
Freak! Sl*t! Cripple! H*mo! H*mo! H*mo!
VERONICA:
Things will get better
As soon as my letter
comes from Harvard, Duke, or Brown.
Wake from this coma,
Take my diploma,
Then I can blow this town.
Dream of my ivy-covered walls
and smoky French cafes...
(VERONICA jostles RAM SWEENEY.)
RAM:
[Spoken.] Watch it!
VERONICA:
Fight the urge to strike a match
and send this dump ablaze!
(RAM upends VERONICA'S lunch tray.)
RAM:
Ooooops.
VERONICA:
[Spoken.] Ram Sweeney. Third year as a linebacker. And eighth year of smacking lunch trays and BEING A HUGE D*CK.
RAM:
What did you say to me ska nk?
VERONICA:
... Nothing.
VERONICA & KIDS:
But I know, I know, I know...
Life can be beautiful.
I pray, I pray, I pray
For a better way.
We were kind before.
We can be kind once more.
We can be beautiful...
(MARTHA approaches.)
VERONICA:
Agh!... Hey Martha.
MARTHA:
Hey.
(MARTHA helps VERONICA pick up her tray.)
VERONICA:
Martha Dunnstock. My best friend since diapers.
MARTHA:
We on for movie night?
VERONICA:
Yeah, you're on Jiffy Pop detail.
MARTHA:
I rented "The Princess Bride."
VERONICA:
Again? Don't you have it memorized by now?
MARTHA:
What can I say? I'm a s*cker for a happy ending.
KURT:
Martha Dumptruck! Wide load! Honnnnnk!
(KURT KELLY knocks the tray from MARTHA'S hands.)
VERONICA:
Kurt Kelly. Quarterback. He is the smartest guy on the football team. Which is kind of like being the tallest dwarf.
(Furious, to KURT) Hey! Pick that up right now!
KURT:
I'm sorry, are you actually talking to me?
VERONICA:
Yes, I am. I wanna know what gives you the right to pick on my friend? You're a high school has-been waiting to happen. A future gas station attendant.
KURT:
... You have a zit right there.
VERONICA & KIDS:
(Variously)
Dear Diary:
Why do they hate me?
Why don't I fight back?
Why do I act like such a creep?
Why won't he date me?
Why did I hit him?
Why do I cry myself to sleep?
Somebody hug me!
Somebody fix me!
Somebody save me!
Send me a sign, God!
Give me some hope here!
Something to live for!
(The three HEATHERS enter.)
KIDS:
Ah!... Heather, Heather, and Heather!
VERONICA:
[Spoken.] Then there's the Heathers. They float above it all.
KIDS:
(Repeating.) I love Heather, Heather, and Heather.
VERONICA:
Heather McNamara. Head cheerleader. Her dad's loaded - he sells engagement rings.
KIDS:
I hate Heather, Heather, and Heather!
VERONICA:
Heather Duke. Runs the yearbook. Bo discernible personality, but her mom did pay for implants.
KIDS:
I want Heather, Heather, and Heather!
VERONICA:
And Heather Chandler. The Almighty.
KIDS:
I need Heather, Heather, and Heather...
VERONICA:
She is a mythic b*tch. They are solid Teflon - never bothered, never harassed. I would give anything to be like that.
HIPSTER DORK:
I'd like to be their boyfriend.
KIDS:
That would be beautiful...
STONER CHICK:
If I sat at their table, guys would notice me.
KIDS:
So beautiful...
MARTHA:
I'd like them to be nicer.
KIDS:
That would be beautiful...
BELEAGUERED GEEK:
I'd like to kidnap a Heather and photograph her naked in an abandoned warehouse and leaver her tied up for the rats!
(VERONICA enters the girls' bathroom. HEATHER CHANDLER and MCNAMARA are watching HEATHER DUKE vomit into a toilet.)
HEATHER CHANDLER:
Grow up, Heather. Bulimia is so '87.
HEATHER MCNAMARA:
Maybe you should see a doctor, Heather.
HEATHER DUKE:
Yeah, Heather. Maybe I should.
MS. FLEMING:
Ah, Heather and Heather.
(HEATHER DUKE vomits.)
... and Heather. Perhaps you didn't hear the bell over all the vomiting. You're late for class.
(VERONICA scribbles on a piece of paper.)
HEATHER CHANDLER:
Heather wasn't feeling well. We're helping her.
MS. FLEMING:
Not without a hall pass you're not. A week's detention.
VERONICA:
Actually, Ms. Fleming, all four of us are out on a hall pass. Yearbook committee.
MS. FLEMING:
... I see you're all listed. Hurry up and get where you're going.
HEATHER CHANDLER:
This is an excellent forgery. Who are you?
VERONICA:
Veronica Sawyer. I crave a boon.
HEATHER CHANDLER:
What boon?
VERONICA:
Let me sit at your table at lunch. Just once. No talking necessary. If people think you guys tolerate me, they'll leave me alone.... Before you answer, I also do report cards, permission slips and absence notes.
HEATHER DUKE:
How about prescriptions?
HEATHER CHANDLER:
Shut up, Heather.
HEATHER DUKE:
Sorry, Heather.
(HEATHER CHANDLER inspects VERONICA'S face.)
HEATHER CHANDLER:
For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure.
HEATHER MCNAMARA:
And a symmetrical face. If I took a meat cleaver down the center of your skull, I'd have matching halves. That's very important.
HEATHER DUKE:
Of course, you could stand to lose a few pounds.
HEATHER CHANDLER:
And ya know, ya know, ya know?
This could be beautiful.
Mascara, maybe some lip gloss,
and we're on our way.
Get this girl some blush;
And Heather, I need your brush.
Let's make her beautiful.
HEATHER MCNAMARA:
Let's make her beautiful...
HEATHER DUKE:
Let's make her beautiful...
HEATHER CHANDLER:
Make her beautiful...
Okay?
VERONICA:
Okay!
(Another day, another hellish lunch.)
KURT:
Out of my way geek!
BELEAGUERED GEEK:
I don't want any trouble -
RAM:
You're gonna die at 3pm!
REPUBLICANETTE & NEW WAVE GIRL:
Don't you dare touch me! Get away, pervert!
BELEAGUERED GEEK:
What'd I ever do to them?
KIDS:
Who could survive this?
I can't escape this!
I think I'm dying!
MS. FLEMING:
Who's that with Heather?
(THE HEATHERS enter again...)
KIDS:
Whoa.
Heather, Heather,
Heather...
NEW WAVE GIRL:
And... someone!
KIDS:
Heather, Heather,
Heather...
GOWAN & COACH:
And a babe!
KIDS:
Heather, Heather,
Heather...
MARTHA:
Veronica?!
KIDS:
Veronica?
Veronica? Veronica?!
(THE HEATHER part, revealing a smoking hot VERONICA who has been given a make-over.)
VERONICA & KIDS:
(Variously.) And ya know,
ya know, ya know
life can be beautiful.
You hope, you dream, you pray,
and you get your way!
Ask me how it feels
looking like hell on wheels...
My God, it's beautiful!
And when you're beautiful...
It's a beautiful frickin' day!
KIDS:
Heather... Veronica!
Heather! Heather!
Heather... Veronica!
VERONICA:
Veronica! Veronica!
KIDS:
Veronica! Veronica!
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Primary Artists: Katie Ladner, Alice Lee, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Barrett Wilbert Weed & Elle McLemore
- Lead Vocal (Veronica): Barrett Wilbert Weed
- Writers / Composers: Laurence O’Keefe & Kevin Murphy
- Producers: Michael Croiter, Kevin Murphy & Laurence O’Keefe
- Album: Heathers: The Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording)
- Release Date: June 10, 2014
- Genre: Pop-rock musical overture with new-wave snap
- Length: 7 min 31 sec
- Label: Yellow Sound Label
- Mood: Acid-bright, cautiously hopeful
- Language: English
- Copyright: © 2014 & ? 2014 Yellow Sound Label LLC / Heathers LLP
Song Meaning and Annotations
First bell rings, synth bass hiccups, and Veronica Sawyer cracks open her diary like a confession booth. “Beautiful” isn’t just an opening number; it’s a cafeteria-panorama on steroids. A fifteen-beat vamp unnerves the ear—one beat lopped off every cycle so the floor tilts just when you think you’ve found your footing, exactly like senior year.
Musically the track blends pep-rally claps, power-pop guitars and a dash of Motown call-and-response. Lyrically it juggles playground nostalgia (“baking cookies, eating paste”) with locker-room cruelty (“freak, slut, burnout”). The promise that life can still be “beautiful” hovers over a minefield of slurs and lunch-tray assaults. Hope and sarcasm share the same locker.
Step-by-Step Hallway Tour
Diary Prologue – Veronica’s spoken intro anchors us in 1989: Walkman era, shoulder pads, Reagan hangover.Welcome to my school, this ain’t no high school / This is the Thunderdome
The Mad Max shout-out signals survival mode. Social stratification is a literal blood sport where linebackers rule and “Martha Dumptruck” is collateral damage.
“Life can be beautiful” Motif – Soft major-key lift each time the line returns, only to deflate on the next insult. Optimism is a yo-yo.Ask me how it feels / Lookin’ like hell on wheels
Post-makeover Veronica tastes popularity’s perfume yet already smells its poison. Pretty veneer, pretty mess.
Similar Songs
- “Good Morning Baltimore” – Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray, 2002/2007 film)
Both heroines blaze open their shows with diary-style glee. Tracy Turnblad sees possibility in every cracked sidewalk; Veronica glimpses it through cafeteria shrapnel. Tempo and horns scream optimism, yet each song hides a social-justice engine revving beneath the cheer. - “Alexander Hamilton” – Original Broadway Cast (Hamilton, 2015)
Layered character cameos introduce a whole ecosystem in under nine minutes. Musical phrasing hip-hops between meters, keeping listeners off balance while feeding exposition in espresso shots. - “Candy Store” – Jessica Keenan Wynn & Company (Heathers, track 2)
If “Beautiful” shows the kingdom, “Candy Store” shows the crown—Heather Chandler’s anthem. Both share rhythmic DNA, but where “Beautiful” begs for inclusion, “Candy Store” weaponizes it.
Questions and Answers
- Why does the intro feel slightly “off-kilter”?
- The composers drop one beat every fourth bar—15 instead of 16—so new sections arrive early, echoing teenage whiplash.
- Is Veronica genuinely optimistic or sarcastic?
- Both. The refrain is aspirational, but the surrounding carnage keeps a raised eyebrow permanently arched.
- How does the song foreshadow later plot twists?
- The makeover scene previews how far Veronica will bend to fit in, sowing seeds for the darker choices she makes with J.D.
- Why include so many background insults?
- The sonic soup of slurs mimics hallway noise pollution and sets the stakes—emotional violence as everyday wallpaper.
- Have productions trimmed the runtime?
- Regional versions sometimes cut minor dialogue for pacing, but the signature missing-beat vamp and makeover payoff stay intact.
Awards and Chart Positions
The premiere cast album debuted at No. 1 on iTunes’ U.S. Soundtrack chart and cracked Billboard’s Top Cast Albums Top 10. In the West End, the show clinched the 2019 WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Musical, with reviewers singling out “Beautiful” as the heart-on-sleeve kickoff that pulls audiences into Westerberg’s warped wonderland.
Fan and Media Reactions
“That missing beat hits harder than my morning espresso—instant anxiety, instant hook.” – TikTok user @DiaryDotCom
“Veronica’s makeover feels like a Disney princess curse in real time.” – Rolling Stone theatre blog
“First show I’ve seen where the overture calls me ‘lard-ass’—and I still left humming.” – Reddit user @LockerRoomLament
“Yellow Sound’s mix lets every hallway insult pop like bubble wrap—disturbingly addictive.” – Audio engineer forum
“My students beg to stage this number; I spend the rest of the semester policing the word ‘homo’—art imitates life, sadly.” – High-school drama teacher diary
“Beautiful” continues to double as anthem and autopsy, dissecting high-school hierarchy with razor-sharp hooks and leaving listeners humming something dangerously catchy while they check their own yearbook photos for claw marks.