James Blunt, 2015

This song about a chance encounter on a subway train was based on a real-life experience. The song topped the charts in Great Britain,  Australia, and the U.S. for weeks.

Choose from the following activities:

• Listening Listen to the audio-only video while reading lyrics copied from the Internet, or watch a lyric video on YouTube.
• Reading Tell students that in this song, the singer/songwriter describes a personal experience. Ask them to speculate who the woman on the subway was. For the answer, read the Story Behind the Song.
• Comprehension Students check their comprehension of the story and practice scanning for information in the worksheet below. Permission granted to duplicate for classroom use.

Comprehension, You’re Beautiful.pdf          Comprehension, You’re Beautiful (webpage)

• Listening Watch the official music video or a live performance video, for example, the Noble Peace Prize Concert or the live performance at a radio station in Los Angeles. Also recommended: the Boyce Avenue acoustic cover
• Writing / Discussion Ask students to imagine that they run into someone that they haven’t seen for a long time–perhaps a year. Unlike the man in the song, they have a conversation with their old friend. Students fill in the worksheet below and then share their drawings and their writing with a partner.

past year.docx          past year.pdf          past year (webpage)