Beautiful Times
2014 single by Owl City featuring Lindsey Stirling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Beautiful Times" is a song by American electronica project Owl City. The song features American violinist Lindsey Stirling and was released on April 8, 2014, as the lead single from his fourth EP, Ultraviolet.[2]
| "Beautiful Times" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Owl City featuring Lindsey Stirling | ||||
| from the EP Ultraviolet | ||||
| Released | April 8, 2014 | |||
| Studio | Sky Harbor Studios, Owatonna, Minnesota | |||
| Genre | Electropop[1] | |||
| Length | 3:24 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Young | |||
| Owl City singles chronology | ||||
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| Lindsey Stirling singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Beautiful Times" on YouTube | ||||
Background
In early 2014, Young revealed the album artwork for his single, "Beautiful Times", through his Instagram account.[3][4] On April 4, 2014, Owl City released a teaser for "Beautiful Times".[5] The song was written by Young and Lindsey Stirling, while Young also handled production.[6] The track runs at 136 BPM and is in the key of A major, according to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, by Alfred Music Publishing.[7] Young's range in the song spans from the notes E4 to A5.[7] The song has been described as an "upbeat" track.[8] The song features Lindsey Stirling who played violin on the track.[2] According to Young, "Beautiful Times" was the first track he wrote for the EP when he got home from tour.[9] About the song's meaning and working with Stirling, Young stated:
"It is an anthem for those who search for strength to rise above hardship. I was honoured to work with yet another of my favourite artists, Lindsey Stirling, who was kind enough to grant me the honour of featuring her. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed creating it."[10]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Winnipeg Free Press |   [1] |
Steve Adams of Winnipeg Free Press said the song "is a pleasant, inoffensive piece of electro-pop that you can imagine being played over the closing credits of coming-of-age teen movie."[1] Christian Rockafeller of Music Times called the music video "a gorgeous and whimsical cinematic tale." Musically, he praised Stirling's contribution to the track describing it as "inimitable and impressive."[11]
Music video
On June 26, 2014, the music video for "Beautiful Times" premiered via Rolling Stone. Speaking about the video he stated, "I've been on a few sets where everyone is on edge and it throws the whole thing off. A positive atmosphere really makes all the difference in the world."[8] The music video showcases a young boy sleeping in his bedroom when his toys and room suddenly comes to life,[12] while clips of Young and Stirling performing the song are featured throughout the video.[11]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic and digital liner notes.[13][6]
- Owl City – composer, lyricist, primary artist, producer, mixing, recording
- Lindsey Stirling – composer, lyricist, featured artist, violin
- Shinnosuke Miyazawa – recording
- Robert Orton – mixing