‘You Are So Beautiful’

A Reason To Smile

Dan Rather and Team Steady Mar 30

Credit: Getty Images

For this week’s reason to smile, I think we all just need a beautiful song to lift the spirit.

What better way to lift one’s spirit than to listen to the song “You Are So Beautiful.”

A staple of weddings and anniversaries, “You Are So Beautiful” was, surprisingly, not written to be a romantic love song. Singer-songwriter Billy Preston wrote the award-winning ballad about his mother.

Though Preston released a version, the song was made famous by bluesy British rocker Joe Cocker in 1974. Cocker’s rendition was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame 42 years later.

When he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it was said that Cocker’s “true genius lay in his rare ability to take someone else’s music and use his raw and powerful voice to make it uniquely his own.” He certainly succeeded with “You Are So Beautiful.”

Cocker dueted with the likes of Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle, and Luciano Pavarotti, but I prefer his solo version of the song.

This one is from 2013, just a year before his death. When you hear it, I hope it will rekindle memories of time spent with someone who was beautiful to you.

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I want to take a moment now to thank all who subscribe to Steady. I’m heartened every day by the comments of readers from around the world; encouragement from you to those deeply hurt by the actions of those who purport to lead our nation.

When you ask what can be done in times like these, supporting other Americans with a kind word or an acknowledgement of their feelings is a good place to start.

Please stay steady, and we’ll see you along the trail.