Scars to Your Beautiful

"Scars to Your Beautiful" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara. Def Jam Recordings and Universal Music Group serviced it to contemporary hit radio on July 26, 2016, as the third single from her debut studio album Know-It-All (2015). A pop ballad, the song was written by Cara along with its producers Pop & Oak, Sebastian Kole, and DJ Frank E.

"Scars to Your Beautiful"
Single by Alessia Cara
from the album Know-It-All
Released	July 26, 2016
Recorded	2015
Studio	Glenwood Place Studios (Burbank, CA)
Genre	Synth-pop
Length	3:50
Label	Def Jam
Songwriter(s)	Alessia Caracciolo Warren Felder Coleridge Tillman Andrew Wansel Justin Franks
Producer(s)	Pop & Oak Sebastian Kole DJ Frank E
Alessia Cara singles chronology
"Wild" (2016) "Scars to Your Beautiful" (2016) "How Far I'll Go" (2016)
Music video
"Scars to Your Beautiful" on YouTube

In the United States, "Scars to Your Beautiful" peaked at number eight. It marked Cara's second top-ten single on US Billboard Hot 100.^[1] It also reached the top ten in Australia, Iceland, Slovenia, and Sweden.

Background

Cara felt motivated to make the song after viewing an episode of Botched.^[2] In an interview with Idolator's Mike Wass, Cara stated about the process behind the song:

"Basically, that song is about body image. It's directed at women, but I think men can relate to it as well. It's just a song about these things that certain women go through on a daily basis in order to feel loved or in order to love themselves. I think that's such a thing that goes on in today's world. These weird things are instilled in us. You know? They tell us that we’re not good enough or that there's only one kind of beauty. This song basically is contradicting that idea. It's saying, 'Well, if the world doesn't like how you look then they should change. They should change their perspective. You don’t have to change yourself.' I mean, I thought that that was important, you know, just to put out next. Especially because I think that's kind of the direction we're going in, you know, with 'Here'. 'Here' was about not belonging anywhere and 'Wild Things' was about finding a space you belong. Now 'Scars To Your Beautiful' is basically about embracing yourself and finally coming to that conclusion where you feel love and you can love yourself. I think it's cool to put out third because I feel like I have a bigger platform now. The point of the song is to reach as many women, or people, as possible."^[3]

Cara also noted that the song was inspired by Christina Aguilera's 2002 ballad "Beautiful".^[4]

Critical reception

The Guardian's Kitty Empire said that "There's substance on Scars to Your Beautiful, where Cara tackles the beauty myth à la Beyoncé. The verses pack some good stuff – 'What's a little bit of hunger? I can go a little bit longer.'" and later went on to say "the thumping motivational chorus merely suggests we are all stars."^[5] Katy Iandoli of Idolator stated "Scars to Your Beautiful is a modern-day version of TLC's 'Unpretty', in its acknowledgment of the beauty in both visible and invisible imperfections."^[6]

Billboard ranked "Scars to Your Beautiful" at number 77 on their Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks" list, commenting “Body-positivity anthems typically don't get this dark, but on "Scars To Your Beautiful," Alessia Cara isn't afraid to talk cutting, tears and eating disorders, before getting to the uplifting chorus, where she delivers some of the most empowering, horizon-expanding lyrics of this year: ‘You don't have to change a thing / The world could change its heart.’”^[7]

Music video

The music video was published on July 11, 2016, with a cameo appearance by singer JoJo.^[8]

Background

On the concept of the music video, Cara said in an interview with Cosmopolitan: "I wanted to do this kind of video for a very long time. Since we had this song — and since we knew it was going to be a single — I had this vision of many different cinematic shots of different kinds of people. I wanted all kinds of people — young, old, whatever their situation, whether it's visible scars, non-visible scars — just a bunch of different women, and there are some men in there as well because it can reach out to guys too. But I wanted real shots of real people telling their stories, and showing the story through little vignettes."^[9]

Impact and usage in media

The song is featured in episodes of the television shows The Bold Type, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Family Law.

The song was used in the international trailer of A Wrinkle in Time,^[10] as well as the background music for the introduction video of Dirt Rally 2.0.

In 2018, the song was featured in television commercials for ULTA Beauty.

Track listing

• CD Single

1. "Scars to Your Beautiful" – 3:50
2. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (NOTD Remix) – 3:19

• Digital download – Remixes^[11]

1. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (Luca Schreiner Remix) – 4:22
2. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (NOTD Remix) – 3:19
3. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (Cages Remix) – 4:28
4. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (Joe Mason Remix) – 3:51
5. "Scars to Your Beautiful" (recycle jordan Remix) – 3:32

Musicians

• Alessia Cara – vocals, backing vocals
• Sebastian Kole – keyboards, programming
• Oak Felder – keyboards, programming
• Pop Wansel - programming, drum programming

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016–2017) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[12] 8 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 18 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[14] 17 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[15] 18 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[16] 14 Canada AC (Billboard)[17] 4 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[18] 5 Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[19] 1 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[20] 3 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[21] 32 Denmark (Tracklisten)[22] 37 Germany (GfK)[23] 19 Germany (Airplay Chart)[24] 1 Iceland (RÚV)[25] 4 Ireland (IRMA)[26] 39 Italy (FIMI)[27] 31 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[28] 7 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[29] 30 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[30] 15 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[31] 35 Portugal (AFP)[32] 18 Scotland (OCC)[33] 27 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[34] 7 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[35] 37 Slovenia (SloTop50)[36] 9 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[38] 18 UK Singles (OCC)[39] 55 US Billboard Hot 100[40] 8 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[41] 1 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[42] 1 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[43] 9 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[44] 1 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[45] 1 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[46] 14

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[47] 92 Chart (2017) Position Australia (ARIA)[48] 87 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[49] 70 Iceland (Tónlistinn)[50] 36 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[51] 36 Slovenia (SloTop50)[52] 25 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[53] 74 US Billboard Hot 100[54] 30 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[55] 4 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[56] 4 US Dance/Mix Show Airplay (Billboard)[57] 10 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[58] 10 Chart (2018) Position US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[59] 33

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[60]	5× Platinum	350,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[61]	Diamond	250,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[62]	8× Platinum	640,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[63]	2× Platinum	180,000‡
France (SNEP)[64]	Platinum	200,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[65]	3× Gold	600,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[66]	2× Platinum	100,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[67]	4× Platinum	120,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[68]	Platinum	60,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[69]	2× Platinum	100,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[70]	2× Platinum	20,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[71]	Platinum	60,000‡
Sweden (GLF)[72]	3× Platinum	120,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[73]	2× Platinum	1,200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[74]	5× Platinum	5,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

List of release dates, showing region, format(s), label(s) and reference(s)

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
United States	July 26, 2016	Digital download	Original	Def Jam UMG	[75]
		Top 40 radio		Def Jam	[1]
	October 21, 2016	Digital download	Remixes EP		[76]
United Kingdom	November 8, 2016	Top 40 radio	Original		[77]
Italy	December 2, 2016	Radio airplay		UMG	[78]
DACH	January 20, 2017	CD single		Def Jam UMG	[79][80]

See also

• List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2017