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"Just the Way You Are" is a song by American recording artist Bruno Mars, and is the lead single from his debut studio album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. It was released in the United States on July 20, 2010. It has also received airplay from AOL Radio's New Pop First station. The song was written by The Smeezingtons, Khalil Walton, and Needlz and produced by The Smeezingtons, and Needlz. The music video, directed by Ethan Lader, was released on September 8, 2010 and features actress Nathalie Kelley. The track has been added to Radio 1 A Playlist in the United Kingdom, and was released in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2010 as "Just the Way You Are (Amazing)". The official remix features rapper Lupe Fiasco and is included on the deluxe edition of Doo-Wops & Hooligans. On February 13, 2011, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Background

The song was written by The Smeezingtons, Khalil Walton, and Needlz. Bruno said of the song, "It took me months to come up with 'Just the Way You Are'... I wasn't thinking of anything deep or poetic. I was telling a story. Get ready to fall in love!" He added, "I'm a big fan of songs like Joe Cocker's 'You Are So Beautiful' and Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight' - songs that go straight to the point. You know, there's no mind-boggling lyrics or twists in the story - they just come directly from the heart. And to me 'Just The Way You Are' is one of those songs. There's nothing mind-blowing about it. I'm just telling a woman she looks beautiful the way she IS - and, let's be honest, what woman doesn't wanna hear those lyrics?!" The song is in the Key of F Major and consists of the chords F, D-minor and B-Flat.

Mars' A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck told HitQuarters that as soon as "Just the Way You Are" was finished they knew they had the first single, saying:

"It had a massive chorus, an instantly memorable melody and lyric, and was a natural transition from the B.o.B and Travie McCoy songs ... it didn’t sound like anything else on the radio. It had everything we could want in a first single for Bruno."

Critical reception

The song has been well received by music critics. Digital Spy's Nick Levine gave the song four out of five stars and described it as a "huge-hearted urbany piano ballad" and compared it to "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys: "with a similar, if not quite as undeniable, instant classic feel. In her review for Billboard, Megan Vick wrote: "Over a breezy piano and vaguely hip-hop breakbeat, Mars professes his love for a beautiful girl who occupies his dreams Mars pens lyrics that aim to make female listeners feel nothing short of perfect in their own skin. With its steady, danceable pulse and singalong chorus, Mars has created a feel-good jam that should establish him as a solo contender in his own right." Nima Baniamer from Contactmusic.com felt that "there is nothing about the single that makes Bruno Mars stand out from all the other RnB artists dominating the charts at the moment", and said, "The song never builds to any climax and it simply falls a bit flat, coming across quite corny and cheesy."

Chart performance

The song reached the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated October 2, 2010, ending the two-week reign of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". By the end of December 2010, the song had sold over 3,280,000 digital copies in the US alone. On September 26, 2010, it became the singer's second number-one single in the United Kingdom, where it hit the number-one spot again on October 24, 2010 from sales of 116,000 copies becoming the first song ever to have left the top three before rebounding to the top spot. It sold 766,000 copies during 2010, becoming the third biggest seller of the year. On 2 January 2011 it was revealed that the song is the ninth most downloaded song of all time in the United Kingdom. The song jumped from 7 to 1 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart dated October 9, 2010. On October 12, 2010, Bruno Mars got his third number one single in the Dutch Top 40, after "Nothin' On You" and "Billionaire", and it reached the 11 weeks at the number one in the Netherlands on December 20. The song also reached number one in Australia and certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

Music video

The corresponding music video was shot in September of 2010. It has received strong airplay on VH1 Europe, reaching #1 on the VH1 Pop Chart. The video features Peruvian-Australian actress Nathalie Kelley. The video begins with Nathalie listening to "Just the Way You Are" on her personal tape player as Bruno walks in. Bruno stops the tape player, removes the cassette tape and begins singing his song. As the instrumental portion of the song begins, Bruno pulls the media out of the cassette tape and arranges the media into letters forming his name followed by the song title. As the song continues, he forms a picture of a drum, again on the table, using the tape media. Additional images of similar construction follow throughout the video including a portrait of Bruno as well as one of Nathalie blinking her eyes and smiling as Bruno continues singing. Most of the images shown are animated, including a bell which Bruno rings with his fingers in synchronization with the chimes near the end of the song. Lastly, Bruno finishes the song while singing and playing an upright piano.

Other versions

"Just the Way You Are" has been covered by several artists, such as My Chemical Romance. It was performed by Cory Monteith for the American TV show Glee on episode "Furt", which aired on November 22, 2010. It was also covered by The Saturdays at Radio 1's Live Lounge on October 29, 2010. Matt Cardle, the winner of the seventh series of British TV talent contest The X Factor, performed "Just the Way You Are" in week 2 of the live shows and later recorded his own version of the song as a B-side for his debut single "When We Collide". The song is also a featured single on Kidz Bop 19. Parody rapper Rucka Rucka Ali used the instrumental for his song "Were All Asian". Stefano Langone covered the song on the 10th season of American Idol.

Track listing

Digital Single

1. "Just the Way You Are" (Album Version) - 3:41

CD Single

1. "Just the Way You Are" (Album Version) - 3:44
2. "Just the Way You Are" (Skrillex Batboi Remix) - 3:50

Charts and certifications

See also

• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 2010
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2010 (Canada)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2010 (U.S.)
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2010 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles in Australia in 2010
• List of number-one singles of 2010 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles in 2010 (New Zealand)
• List of number-one singles from the 2010s (UK)

References

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• 2010 singles
• Bruno Mars songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Billboard Pop Songs number-one singles
• Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks number-one singles
• Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
• Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles
• Dutch Top 40 number-one singles
• Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
• Number-one singles in Australia
• Number-one singles in New Zealand
• UK Singles Chart number-one singles
• Singles certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
• Songs written by Bruno Mars
• Songs produced by The Smeezingtons
• Pop ballads