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]
Backgroundedit
2016 VOA newscast on "Scars to Your Beautiful"
An August 2016 Voice of America newscast on "Scars to Your Beautiful"
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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]
Critical receptionedit
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."[4] 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."[5]
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.’”[6]
Music videoedit
The music video was published on July 11, 2016, with a cameo appearance by singer JoJo.[7]
Backgroundedit
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."[8]
^ ab"Top 40/M Future Releases - Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release Dates". AllAccess Music Group. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
^"Alessia Cara Thinks This Underrated Black Eyed Peas Song Would be a Hit Today". 3 September 2021.
^Wass, Mike (May 24, 2016). "Alessia Cara On Touring With Coldplay & Her Next Single - Idolator". Idolator. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
^Empire, Kitty (March 13, 2016). "Know-It-All by Alessa Cara review - teen rebel in search of better cause". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
^Iandoli, Kathy (November 13, 2015). "Alessia Cara's 'Know-It-All': Album Review - Idolator". Idolator. Archived from the original on July 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
^"Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks". Billboard. December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on December 13, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
^"Scars To Your Beautiful - Alessia Cara - Vevo". Vevo. July 11, 2016. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
^Iandoli, Kathy (July 11, 2016). "Alessia Cara 'Scars To Your Beautiful' Video - Alessia Cara Interview". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on July 14, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
^A Wrinkle in Time International Trailer #1 (2018) on YouTube
^"iTunes - Music - Scars to Your Beautiful (Remixes) - EP by Alessia Cara". iTunes Store. 21 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
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^"Alessia Cara Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
^"Alessia Cara Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
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^"Alessia Cara Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201708 into search. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201642 into search. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
^"Track Top-40 Uge 46, 2016". Hitlisten.NU. Archived from the original on 2016-11-23. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
^"Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
^"Airplay Charts Deutschland – Woche 05/2017". German Charts. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
^"Alessia Cara Chart History". RÚV. 11 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
^"Classifica settimanale WK 3" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 3, 2017" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
^"Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. December 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
^"Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
^"Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
^"Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201716 into search. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
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^"SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^"Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
^"Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
^"Portuguese single certifications – Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
^"Spanish single certifications – Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
^"Veckolista Singlar, vecka 10, 2017 | Sverigetopplistan" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved November 7, 2016. Scroll to position 98 to view certification.
^"British single certifications – Alessia Cara – Scars to Your Beautiful". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
^"Know-It-All (Deluxe) by Alessia Cara on iTunes". iTunes Store (US). November 13, 2016. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
^Scars to Your Beautiful (Remixes) - EP by Alessia Cara, October 21, 2016, retrieved October 1, 2023
^"BBC - Radio 1 - Playlist". BBC Radio 1. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
^"ALESSIA CARA "Scars To Your Beautiful" | (Radio Date: 02/12/2016)". Radio Airplay SRL. December 2, 2016. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^"Scars to Your Beautiful (2-Track): Amazon.de: CDs & Vinyl". Amazon. January 20, 2017. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^"Release group "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. January 20, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2023.