Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.
Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.
Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).
Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.
On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.
Star Search
In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".
Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.
American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."
A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."
In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.
Beautiful
David Archuleta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's never another quite the same
It just falls into some deep eternal sea
Like the end of a movie that makes you cry
You're sad when it's over but you're glad you had
That moment that moved you deep inside
Beautiful goodbye, baby goodbye
It's a strange kind of high
A beautiful goodbye
An standin' here watchin' you drive away
We were so grown up about it all
But how will it look in the light of day?
I miss you already but don't turn around
It's funny how you know when it just won't work
And how letting go can echo the sweetest sound
Beautiful goodbye, baby goodbye
I enjoyed the ride, we really had us a time
It's a strange kind of high
A beautiful goodbye
So ironic, and so confusing
To do the right thing and be losing
I'm always stuck with choosing
And ain't that just like life?
Hey yeah, hey yeah
Beautiful goodbye, baby goodbye
I enjoyed the ride, we really had us a time
It's a strange kind of high
A beautiful goodbye
Goodbye, yeah
Goodbye
The song "Beautiful" by David Archuleta is a reflective ballad about the end of a relationship. The lyrics convey a sense of bittersweet sadness, acknowledging that the journey was beautiful but that it's also time to move on. The opening lines compare the end of the relationship to a sunset - a beautiful moment that can never be fully recreated in the same way. The singer recognizes that he's sad to see it end but also grateful for the experience that touched him deeply. He references the feeling of watching a movie that moves you to tears, capturing the idea that this relationship was a powerful emotional journey.
The chorus brings together the conflicting emotions of the situation. The singer describes the goodbye as both beautiful and strange. He acknowledges that he enjoyed the ride and had a good time but that there's a certain kind of high that comes with ending things. The bridge of the song takes a more introspective turn, acknowledging the irony and confusion of trying to do the right thing and still losing. It points to the choices that we all have to make in life and the way that even the most beautiful experiences have to end eventually.
Overall, "Beautiful" is a powerful reflection on love and loss that is both melancholy and hopeful. It captures the complex emotions that are bound up in endings, acknowledging that even though it can be painful to let go, there is also beauty to be found in the process.
Line by Line Meaning
It's like the most amazing sunset you've ever seen
A comparison between a beautiful sunset and the feeling of love between two people
There's never another quite the same
Every relationship is unique
It just falls into some deep eternal sea
Love has a feeling of never-ending depth
Like the end of a movie that makes you cry
The sadness of endings that move us emotionally
You're sad when it's over but you're glad you had
The good times are cherished and remembered fondly
That moment that moved you deep inside
A truly emotional moment that stays with you
Beautiful goodbye, baby goodbye
The relationship has come to an end, but it was beautiful
I enjoyed the ride, we really had us a time
The relationship was enjoyable and memorable
It's a strange kind of high
The mix of emotions that come with a relationship coming to an end
An standin' here watchin' you drive away
The pain of watching someone you love leave
We were so grown up about it all
Both parties were mature and respectful towards each other
But how will it look in the light of day?
Questioning how the situation will appear when viewed objectively
I miss you already but don't turn around
Feeling the pain of separation but trying to move on
It's funny how you know when it just won't work
Sometimes you just know when a relationship is not meant to be
And how letting go can echo the sweetest sound
Finding peace in moving on and letting go
So ironic, and so confusing
The irony and confusion that can come with love
To do the right thing and be losing
Making the right decision, but feeling the pain of loss
I'm always stuck with choosing
The dilemma of having to make difficult choices
And ain't that just like life?
Life is full of choices and difficult situations
Goodbye, yeah
A final farewell to the relationship
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Linda Perry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind