: Critics often compared the song's core message—"What makes you so beautiful is you don't know how beautiful you are"—to One Direction’s hit "What Makes You Beautiful".
: The song captures the tension of being "just friends" and the fear of expressing deep feelings. Jepsen and Bieber trade verses that describe a love so humble it "takes my breath away" and "fills the words that I don't say".
: Unlike the "sugary" tracks on the album, "Beautiful" is described as a more "polished" and "tender" moment that showcases Jepsen's ability to deliver a slow, emotive performance without over-singing. Chart Performance and Reception
While some critics found the track "boring" compared to the high-stakes energy of "Call Me Maybe," others praised it as a "sweet duet" that added a necessary layer of sincerity to Jepsen’s major-label debut.