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“Beautiful Times” is a song by American electronica project Owl City. The song features American violinist Lindsey Stirling and was released on April 8, 2014, as the lead single from his fourth EP, Ultraviolet.[2]

Background

In early 2014, Young revealed the album artwork for his single, “Beautiful Times”, through his Instagram account.[3][4] On April 4, 2014, Owl City released a teaser for “Beautiful Times”.[5] The song was written by Young and Lindsey Stirling, while Young also handled production.[6] The track runs at 136 BPM and is in the key of A major, according to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com, by Alfred Music Publishing.[7] Young’s range in the song spans from the notes E4 to A5.[7] The song has been described as an “upbeat” track.[8] The song features Lindsey Stirling who played violin on the track.[2] According to Young, “Beautiful Times” was the first track he wrote for the EP when he got home from tour.[9] About the song’s meaning and working with Stirling, Young stated:

“It is an anthem for those who search for strength to rise above hardship. I was honoured to work with yet another of my favourite artists, Lindsey Stirling, who was kind enough to grant me the honour of featuring her. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed creating it.”[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Winnipeg Free PressStarStarStar[1]

Steve Adams of Winnipeg Free Press said the song “is a pleasant, inoffensive piece of electro-pop that you can imagine being played over the closing credits of coming-of-age teen movie.”[1] Christian Rockafeller of Music Times called the music video “a gorgeous and whimsical cinematic tale.” Musically, he praised Stirling’s contribution to the track describing it as “inimitable and impressive.”[11]

Music video

On June 26, 2014, the music video for “Beautiful Times” premiered via Rolling Stone. Speaking about the video he stated, “I’ve been on a few sets where everyone is on edge and it throws the whole thing off. A positive atmosphere really makes all the difference in the world.”[8] The music video showcases a young boy sleeping in his bedroom when his toys and room suddenly comes to life,[12] while clips of Young and Stirling performing the song are featured throughout the video.[11]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic and digital liner notes.[13][6]

  • Owl City – composer, lyricist, primary artist, producer, mixing, recording
  • Lindsey Stirling – composer, lyricist, featured artist, violin
  • Shinnosuke Miyazawa – recording
  • Robert Orton – mixing

Charts

Chart performance for “Beautiful Times”
Chart (2014) Peak
position
CIS Airplay (TopHit)[14] 177
Japan (Japan Hot 100)[15] 91
South Korea International (GAON)[16] 48
US Pop Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[17] 26

Release history

Release history for “Beautiful Times”
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various April 8, 2014
Republic [18]

References

  1. ^ a b c Steve Adams (April 17, 2014). “New Music: CD Reviews”. Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  2. ^ a b Matt Crane (April 8, 2014). “Owl City streams new single, Beautiful Times (ft. Lindsey Stirling)”. Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  3. ^ “Piece five of the April single album artwork on Instagram”. Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  4. ^ “Piece four of the April single album artwork on Instagram”. Instagram. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Michele Bird (April 4, 2014). “Owl City to release new single, Beautiful Times”. Alternative Press. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Ultraviolet (Digital liner notes). Owl City. Republic. 2014.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ a b “Owl City “Beautiful Times” Sheet Music”. musicnotes.com. Alfred Music Publishing. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Nick Murray (June 26, 2014). “Watch Owl City’s Whimsical Beautiful Times Video – Premiere”. Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  9. ^ “Owl City – Bio”. owlcitymusic.com. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  10. ^ “Lindsey Stirling plays on Owl City’s latest single”. Cross Rhythms. April 23, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Christian Rockafeller (June 27, 2014). “WATCH: Owl City ‘Beautiful Times’ Video from Ultraviolet EP (Republic Records) Features Violinist Lindsey Stirling [VIDEO]”. Music Times. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Thomas Chau (June 28, 2014). “Watch Owl City’s Magical Music Video for ‘Beautiful Times’ (Feat. Lindsey Stirling)”. KKLS-FM. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  13. ^ “Owl City – Beautiful Times / Credits”. All Music. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  14. ^ “Charts – TopHit – Highway to Airplay“. TopHit. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  15. ^ “Owl City Chart History (Japan Hot 100)”. Billboard. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  16. ^ “Gaon Digital Chart: 2014-04-04”. GAON. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  17. ^ “Owl City Chart History (Pop Digital Song Sales)”. Billboard. Archived from the original on December 21, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  18. ^ “Beautiful Times (feat. Lindsey Stirling) – Single by Owl City”. Apple Music. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2023.