“Beautiful World” by Devo

"Beautiful World" was the second single Devo pulled from New Traditionalists, their fourth album, in 1981, and it's the one that seems to be smiling. Bassist Gerald Casale and singer Mark Mothersbaugh wrote it, and the band produced it themselves. Where most of the album is grimmer and more blunt, this one starts out sunny and admiring, and then, bit by bit, the smile gets harder to believe. The video pulls the same trick.

Warner Bros. also pressed it as a picture disc, cut to the shape of the paper-mask cosmonaut face from the sleeve and backed with a different B-side, the spoken-word "Nu-tra Speaks (New Traditionalist Man)". It's Devo at their most sly: a cheery tune with a trapdoor under it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.