Composition and Theme
"Ugly" is a midtempo pop song that has a length of three minutes and fifty-three seconds. The song was composed in the key of C major using common time with a tempo of 117 beats per minute. The Sugababes' vocal range on the song span from the lower note of G3 to the higher note of E5. Instrumentation consists of a guitar, bass guitar, drums and keys. Nick Southall of Stylus Magazine noted that the song incorporates acoustic guitars "buoyed by peripheral detail".
K. Ross Hoffman of Allmusic described "Ugly" as a "towering ballad" with romantic and body-image issues. The song received numerous comparisons to "Unpretty" by American girl group TLC, another track composed by Austin. Group member Heidi Range compared the song's lyrics to "Beautiful", a song performed by American recording artist Christina Aguilera. Harry Rubenstein of The Jerusalem Post also noted that the song is reminiscent of both "Unpretty" and "Beautiful". The lyrical content makes reference to feeling ugly from having different eyes and hair, in addition to being shorter than other people.
Read more about this topic: Ugly (Sugababes Song)
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