"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.
In early 2014, Young revealed the album artwork for his single, "Beautiful Times", through his Instagram account. On April 4, 2014, Owl City released a teaser for "Beautiful Times". The song was written by Young and Lindsey Stirling, while Young also handled production. 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. Young's range in the song spans from the notes E4 to A5. The song has been described as an "upbeat" track. The song features Lindsey Stirling who played violin on the track. According to Young, "Beautiful Times" was the first track he wrote for the EP when he got home from tour. About the song's meaning and working with Stirling, Young stated:
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." 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."
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." The music video showcases a young boy sleeping in his bedroom when his toys and room suddenly comes to life, while clips of Young and Stirling performing the song are featured throughout the video.
Credits adapted from AllMusic and digital liner notes.