"She Ain't Pretty" is a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock band

The Northern Pikes The Northern Pikes are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1984. The original members are Jay Semko, Bryan Potvin, Merl Bryck and Glen Hollingshead, who left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Don Schmid in June 1986. ...

, from their 1990 album ''

Snow in June ''Snow In June'' is the third major label album by The Northern Pikes released in 1990. It featured three hit singles - "Kiss Me You Fool", "She Ain't Pretty", and "Girl With a Problem". The album features guest appearances from notable performers ...

''. It is the song for which the Pikes are best known. The song was written by

Bryan Potvin Bryan Anthony Potvin (born May 31, 1963, in Ottawa) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. History Potvin began guitar lessons at the age of 13 in Victoria, B.C. His family re-located to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where he continued his m ...

. It describes the singer's infatuation with a physically attractive woman, and his dismay at learning that she is a horrible person—a " model from Hell". The genesis of the song was Potvin watching an episode of ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974, to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The Mary Tyle ...

'' where a character says "I'm not really beautiful, I just look that way." The song was the sixth-most played

Cancon Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television Broadcasting, broadc ...

song in Canada of 1990.

Charts

Year-end charts

Critical reception

In 1991, the song was nominated for the

Juno Award for Single of the Year The Juno Award for Single of the Year has been awarded since 1974 for the best single in Canada. It has also been known as Best Single and Best Selling Single. The award goes to the artist. Best Single (1974) Best Selling Single (1975 - 1979) ...

. Its

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, which integrated claymation and early use of morphing, and which the

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

described as "fantastic", was nominated for a Juno.

References

1990 songs 1990 singles The Northern Pikes songs {{1990s-rock-song-stub