"Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty", as well as novel ...

. It has appeared on many of Stevens's albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, "

Jesus Loves the Little Children A Christian child's prayer is Christian prayer recited primarily by children that is typically short, rhyming, or has a memorable tune. It is usually said before bedtime, to give thanks for a meal, or as a nursery rhyme. Many of these prayers a ...

", are from the Oak Hill Elementary School in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. This group includes Stevens's two daughters. The song was responsible for two wins at the Grammy Awards of 1971:

Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

for

and Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance for Jake Hess. Stevens's recording was the Number 1 song on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two weeks in the summer of 1970. The song also spent three weeks atop the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

. Many country stations played the song, with it peaking at number 39 on ''Billboard''s chart. ''Billboard'' ranked the record as the No. 12 song of 1970. The song includes anti-racist and pro-tolerance lyrics such as "We shouldn't care 'bout the length of his hair/Or the color of his skin." This song was a major departure for Stevens, as "Everything Is Beautiful" is a more serious and spiritual tune, unlike some of his earlier ("

Gitarzan "Gitarzan" is a novelty song released by Ray Stevens in 1969 about a character who lives in a jungle and forms a musical band with his female partner, Jane, and their pet monkey. The song features Tarzan's jungle calls, scat singing, and a funky ...

" and "

Ahab the Arab "Ahab the Arab" (also written "Ahab, the Arab") is a novelty song written and recorded by Ray Stevens in 1962. Lyrics In the song, Arab is pronounced () to rhyme with Ahab. The hero of the story is Clyde the camel and Stevens has made referen ...

") and later (" The Streak") recordings, which were comedy/novelty songs. While Stevens would continue to perform novelty songs throughout his career, the success of "Everything Is Beautiful" would allow Stevens to record more serious material throughout the 1970s.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Jody Wayne cover

South African singer Jody Wayne covered "Everything is Beautiful" in early 1972. His version reached number 20 in his home nation.

Other cover versions

Jim Nabors James Thurston Nabors (June 12, 1930 – November 30, 2017) was an American actor, singer, and comedian, widely known for his signature character, Gomer Pyle. Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith while working at a Santa Monica nightclub, an ...

covered the song in 1970, for his vinyl album of the same name. Reaching #124 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded the song for his 1972 album ''

Bing 'n' Basie ''Bing 'n' Basie'' is a 1972 vinyl album recorded for Daybreak Records by Bing Crosby, accompanied by Count Basie and his Orchestra. The orchestral tracks were laid down over three days at the end of February and the beginning of March, 1972 at A ...

''. * Neil Sedaka performed a version of this selection on his 1976 album ''Live in Australia''. * Dana named her 1980 album after that song. It made #43 in the UK chart. In 1986 her single reached #42 in Ireland. * Foster & Allen recorded a version of the song for their album ''Songs We Love to Sing'' (1994) which reached number 41 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

that year and number 66 on the Irish albums chart. *

Cledus T. Judd James Barry Poole (born December 18, 1964) is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, an ...

also did a version for the album ''

Boogity, Boogity – A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens ''Boogity, Boogity – A Tribute to the Comic Genius of Ray Stevens'' is a tribute album recorded by country music singer/parodist Cledus T. Judd. It contains Judd's renditions of twelve songs previously recorded by country music artist Ray Ste ...

''. It featured Michael English, Wynonna Judd,

Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cou ...

, Dobie Gray,

Erika Jo Erika Jo Vastola (née Heriges, born November 2, 1986, in Angleton, Texas), known simply by the stage name Erika Jo, is an American country music recording artist who was declared winner of the 2005 season of the ''Nashville Star'' television p ...

, and

SHeDAISY SHeDAISY () was an American country music vocal group from Magna, Utah. The group consisted of sisters Kristyn Robyn Osborn (born August 24, 1970), Kelsi Marie Osborn (born November 21, 1974), and Kassidy Lorraine Osborn (born October 30, 1976). ...

as accompanying vocalists. *In 2005, ''American Idol'' season 4, top-ten finalists covered this song during the top 10 results show. *Stevens re-recorded the song in 202

This "50th Anniversary" re-recording includes a spoken prologue and epilogue noting how much progress had been made since 1970, while calling out those who use diversity to divide society and beseeching Americans not to fall apart.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

References

External links

* 1970 singles Ray Stevens songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number-one singles Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Songs against racism and xenophobia Songs written by Ray Stevens 1970 songs {{1970s-single-stub