Comments: 15

• Francine Joy Allen from Northville, MiWow! After everything that's gone on, especially in the wake of the protests over police brutality and the murder of George Floyd we need songs like this again. I remember listening to this song as a little Ann Arbor kid in the early '70s. (There was, for me, something magical and beautiful about being a little kid in that time and place!)
  
  In the years since I've had so many occasions to reflect on how we still need songs like this - to teach our children, and to remind ourselves that we are all part of the HUMAN race, that beyond that race should not matter. We need equal justice, and we need to listen to all perspectives, not just the dominant Eurocentric one. (I'm white, but I think my parents taught me well about celebrating diversity).
  
  There was - and will be - time for the hard work of keeping an eye on government at all levels to make sure that we elect people who will repair the injustices of the past and present to create a brighter more equal future for all races and all walks of life. But right now for me here comes a time to pass the message of songs like this on to a new generation of little children so that they can have a good foundation before they venture out into life's challenges and the responsibility to keep making a better world.
• Timothy Bogren from Brooklyn Park, MnI love this song very much a thyme of my life
• George from Vancouver, CanadaBecky; you're better to make that request to the video poster on youtube itself; Songfacts has just linked to a pre-exisyting video, & is not responsible for the content. Youtube's autocaptioning is very inaccurate, so the uploader would need to edit a copy of the vid, with the lyrics on-screen (my preference, too)
  
  Here's the full lyrics:
  http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/ray_stevens/everything_is_beautiful.html
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny*** '"We shouldn't care 'bout the length of his hair or the color of his skin' ***
  On February 28th, 1970, Ray Stevens performed "Everything Is Beautiful" on the NBC-TV program 'The Andy Williams Show'...
  Eleven months earlier on March 29th, 1970 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #74; and on May 24th, 1970 it peaked at #1 (for 2 weeks) and spent 15 weeks on the Top 100 (and for 6 of those 15 weeks it was on the Top 10)...
  On May 17th, 1970 it also reached #1 (for 3 weeks) on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and on June 13th it peaked at #1 (for 1 week) on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart...
  R.I.P. Mr. Williams (1927 - 2012) and Mr. Stevens, born Harold Ray Ragsdale, celebrated his 75th birthday one month ago on January 24th (2014).
• Becky Sortwell from Mariposa, CaI love this lyric, but I wish this video with closed captioned because, I am deaf and I can sing in sign language to deaf church with view video with closed captioned. Hope you can add closed captioned on this video, please. God bless you in Jesus Christ. Please response me by email, thanks? Becky
• Letty from Hartshorn, Vanuatui love that song. it is how people should be
• Stormy from Kokomo, InOne of my all-time favorite records by any one! If you enjoy this song, please listen to Ray Stevens' song "Mr. Businessman". It's really pertinent with what's been going on in the U.S. in the last decade.
• Farrah from Elon, NcI love Ray's funny songs, but I really like this beautiful song. This just goes to show there's more that Ray Stevens can do more than just comedy. An awesome song!!!
• 5cats from Winnipeg, MbSorry Sedgewick (NZ) but Ray Stevens has also recorded a LOT of gospel and religious songs. These are completely seperate from his funny records of course. Joking in this song, I highly doubt it. Goto his website and see for yourself!
• Ann from Kitchener, CanadaThe song EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL is a song of hope for me and makes me feel at peace, happy and that there is hope that one day the world will all be at peace
• Sedgewick from Auckland, New ZealandI'm amazed how no-one has ever got this.
  
  This song is one of the biggest piss-take of all time.
  
  Not all Stevens' funny songs were obvious 'yuk yuk' songs with an annoying laughter track.
  
  He's not being serious, people!!
  
  
• Mark from Lancaster, OhThis was on an album with Mr Stevens' other, more amusing works. These were strictly forbidden by radio station WTSO, which before the days of political talk radio, was perhaps the most middle-of-the-road radio station ever conceived. But 'Everything is Beautiful' was an ideal selection for them, and we played it incessantly. Union rules dictated that an engineer had to be present at remote broadcasts, and to play the records that were played (not tapes, not MP3's. Black vinyl records.) On one of these excursions I, the young engineer, managed to set the needle down on the wrong track of the album, thus presenting the premiere performance of "Guitarzan" on the biggest, straightest station in town. It also boomed all over the shopping mall we were at. Nobody commented or complained. Let's hear it for the monkey.
• Fyodor from Denver, CoThis song was so different from his others I wondered if there were two Ray Stevenses in the music bizz! Once after I heard this played on WABC (AM), New York, I heard legendary dj Dan Ingram go, "Well, I guess that song has a message, but I think it's a lousy way to make a buck!" Then straight into a commercial! Blew my mind! AM jocks rarely said anything outside the usual spiel. And I can't really say what about the song should elicit such a dissing, even though it's far from my favorite. Maybe he thought it was pretentious to come off sounding so pious?
• Howard from St. Louis Park, MnThe song was beautiful in it's own way. From the opening children's chorus to the final fade, it proved that Ray Stevens had more versatility and not typecast as a novelty singer. It's a message on how everyone should get along.
• Keith Major from Bristol, EnglandThis was the "B" or "Flip" side to a UK #1 "Bridget the Midget"

see more comments