EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL
“Everything Is Beautiful” is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. 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 song was responsible for two wins at the Grammy Awards of 1971: Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Ray Stevens and Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance for Jake Hess. 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.” (More from Wikipedia)
It is more difficult for someone to make a career out of novelty records, but there have been a few. Ray Stevens started with “Ahab the Arab” (it hit #5 in 1962) and had a series of other hits later in the 1960’s and into the 1970’s: “Harry the Hairy Ape”, “Gitarzan”, “Santa Claus Is Watching You”, “The Streak”, etc. He did some serious songs also, notably “Everything Is Beautiful”.
(March 2013)
