Recorded - February 1970
Released - March 1970
#1 for weeks of May 30 and June 6, 1970.
Today's lesson for Dr. Rockology 101 is "Sincerity, and whether you really mean what you sing". It is easy for many to look back on all the idealistic pro-peace, anti-war numbers of the 1960's with a cynical eye. However, some of these examples such as "Give Peace A Chance", and "People Got To Be Free", were all sung by people who truly believed and preached what they sang. So what happens when you take a country singer known for novelty records, and have him record a Utopian anthem? You get Ray Stevens' mighty awful "Everything Is Wonderful".
First of all, when you open your record with children singing "Jesus loves the little children", there's a more than likely chance that you'll alienate some listeners. Now, if this was intended as a Christian rock song, then this intro would be perfectly justified. However, this was listed as a secular pop single, and Ray Stevens has now succeeded in turned off all of the non-Christian and secular audience from truly feeling that he believes they are included in the song.
The remainder of the song is full of the usual peace and equality lyrics that have been done better justice by others. "Everything Is Beautiful" has a very schmaltzy music track, and over the top choral backing vocalists. The only good mark I can give is that at least Ray Stevens' singing voice is acceptable. But when the rest of your song is pure fluff, not even having the best vocalists in the world could make this song enjoyable.
My biggest problem with the song goes back to what I was taking about earlier - "Sincerity". It's hard to believe Ray Stevens message for treating others the same is genuine. After all, this is a guy who's hit catalog includes such hideously dated novelty songs as "Rang Tang Ding Dong, I'm The Japanese Sandman" and "Ahab The Arab". Going from borderline-racist stereotypes to claiming we shouldn't treat people of other nationalities poorly, is quite a departure, and normally I'd be inclined to believe that Ray may have reformed his ways.
But then we flash forward to the relative present, to some of Ray Stevens' more current works. To name just one out of many, there's "Come To The USA", which deals with the immigration issues over in Arizona, in a rather hypocritical tone when compared to "Everything Is Beautiful". It's now abundantly clear that all of the utopian and compassionate beliefs he sung about in "Everything Is Beautiful" were all for the money. And it worked, as people were foolish enough to send this drek to a two week stint on top of the charts.
Final Verdict - "Everything Is Beautiful" takes the cake as the worst #1 hit I have reviewed thus far. It sounds schmaltzy and overly saccharine. Lyrically, it retreads the visions of world peace that others built their whole lives around, but it is sung by somebody who doesn't share those beliefs. It is this hypocrisy that makes the song a thoroughly unenjoyable listening experience. This hit record is a resounding miss.
Coming Up Next - "The Long And Winding Road" by The Beatles.
Until Next Time, I'm Dr. Rock, and some things just aren't beautiful -
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