(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Ray Stevens - "Everything Is Beautiful"
Hit Number 1: May 30, 1970
Stay at Number 1: 2 Weeks
Ray Stevens is one of the more "interesting" figures in music. His genres consist of everything from country and gospel, to novelty songs. For me, and likely most people, whenever I hear the name Ray Stevens, I automatically think of novelty music. His first big hit came in 1962, and it was with "Ahab the Arab", a crazy song about an Arab and his legendary camel Clyde that would never be a hit today because, you know, people are very sensitive today. ("Ahab the Arab" made it to #5. It's a 5) He continued to go on the comedic route, and returned to the top 5 again in 1969 with an even crazier novelty song called "Gitarzan", and unfortunately while it is funny, it does annoy me a bit. ("Gitarzan" made it to #8. It's a 3) Then all of a sudden he had a temporary departure from his novelty music, and jumped on the serious, political bandwagon with "Everything Is Beautiful". It worked, because it netted him his first #1 hit.
Just like other #1 hits before it, "Everything Is Beautiful" is an attempt through music to try and unite the people in America. These times were indeed rough - guys with long hair were frowned upon, racism was still a major problem and then on top of that you had the prolonging of the Vietnam War. The lyrics are simple and straight to the point: "We shouldn't care about the length of his hair or the color of his skin" and "Don't worry about what shows from without/But the love that lives within" are examples of that. It's hard for me to take the song too seriously, and that's because of Stevens' past hits. It seems strange for someone who made a living off of funny songs would not only turn away from that, but then start making music that dug much deeper, and tries to persuade the listeners into thinking differently about a certain topic.
That's not to say that I disagree with the message here. I appreciate the attempt at uniting everyone, but the song is just a shmaltzy attempt. We start off listening to a children's choir singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children", which reportedly includes Stevens' two daughters. Towards the end, another choir joins Stevens, and this time it's the kind of choir you'd hear in a church service. It's gospel, but it's not great gospel. It's extremely saccharine. Stevens reaches for big notes, and he's plenty capable, but I don't know, the song just doesn't work for me. It's a lot like "People Got to Be Free", a song that has an uplifting message, but lacks any great hooks that can help the listeners remember it. I'm also open to the possibility that I'm getting sick of these kinds of songs, and I just want to move on to music that doesn't try to make me think differently about real-world issues.
Anyway, we will hear from Stevens again in this blog.
GRADE: 4/10
JUST MISSED:
The Poppy Family's sincerely heartfelt soft rock jam "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" peaked at #2 behind "Everything Is Beautiful". It's a 7.
(The Poppy Family's member Terry Jacks will eventually appear in this blog)
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