By Dr. Tim Seelig–
Everyone loves anniversaries. As the LGBTQ+ community matures, we are beginning to observe more of them in decades rather than years. A recent article was on the 50th anniversary of a book that has changed lives for half a century, The Best Little Boy in the World. Now, we have another milestone to celebrate: the 40th anniversary of the iconic gay anthem, “Everything Possible.” The celebration coincides with the release of a book by the same name. The composer and author, Fred Small, will be here during San Francisco Pride for a book release and signing. More on that in a minute.
Now, crank up your musical memory bank. Is there an important song in your life that you remember where and when you heard it for the first time? “Thriller” comes to mind. If you’ve been a part of the LGBTQ+ community for the last 40 years, it could very well be “Everything Possible.”
I remember hearing it for the first time. I purchased the cassette in Provincetown at a little gift shop. It had a cute cover in black, white, and hot pink with five handsome men. I had just started conducting a gay men’s chorus, so it was research. The group was The Flirtations. I fell in love with them and the song. I first heard it sung live in 1993 at the march on Washington.
When I mentioned the song to Betty Sullivan of our very own Bay Times, she also remembered the first and second times she heard it. Her first was at Las Vegas Pride in the early 1990s and again in a mashup by Bill McKinley with “Children Will Listen” at the national PFLAG conference in Indianapolis in 1995.
So, who is this Fred Small? I went to the source and had the pleasure of speaking with him a few weeks ago to get the whole story. It was delightful and an honor to speak with someone whose life has been so filled with life and world-changing work. And he’s a lot of fun. He is a singer/songwriter, of course. But he is oh so much more. He is a social justice, environmental, racial, and climate change pioneer and activist.
He has quite a varied background. I’ll try to be brief (I heard your eyes roll). He received a bachelor’s degree at Yale, master’s, and J.D. degree at the University of Michigan, and ultimately another master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School. He was one of the first to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and has been arrested five times in his efforts to bring issues of climate change to the public eye. He has received many notable accolades for his singing. Pete Seeger called him “one of America’s best songwriters.” He’s released 7 albums. He is now Minister for Climate Justice at the Arlington Street Church in Boston. I’ll stop there. It is truly only the tip of the Fred accomplishment iceberg.
How did this simple lullaby, now in the music library of almost every LGBTQ+ chorus, find its way to stand beside iconic gay power ballads such as “I Am What I Am?” or “I’m Coming Out”?
In March 1983, as a young folk performer, Fred was on tour in the Pacific Northwest. He visited the home of a friend, Janet Peterson, who was a lesbian and a mom. Janet shared how her 9-year-old son was struggling with peer pressure to conform to masculine stereotypes. She asked if Fred would write a song, letting her boy know he didn’t have to fit into that mold; that he could choose his own path. The next day, Fred wrote “Everything Possible,” with its key phrase, “You can be anybody you want to be.”
In the early 1980s, there weren’t many gay-affirming songs being sung on the folk circuit. It became one of Fred’s standards on tour. Because it was so unusual in that time, many of his listeners assumed he was gay. He is not. But he is the ideal straight ally who has given his life to affirming the dignity and humanity of LGBTQ+ people. The song’s popularity took off when the Flirtations recorded it in 1990. Shortly thereafter, gay choruses around the world began to sing it, and to this day it is a universally beloved anthem for acceptance.
When I asked him about his other activist songs, his response was immediate and awe-inspiring. Some of those he highlighted were “Larry the Polar Bear,” “The Heart of Appaloosa,” and “Not in Our Town.” They all have activism at their center.
Since discovering “Everything Possible” in 1990, I have carried it close by ever since. It was important in my own post-coming out process. I played it for my children over and over so they would hear the unconditional love I did not experience growing up. “I will sing you a song no one sang to me. May it keep you in good company.” I have sung, conducted, and recorded the song every chance I had. I even chose to sing it on my final concert with SFGMC. Most recently, I sang it myself as the final two minutes of my TEDx talk ( https://tinyurl.com/d6s5s92n ).
Fred shares, “The narrator of the song is a parent whose sexuality is not disclosed, because it doesn’t matter. Parents often have very fixed agendas for children, but in our heart of hearts, we want children to be themselves. So many people have told me, ‘We sang your song to our child.’ It is a song for every parent.”
As I mentioned, LGBTQ+ choruses have adopted this over the decades. I asked Fred for some of the most meaningful performances of his song. He said that “to this day, whenever a singer passes the audition for the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, they sing ‘Everything Possible’ to welcome new members into the family. It’s not a performance; it’s a private message of inclusion and welcome. As a minister, to have created a sacrament for a community not my own is so deeply moving.”
I’ll close with a reflection from Fred about leaving a legacy. He says, “Early on as a folk singer, I took every mode of transportation getting from concert to concert. On a small prop plane, you ponder your mortality. When turbulence hit, I would think of the possibility of a crash, and in making my peace I would think to myself, ‘Well, I wrote ‘Everything Possible.’ If this is it, I left that.’”
Indeed, you have. And we are all grateful.
In addition to marking the anniversary, Fred will be in town in June for the release of his brand-new children’s book based on the song. See him at Book Passage at the SF Ferry Plaza on June 24 at 3 pm. For more information: https://tinyurl.com/2ffe2a8d
In the meantime, I will leave you with the lyrics to “Everything Possible”:
We have cleared off the table, the leftovers saved,
Washed the dishes and put them away
I have told you a story and tucked you in tight
At the end of your knockabout day
As the moon sets its sails to carry you to sleep
Over the midnight sea
I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company.
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.
Some children grow up strong and bold
While some are quiet and kind
Some race on ahead, some take it slow
Some go in their own way and time
Some women love women, some men love men
Some leave every label behind
You can dream all the day never reaching the end
Of everything possible you’ll find.
Don’t be rattled by names, by taunts, by games
But seek out spirits true
If you give your friends the best part of yourself
They will give the same back to you.
You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.
Dr. Tim Seelig is the Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. http://www.timseelig.com/
TLC: Tears, Laughs and Conversation
Published on June 8, 2023
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