"Everything Possible" by Fred Small (2024)

Words and Music by Fred Small © 1983, 2022 Pine Barrens Music (BMI) https://www.revfredsmall.com https://linktr.ee/revfredsmall "Everything Possible" is now a children's picture book with glorious illustrations by Alison Brown published by Nosy Crow. A Spanish edition, Todo lo posible, translated by Brian Folkins-Amador is also available. Lyrics 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 whoever 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 whoever 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 The story of the song In March of 1983, while on tour in the Pacific Northwest, Fred visited his friend Janet Peterson, cellist and singer in the women’s music group Motherlode and a lesbian mom. Over tea in her Seattle home, Janet told him how her nine-year-old son Aaron was struggling with peer pressure to conform to masculine stereotypes—to be tough, cool, and unemotional. Might Fred consider writing a song, she asked, that would let her son know he didn’t have to fit that mold, that he could choose his own path? The next day, on a rainy bus ride to a gig at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, Fred wrote “Everything Possible.” The song became one of Fred’s standards on the folk circuit. It really took off when musician Elliot Pilshaw heard it and brought it to the Flirtations, the iconic gay male a cappella group, who arranged it brilliantly in five parts and performed it at gay clubs, benefit concerts, and Pride events on their tours. “Everything Possible” became their most frequently requested song, and the Flirts included it on every album they released. Soon LGBTQ+ choruses around the world were adding it to their repertoires. It continues to be sung by parents and caregivers to children across the generations. In 2022, after consulting trans and nonbinary friends and colleagues, Fred revised the lyrics of “Everything Possible” for greater gender inclusivity.

Added 23 Aug 2026