Listen, Soak Up and Enjoy...Behind the Music is a Living Whole Online podcast series that spotlights the stories of musician composers. The more we deepen our understanding and appreciation of the creative process from which music, art, writing, photography, filmmaking, energy practices and family connections emerge, the more we can embrace those creative energies within our own lives, and enhance our health, healing and relationships with ourselves and others.
Listen to this lovely conversation between Kathryn Hayward, MD and award-winning composer and musician, Neal Barnard, MD,. Tout Ira Bien came to Neal after he wrote the song in English, which you can also find on the LWO website: Everything’s All Right.
The lyrics are a response to the many songs and fairytales that children hear that are filled with violence. As Neal created a song in English that gave loving messages, he realized that it would also be appealing and softer in French. He happened to be listening to a Belgian station on the radio while he was running and fell in love with the voice of an Italian singer who was singing in French. He was able to connect with her and she came to Washington, DC, and recorded the song with CarbonWorks.
I decided that I was going to write a song that didn’t have anything nasty in it, a song that kids could really like and that they could hear as they were going to sleep
-Neal Barnard, MD
Tout Ira Bien
Ferme tes yeux
Petit à petit
Le jour s'affaiblit
Dans le ciel étoilé
D'myriades de papillons dorés
Tout ira bien cette nuit
Les couleurs de minuit
Illuminent le ciel assoupi
Met ta tête sous ton aile, mon petit
Dans la chaleur de ton nid
Tout ira bien cette nuit
Lullaby (« Everything’s All Right ») (Barnard)
Close your eyes
Ever so slowly
Let the day drift to sleep
And in the nighttime sky
Stars like tiny butterflies
And everything will be all right
The night has colors
You can paint on the sky
Tuck your head under your wing
Let’s see what dreams will bring
You’ll see that everything’s all right