Everything's Alright Lyrics – Jesus Christ Superstar
Everything's Alright Lyrics
Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you, oh.
Don't you know
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.
And we want you to sleep well tonight.
Let the world turn without you tonight.
If we try, we'll get by, so forget all about us tonight
APOSTLES' WIVES
Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes.
MARY MAGDALENE
Sleep and I shall soothe you, calm you, and anoint you.
Myrrh for your hot forehead, oh.
Then you'll feel
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.
And it's cool, and the ointment's sweet
For the fire in your head and feet.
Close your eyes, close your eyes
And relax, think of nothing tonight.
APOSTLES' WIVES
Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes.
JUDAS
Woman your fine ointment, brand new and expensive
Should have been saved for the poor.
Why has it been wasted? We could have raised maybe
Three hundred silver pieces or more.
People who are hungry, people who are starving
They matter more than your feet and hair!
MARY MAGDALENE
Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you, oh.
Don't you know
APOSTLES' WIVES and MARY
Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes.
JESUS
Surely you're not saying we have the resources
To save the poor from their lot?
There will be poor always, pathetically struggling.
Look at the good things you've got.
Think while you still have me!
Move while you still see me!
You'll be lost, and you'll be sorry when I'm gone.
MARY MAGDALENE
Sleep and I shall soothe you, calm you and anoint you.
Myrrh for your hot forehead/
Then you'll feel
Everything's alright, yes, everything's fine.
And it's cool and the ointment's sweet
For the fire in your head and feet.
Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax
Think of nothing tonight.
APOSTLES' WIVES
Everything's alright, yes, everything's alright, yes.
MARY MAGDALENE
Close your eyes, close your eyes, and relax
Song Overview

Personal Review
“Everything’s Alright” lands like a cool cloth on a fevered brow - a lullaby nestled inside a rock opera. The lyrics aim to still the mind and slow the pulse, and the Jesus Christ Superstar Original Studio Cast sells that hush without softening the edges. Key takeaways: a rocking 5-4 sway that keeps you slightly off balance, a tender vocal from Mary countered by Judas’s hard practicality, and Jesus stepping in with a time-check on what truly matters. In one sentence: the song’s plot is Mary trying to soothe a restless leader while Judas challenges the ethics of comfort in a world on fire.
Song Meaning and Annotations

The message is care in a crisis. Mary leads with touch and tenderness - “Sleep and I shall soothe you” - while the ensemble glides around her like night air. The groove is unusual: a lilting 5-4 that rocks like a chair but never quite settles, which mirrors the story’s tension between solace and responsibility. That meter choice is sneaky-smart: it lets the melody feel like a lullaby even as the rhythm reminds you the world hasn’t stopped.
The emotional arc starts gentle, turns argumentative, then returns to calm. Mary’s balm meets Judas’s rebuke - he calls out the perfume’s cost and argues it should have gone to the poor - and Jesus reframes the moment: the poor remain, his time won’t. In production terms, the original studio cut blends close-miked vocals with acoustic guitars, bass, light drums, and strings, saving power for Judas’s entrance. The 1973 film keeps the shape, with Yvonne Elliman and Ted Neeley carrying that midnight hush on screen; the 2018 NBC telecast put the same triangle - Mary, Judas, Jesus - under stadium lights and still found the same whisper.
Context matters. On the 1970 concept album it’s track 4, with a 29-second reprise later that leads into “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” That sequencing is no accident - soothe, then confess. The reprise is practically a breath: a closing of eyes before the storm arrives.
Style-wise, call it folk-rock meets art-rock with show-tune DNA. The guitars outline a cradle; the chorus of women creates a canopy; strings and woodwinds paint nighttime air. The lyric’s plain language is the point: no theology lecture, just bedside care. I’ve always heard it as a conversation between instincts - comfort, conscience, and clarity - scored like a nocturne.
Historical touchpoints. The text paraphrases John 12 and related synoptic moments - the anointing, the challenge about money, the line about the poor - but Rice writes it in modern speech, which makes Judas feel like a present-day activist and Mary like the only one who knows how little sleep anyone is getting. The song keeps the faith questions open and the human stakes close.
“Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to / Problems that upset you...”
Annotation: Mary recognizes Jesus’s worry sits in his head and feet - thoughts racing, steps relentless - and she offers touch, scent, and rest as antidote. (User annotation #1, #3, #4, #5)
“Woman, your fine ointment, brand new and expensive / Could have been saved for the poor...”
Annotation: Judas argues outcomes: sell the oil, feed people. In the Bible he carries the purse; in the musical he’s sincere, even if prickly. (User annotation #6, #7, #8)
“There will be poor always, pathetically struggling / Look at the good things you’ve got!”
Annotation: Jesus isn’t shrugging off poverty; he’s placing the moment in time - “you will not always have me.” The musical keeps it terse, which lands harder. (User annotation #11, #12)
“You’ll be lost, you’ll be so sorry when I’m gone.”
Annotation: A quiet flare of foreshadowing. Judas’s trajectory is already in this room. (User annotation #13)
Creation history
Recorded for the 1970 double-LP concept album at Olympic Studios in London, with Ian Gillan (Jesus), Murray Head (Judas), and Yvonne Elliman (Mary) front and center. The piece returns in the 1973 film (Elliman with Ted Neeley) and again in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert in 2018 (Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Brandon Victor Dixon). Its single release came in September 1971, credited to Elliman with the principal cast.
Verse Highlights

Verse 1
Mary’s bedside-voice sits on that 5-4 cradle. She offers rest, myrrh, and the mercy of a night without decisions. It’s the musical’s first full display of her practical care.
Judas’s Interjection
The rhythm tightens as his line cuts in. He reframes the scene as a budget line item - and he’s not wrong, which is why the friction stings.
Jesus’s Response
A brief flash of steel. He calls for movement now, while he’s still here, and turns the camera from scarcity to urgency.
Reprise (later)
Thirty seconds of exhale that sets up “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” The structural placement is storytelling through sequencing.
Notes on metaphor and language. The “fire in your head and feet” is body-talk for burnout; “close your eyes” is not just rest but trust. Rice’s idiom is plain-spoken, so symbols stay close to skin temperature.
Production and instrumentation. Acoustic guitars, bass, kit, strings, and women’s chorus carry most versions; the film adds a sun-baked visual hush; the 2018 TV version scales up the band without losing the lullaby core.
Tags: Jesus Christ Superstar, concept album, rock opera, lullaby, folk-rock, art-rock, 5-4 meter, studio recording, soundtrack, live TV.
Key Facts

- Featured: Mary Magdalene (Yvonne Elliman), Jesus (Ian Gillan on the concept album; Ted Neeley in the film), Judas (Murray Head)
- Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
- Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Lyricist: Tim Rice
- Single Release Date: September 1971 (Elliman with cast)
- Album: Jesus Christ Superstar – A Rock Opera (1970 concept album)
- Track # (concept album): 4 (main version); “Everything’s Alright (Reprise)” on side two
- Genre: Folk rock, art rock; show-tune lineage
- Length: 4:36 (album version)
- Label: Decca/MCA
- Language: English
- Instruments (typical arrangement): vocal (lead + ensemble), acoustic guitars, electric bass, drum kit, strings, woodwinds
- Music style: soothing lullaby in 5-4 time; conversational melody over rocking pulse
- Poetic meter: mixed stress patterns with a trochaic lilt against 5-4 phrasing
Questions and Answers
- Why does the song sit in an odd 5-4 groove?
- It keeps the body relaxed but slightly alert - perfect for a lullaby that lives in a tense narrative.
- Where does “Everything’s Alright” fall on the original album?
- Track 4 on side one, with a brief reprise later that flows straight into “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”
- Who sang the best-known early versions?
- Yvonne Elliman on the 1970 album and 1973 film; Sara Bareilles led the 2018 NBC Live performance with John Legend and Brandon Victor Dixon.
- Did it chart as a single?
- Yes - Elliman’s 1971 single reached US Hot 100 #92 and Adult Contemporary #25; in 1992 a John Farnham/Kate Ceberano/Jon Stevens version peaked at #6 in Australia and went Gold.
- Are there notable covers or language adaptations?
- Yes - Sarah Brightman cut a studio version in 1992, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (ABBA’s Frida) recorded a Swedish medley “Allting skall bli bra/Vad gör jag med min kärlek” in 1971.
Awards and Chart Positions
Single peaks (1971, Yvonne Elliman): US Hot 100 #92; US Adult Contemporary #25; Australia #100. 1992 Australian cast single (John Farnham/Kate Ceberano/Jon Stevens): ARIA #6, 14 weeks on chart, certified Gold.
How to Sing?
Vocal range & blend. Mary’s lead sits in a comfy mid-range for many mezzos; aim for warm head-mix on the refrains. Judas needs focused diction and a touch more bite; Jesus should arrive with calm authority, not volume.
Breath & phrasing. Think in long 5-beat arcs: inhale over beat 5, release gently on 1. Text-paint “cool” and “soothe” with softer onsets; keep Judas’s lines more percussive.
Tempo & meter. Moderate, rocking 5-4 - let it sway, not count. If the groove feels mathy, subdivide 3+2 for the verses, then let the chorus float.
Ensemble balance. Women’s chorus should blanket, not blanket-out; guitars and strings must leave air for the vocal consonants to speak.
Songs Exploring Themes of Calm and Care
Simon & Garfunkel - “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” A piano hymn turned pop monument. Like “Everything’s Alright,” it offers comfort without pretending the world is fixed. The vocal sails high, but the crux is trust - let me carry you for a minute - which is Mary’s whole thesis here.
Bill Withers - “Lean on Me.” Same theme, different street. Withers writes neighborly care into short phrases and steady pulse. If “Everything’s Alright” is bedside, “Lean on Me” is front porch, but both say: you don’t have to hold it all alone tonight.
Coldplay - “Fix You.” Starts as a whisper, opens to a collective chant. The trajectory mirrors this song’s arc: hush, conflict, release. Meanwhile the lyric moves from consolation to action, which is the Jesus line in “Everything’s Alright.”
Music video
Jesus Christ Superstar Lyrics: Song List
- Act 1
- Overture
- Heaven On Their Minds
- What's The Buzz
- Then We Are Decided
- Strange Thing Mystifying
- Everything's Alright
- This Jesus Must Die
- Hosanna
- Simon Zealotes
- Poor Jerusalem
- Pilate's Dream
- The Temple
- I Don't Know How To Love Him
- Damned For All Time / Blood Money
- Act 2
- The Last Supper
- Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)
- The Arrest
- Peter's Denial
- Pilate And Christ
- King Herod's Song (Try It And See)
- Could We Start Again Please?
- Judas' Death
- Trial Before Pilate
- Superstar
- The Crucifixion
- John Nineteen: Forty-One