Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be Lyrics
Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be
Don`t be the leaf if you can be the tree,Don`t be the raindrop if you can be the sea.
`cause a leaf may fall,
But the tree remains.
It may never rain at all,
But the sea remains;
Better to be the tree and the sea.
See?
Don`t be a cloud if you can be the sky,
Don`t be a feather,
Be a bird and fly.
Clouds roll by,
But the sky rolls on
And a bird can fly
With a feather gone,
Be the bird and the sky
And the tree and the deep blue sea,
Don`t be anything less
Than ev`rything you can be!
Don`t be the sail if you can be the boat.
Don`t be the lining if you can be the coat.
It may lose its sail,
But a boat will float,
And a coat without a lining
Is still a coat.
Better to be the boat and the coat.
Quote!
Don`t be the stick if you can be the drum,
Don`t be the sugar,
Be the plum, by gum.
You can break a stick but the drum will beat.
Without a sugar coat,
Plums`re good to eat.
Better to be the drum
And the plum and the coat
And the bird and the sky and the tree
And the deep blue sea;
Don`t be anything less
Than ev`rything you can be!
Don`t be the `moo` if you can be the cow.
Don`t be the furrow,
If you can be the plow.
`cause you can`t get milk from a `moo`no way,
And the furrow`s in a rut,
But the plow`s okay,
Better to be the cow and the plow!
Now,
Don`t be the sting if you can be the bee,
Don`t be a two if you can be a three
`cause a sting can`t make you a honeybun,
Take two from three and you still got one
Better to be the three and a bee
And a cow and a plow
And a drum and a plum
And a coat, boat, bird, sky, tree
And the deep blue sea.
Don`t be anything less
Than ev`rything you can be!
Don`t be the string if you can be the kite.
Don`t be the darkness,
If you can be the light.
Tho` you lose its string you can fly a kite,
But would anybody here fly a kite at night?
Better to be the kite and the light.
Right!
Don`t be the tail if you can be the dog,
Don`t be the bump if you can be the log.
He can wag his tail,
But it can`t wag `he,`
A bump without a log
Isn`t much to be.
Better to be the dog and the log
And the kite and the light
And the three and a bee
And a cow and a plow
And a drum and a plum
And a coat and a boat
And a bird and the sky and a tree
And the deep blue sea!
Don`t be anything less
Than ev`rything you can be!
Song Overview
First heard on Snoopy!!! The Musical (1975), “Don’t Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be” finds Randi Kallan and her cast-mates turning Schulz’s newspaper wisdom into a feather-light pep-talk set to Broadway brass. Over two minutes and fifty-five seconds, the ensemble trades metaphors—leaf v. tree, sting v. bee—until the moral lands: aim high, stay whole. The number opened the 1988 CBS animated special and survived every subsequent revival, proof that its gentle imperative never goes out of style.
Song Credits
- Featured: Jimmy Dodge, James Gleason, Pamela Myers
- Producer: Larry Grossman, Jim Ed Norman
- Composer: Larry Grossman
- Lyricist: Hal Hackady
- Release Date: December 9, 1975
- Genre: Show-tune / Pop-theatre
- Length: 2 min 55 sec
- Instruments: keyboards, pit brass, reed doubles, rhythm section
- Label: DRG Records
- Mood: Up-tempo, motivational
- Track #: 17 on Snoopy!!! The Musical (OCR)
- Language: English (licensed translations in at least six languages)
- Music Style: Light swing with stop-time breaks
- Poetic Meter: Predominantly trochaic tetrameter
- Copyright: © 1975 Larry Grossman & Hal Hackady
Song Meaning and Annotations
Countless school assemblies push self-esteem, but few manage the airy charm this tune achieves. Grossman lays out a breezy two-beat swing; Hackady answers with conversational rhymes that feel like playground chants—easy to remember, impossible to shake. The song starts as Sally lectures Linus about a falling leaf; by the final refrain the whole gang stacks images into a kid-friendly catechism of ambition.
The music mirrors that escalation. Each couplet rises a semitone, as though the cast is quite literally climbing its own advice. Listen for Jon Olson’s keyboards skipping in sixths, giving the melody a hop-scotch bounce. At the bridge, drums drop out, leaving hand-claps that make the audience complicit—we’re all asked to be the sea, the tree, the sky.
Culturally, the number distills a 1970s brand of optimism: post-Apollo, mid-Women’s-Lib, pre-Reagan. Its message slots neatly beside “Free To Be…You and Me,” yet retains Schulz’s comic-strip irony—Charlie Brown sings about cows and plows while fully expecting failure. That wink keeps the sugar from coating too thick.
“Don’t be the leaf if you can be the tree… See?”
The inner rhyme (leaf / tree / sea / see) works like a nursery puzzle—solve the sound, learn the lesson.
Verse 1
Sally’s leaf-in-the-breeze metaphor warns against disposability. The tree, rooted and resilient, becomes the first emblem of self-possession.
Chorus
Each chorus piles new binaries—sting / bee, drum / stick—until the catalogue feels almost absurd. That excess is the point: identity is additive, not subtractive.
Last Refrain
The ensemble fires off a tongue-twister of earlier images, unleashing them in one breath. It’s equal parts pep-rally and verbal gymnastics.
Similar Songs
- “Just One Person” – Snoopy!!! The Musical
Both songs preach self-belief, but where “Don’t Be Anything Less …” uses playful metaphors, “Just One Person” leans on communal faith. Musically they share lush ensemble harmonies and a march-like build; lyrically they turn Schulz’s existentialism into inclusive encouragement. - “Tomorrow” – Annie
Annie’s anthem shares the same 1970s child-protagonist optimism. Each relies on a step-wise ascending hook that feels like kids skipping upstairs toward dawn. Yet “Don’t Be Anything Less …” stays grounded in concrete imagery, making its advice feel hand-illustrated rather than Broadway-grand. - “You Can’t Stop the Beat” – Hairspray
Decades apart, both tracks harness relentless rhythm to shout down limitation. “You Can’t Stop the Beat” trades metaphors for social commentary, but the lyrics still hinge on physical motion—wind, river, drum—echoing Snoopy’s leaves-and-kites ethos.
Questions and Answers
- Was the song ever released as a single?
- No. It debuted on the original cast LP and later on CD reissues; no standalone single was pressed.
- Who sings lead in stage productions?
- Sally Brown begins the number, with Linus, Peppermint Patty and Charlie Brown taking successive verses before the full company joins.
- Did it chart?
- The cast album never entered Billboard’s Top 200, so the tune itself saw no commercial chart action.
- Where else has it appeared?
- The 1988 CBS animated special Snoopy! The Musical opens with the song, introducing it to Saturday-morning audiences.
- Is there an official Spanish version?
- Yes—“No seas nada menos que todo lo que puedas ser” appears in licensed Spanish-language productions.
Awards and Chart Positions
The West End production that featured the song was nominated for the 1984 Olivier Award for Musical of the Year, giving “Don’t Be Anything Less …” indirect awards pedigree even if it never topped radio charts.
Fan and Media Reactions
“SNOOPY – Don’t Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be… still a bop!” – User Josh Freilich, BroadwayWorld Forum
“That number alone redeems the show’s flimsier bits.” – ray-andallthatjazz86, BroadwayWorld
“Aspiration in three minutes flat—perfect for school choir warm-ups.” – norrisfaraway blogger
“The leaf-tree metaphor hit me harder at 30 than it did at 10.” – anonymous YouTube comment snapshot
“Proof that Schulz knew motivational speaking before TED talks existed.” – CurtainUp reviewer