What A Wonderful World

Encyclopedia : W : WH : WHA : What A Wonderful World

For the song written and performed by Sam Cooke, see Wonderful World (song).

"What a Wonderful World" was written by songwriters Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, first performed by Louis Armstrong, and released as a single in early 1968. Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate in the U.S. (and written specifically for Armstrong, who had broad crossover appeal), the song details the singer's delight in the simple enjoyment of everyday life. The song was not initially a hit in the States but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one in the UK singles chart.

I see trees of green, and red roses too. I see them bloom for me and for you, and I think to myself, 'What a wonderful world'...

The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity when it was included in the soundtrack for the film Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987. The song was also featured as the theme for the first season of the popular 1990s sitcom Family Matters.

It was also used in the film Meet Joe Black and twice in Twelve Monkeys, once emitting from a radio, and then over the ending credits. It was sung by Willie Nelson for the 1996 movie "Michael". It was also used during a sequence in Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine, as well as having the Joey Ramone cover playing over the ending credits'; in the 2005 film, Madagascar as a background song; and for the end titles of the original series of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on BBC radio. It has also been used ironically as the theme music to the BBC series A Life of Grime, and as the closing theme to one series of Grumpy Old Men, in a version performed by the cast of the programme.

Selected list of recorded versions

1968 Louis Armstrong - million selling original version
1970 Louis Armstrong with the Oliver Nelson's Orchestra - with spoken introduction
Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan - male duet
1989 The Flaming Lips on their breakthrough album In a Priest Driven Ambulance
1993 Israel Kamakawiwoole - Hawaiian ukulele version on the album Facing Future
1997 Eva Cassidy - on her album "Live at Blues Alley".
1999 Anne Murray on her album "What a Wonderful World". The million selling album went #1 Contemporary Christian, #4 Country and #38 Pop. It also spawned a book and DVD.
2002 Joey Ramone on his posthumous solo album Don't Worry About Me
2003 Guy Sebastian on his debut album Just As I Am - dance reggae version
2004 Rod Stewart on his album
2004 Michael Buble on his album Babalu

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.