I didn’t really listen to it until the 1980s when I saw Good Morning Vietnam. I’ve loved the song ever since. Sometimes a great song is a hit by a good performer. Sometimes a great performer makes a good song a hit. In this case… great meets great, and we have one for the ages. I can’t be a critic with this song…it’s about as perfect as you can get.
This was completely out of step in 1968; it could have been sung in 1948, but it worked then as it does now. It was written by Bob Thiele (under the pseudonym George Douglas) and George David Weiss. The song was intended as a soothing counterpoint to the racial and political turmoil of the late 1960s. Some say the song was offered to Tony Bennet first, who reportedly turned it down; however, Weiss claims it was written specifically for Louis Armstrong.
Not such a wonderful world all of the time, but a wonderful song every time it is played. Not many songs can match the beauty of this recording. It only peaked at #112 in the Billboard Charts… but charted again in 1988 off the strength of the movie Good Morning Vietnam and peaked at #32 on the Billboard 100.
The song did peak at #1 in the UK in 1968, and Armstrong was the oldest male to ever top it at 66 years old. Eva Cassidy had a posthumous UK chart-topper. #1 UK hit with this song 11 months after she passed. Joey Ramone covered the song, and it was released posthumously.
No matter how many weddings, graduations, and slow-motion movie montages have borrowed it since, the song never loses its sincerity.
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world
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It’s a Classic
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To me this is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Louis was certainly one of a kind. Just so happens I am drafting a post on Armstrong for a not too distant post.
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Thats how I feel about it…it’s as close to perfect as you will ever get.
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“Satchmo”…the U.S Open in tennis 🎾 is going on now in New York City…one of the stadiums is named after ’em. He was a huge tennis fan. He also loved his ‘ganja’.
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That is awesome that the stadium!
I didn’t know that
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No one does this song justice like Louis! You don’t just hear it with your ears, you feel it in your heart!
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I wish I would thought of that phrase, I would have put it in there.
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🤗
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Louis Armstrong may have had the most distinctive voice ever recorded, as his gravelly tone is widely regarded as one of the most unique and recognizable in music history.
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You bring up a good point Jim. When I mention in posts about unique voices I always go to Neil Young, Cash etc…but next time I’ll add Armstrong. There was no one that sounded like him.
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There is no mistaking the voices of Neil Young, or Johnny Cash.
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This was the wedding song of one of my bosses. Wonderful world is a fantastic and timeless song. It really speaks to me on this 20th anniversary of Katrina. I love New Orleans!
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Oh it has been 20 years! I was on my way to Panama City and it was coming at the same time….we were hoping it would not veer there….that night, right after we got there, the waves were huge but that was all. Later in the week many New Orleans people started to come….just a terrible thing.
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It really was bad. I remember listening to mayor Nagin on the radio (I was listening at work), when he was begging for buses and he said the toilets quit flushing in the Superdome! Ugh
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Yea…we heard a lot of the stories from New Orleans people as they came down for shelter. We were so damn lucky we didn’t get in the middle of it.
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That had to be rough, Max.
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Very good song indeed and indeed, quite timeless. I thought it dated back further than ’68
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I loved that movie also when it came out…it introduced me to a lot of songs I didn’t know. Yea it’s almost a perfect song.
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yep, can’t argue with that. A hundred years from now it might still resonate . Of course, so might Do Jo Cat and Arianna G… (stifles a laugh). Louis was a great and the song an all-tim e great
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Yea…your hand is fully over your mouth lol. I do think THIS song will still be around.
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yep, it was perfectly placed in that movie, and like it, but also love Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version (I usually just call him brother z, but like practising trying to spell his last name…..with just a mandolin as he combines this song with over the rainbow….
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I like his version as well…I posted on that one a while back and yes it’s one of my favorite versions of it.
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I did not know this came out in 1968 (my birth year). That is definitely news to me. I always thought this was way older. Regardless, what a great song and Armstrong’s voice is the reason. So much character and life in that vocal delivery.
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It does sound older and I couldn’t believe it either, John. Then I was surprised it wasn’t a hit here but in the UK it was. It’s totally out of step with the times…and thats another reason I really like it….just a perfect performance.
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A true classic. My Mum bought the single and played it to bits, and I grew to love it too. It was #1 here, and a cover by Katie Melua, mixed with the late Eva Cassidy, was also a #1, as a charity release.
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Beautiful track! 😎
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That’s a song made to be sung forever because without hope, there’s no reason to go on.
I love the Armstrong version of course, but I have another wonderful one in mind : the Shane McGowan / Nick Cave duet.
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I had never heard that one…listening to it now…it IS great….thank you!
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You’re welcome. 😉
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I’m with you, Max, it’s a timeless classic. I always enjoy listening to it, especially Armstrong’s “oh yeah” at the very end. Every time I can picture Armstrong’s big smile!
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I know man…perfect song and perfect performer to do that perfect song.
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It’s one of those songs that just puts me in a good mood!
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I couldn’t have put it any better.
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You make a good point about it being a song for the times. Political turmoil, Vietnam it felt like the world was about to explode. This song just allowed a bit of breathing space amongst all the simmering anger of that year.
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I thought it was earlier myself…but it hit at just the right time.
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Only one voice like Louis Armstrong.
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Yes! About as unique as you can get!
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One of the most beautiful and poignant songs ever written. I sang this to a dear friend of mine while she was in a coma. She never regained consciousness but I believe she heard me.
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I’m sure she did Nancy.
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The first CD I ever bought was a Louis Armstrong compilation. I was seven! For years I wanted to learn the saxophone (I know, he played the trumpet, but I was young!) but my parents refused to buy me one, probably quite sensibly. Funny thing is, this song wasn’t on the CD as it was more his jazz recordings from the 30s and 40s, so I never knew of it until much later. A true classic, though.
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Wow! Little Stewart had GREAT taste! Yea you were a little young to have one…I can see that. I cannot believe this one wasn’t on there. People think I was odd getting the Beatles when I was 8…you have me beat! Louis Armstrong!
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I did have good taste…! I started off so well, I don’t know what went wrong 🙂
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LOL…you still have it.
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A song for the ages, and by Louie. When I hear this song, it takes me back to the sixties, high school, my home life, my folks, my rock ‘n’ roll band days, surfing on the island, and my life. It evokes so many memories; it can be overwhelming. I think folks my age may feel the same. Thanks for the great memory, Max.
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Thank you Phil. Such a lovely song and it doesn’t get much better than this. I can only imagine the memories it has for you.
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Yep, goes pretty deep, Max.
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The song is magical.
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I didn’t realize it was so recent – interesting!
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classic. Childhood burst of optimism that made you feel good about the world. Mum loved it too and we played it at her funeral. Happy-sad Louis Armstrong as he wasnt that well at this stage of his life.
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Yea that is what I’ve read about him. Sometimes we need these kinds of songs.
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