Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World

 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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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

51 thoughts on “Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World”

    1. 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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    1. 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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      2. 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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      1. 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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  8. 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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  9. 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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    1. 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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  10. 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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  12. Pingback: Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World – MobsterTiger

  13. 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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  15. 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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  18. 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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    1. 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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  19. 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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