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What a Wonderful World

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"What a Wonderful World" is a song by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in early fall 1967. 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 also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to which to look forward. The song was not initially a hit in the States, where it sold less than 1,000 copies, but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one on the UK singles chart. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old.

The first part of the song says:

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 song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity.

Playings

"What a Wonderful World" was used ironically in 1978 radio broadcast of the last episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (first series). The song replaced the usual end credits as the two main characters, stranded on pre-history Earth, lament its destruction witnessed in the first episode. The song was later used for the closing titles of the corresponding television episode, and in the first teaser for the Hitchhiker's film, lasting only one stanza before the Earth explodes.

In 1985 a part of the song was used in The Runner (Davandeh), a famous Iranian movie. It was included in the soundtrack for the film Good Morning, Vietnam in 1987. In the film, the song plays over a montage of bombings and other violence (similar to the use of the song "We'll Meet Again" in the film Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). This use of the song in an ironic way has since become something of a cliché in film and television.

The song was 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 (again ironically). It was sung by Willie Nelson for the 1996 movie Michael. A Willie Nelson version also was used for the "Don't Mess With Texas" anti-littering public service announcement campaign.

The Louis Armstrong version was also used during a sequence in Michael Moore's film Bowling for Columbine, where it accompanies scenes of violence in a montage about United States intervention in international affairs, as well as having the Joey Ramone cover playing over the ending credits. In the 2005 film, Madagascar it appears as a background song. On the program Pirate Radio (airing in Nashville, Tennessee, 1999-2001), an acoustic guitar version was used weekly as a music bed. 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. The Louis Armstrong version was used also in the 2004 Japanese film Swing Girls during a scene where the main characters are chased by a wild boar. It also featured in the sixth episode of the BBC/Kudos 1973-set crime drama, Life on Mars. The Joey Ramone cover was also played over the ending credits of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Chris Addison's Civilisation.

Clear Channel included "What a Wonderful World" on a list of songs that might be inappropriate for airplay in the period just after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In recent years, the song has come to be associated with the Christmas season (although it has no holiday or seasonal content in its lyrics). In 2006, XM Satellite Radio added "What a Wonderful World" to its Holiday/Christmas rotation, as did many terrestrial radio stations in the U.S. Numerous recording artists have covered the song for inclusion on their Christmas-themed albums, including Newsong and LeAnn Rimes. Also in 2006, a rock version appeared in the Suzuki New Grand Vitara television commercial performed by David Mills and Ian Wilson.

A version can be found on the dance simulation game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA. This version is by "Beatbox vs DJ Miko

Terry Fator performed this with his turtle, Winston, partly a Kermit version, partly a Louis Armstrong version, on America's Got Talent. [1]

Selected list of recorded versions

Preceded by UK number one single
Louis Armstrong version 24 April 1968 for 4 weeks 		Succeeded by
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