What a Wonderful World

Adi Holzer : What a Wonderful World . Hand-colored etching in colors 2002.

What a Wonderful World is the title of a song written by George David Weiss (melody) and Bob Thiele (lyrics; he initially used the pseudonym George Douglas). It was released on January 1, 1968 by Louis Armstrong on a single. The piece is sometimes confused with Wonderful World by Sam Cooke from 1960.

history

The song was written specifically for Armstrong. During the civil rights protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War , Armstrong recorded the song on August 16, 1967 and first presented it to the audience on October 11 of the same year on the Tonight Show . At that point, ABC released the single that included the song. In 1968 it reached number one on the UK charts.

In 1970 a further version was released on the Flying Dutchman album Louis Armstrong And His Friends - recorded with the orchestra of Oliver Nelson . In 1987 the song was used in the soundtrack of the film Good Morning, Vietnam . In this film, What a Wonderful World is used as a contrast to violent scenes from the film (e.g. bombing). The song has also been used in other films such as Rendezvous with Joe Black , 12 Monkeys , Bowling for Columbine , Journey to the Mysterious Island and Madagascar . Since the 1980s, the song has been used by the German car maker Opel in various TV commercials.

Armstrong's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 . In 2001, the US media company Clear Channel Communications put the song on a list of songs the company believed were inappropriate to be played on the radio after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks .

content

What a Wonderful World tells about the beauty of the world and the moments of happiness in everyday life. The intention of the song was to create a countercurrent to the increasingly deteriorating political climate in the USA. Therefore, the song sings of nature, sun, colors, friendships and children's eyes and that with all the small and big problems in life, where hatred, resentment, power struggles and catastrophes sometimes make the world seem anything but “wonderful”. The first stanza of the text reads:

“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 green trees, also red roses. I see it blooming for me and you, and I think to myself: What a wonderful world. "

Cover versions

The song has been covered several times, including by:

• 1968 Roy Black . He sang a German version in the film Always Trouble with the Paukern under the title Wonderful is the world ; his single of the same name stayed in the charts for 26 weeks.
• 1981 The Kelly Family on the album "Wonderful World"
• 1989 The Flaming Lips on the album In a Priest Driven Ambulance
• 1992 Shane MacGowan & Nick Cave
• 1992 Helge Schneider on the album Guten Tach under the title Wundervolle Welt . The text was completely replaced by a parodic German text that was only roughly based on the original.
• 1993 Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - with ukulele as medley with Over the Rainbow on the album Facing Future (when it was first released on CD in Germany in 2010, number one hit for twelve weeks, see also below for 2007)
• 1994 Ingrid Sertso on the album Dance With It
• 1997 Eva Cassidy on the album Live at Blues Alley .
• 1999 Anne Murray on the album What a Wonderful World .
• 2002 Joey Ramone on the album Don't Worry About Me .
• 2003 Kenny G played the saxophone to the original version.
• 2003 Guy Sebastian on the album Just As I Am , reggae version
• 2003 Sarah Brightman on the album Harem
• 2004 Rod Stewart on the album Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3
• 2004 Michael Bublé on the album Babalu
• 2004 Celine Dion on the album A New Day ... Live in Las Vegas
• 2004 LeAnn Rimes on the album What a Wonderful World
• 2006 Karamelo Santo on the album La Gente Arriba
• 2007 Mika Nakashima on the album Yes
• 2007 Stacey Kent on the album Breakfast on the Morning Tram
• 2007 Jan Jankeje on the album Mobil Band (with Frantisek Havlicek )
• 2007 Katie Melua & Eva Cassidy benefit single in aid of the Red Cross . (Number one hit in the UK)
• 2007 Israel Kamakawiwoʻole - with ukulele on the album Wonderful World
• 2008 Ministry on the cover album Cover Up
• 2008 The Ten Tenors on the album Nostalgica
• 2010 Robert Wyatt at the end of his album For the Ghosts Within (with Gilad Atzmon )
• 2010 Kobukuro on the cover album All Covers Best
• 2013 Gloria Estefan on the album The Standards ( Grammy nominations , also for the arrangement by Shelly Berg )
• 2014 Lennart vs. PatrickGanster on the album of the same name
• 2014 Adoro on the album Nah bei dir under the title Wundervolle Welt
• 2017 Shibusa Shirazu on the album Juju under the title フ ィ ッ シ ャ ー 「家 路」
• 2018 Soap & Skin on the album "From Gas to Solid / you are my friend"
• 2019 Hein Simons , German version under the title "Wunderbar ist die Welt", on the album "Lebenslieder"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BBC on the history of the song
2. ↑ Armstrong discography ( memento of the original from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ On the B-side was the song Cabaret .