I was probably around ten years old when I saw Louis Armstrong in person.  I remember being agog at how big he could make his cheeks when playing the trumpet!  I also fell in love with his gravelly voice and the look of kindness in his eyes.  Ever since, I have been a Louis Armstrong fan.

I just finished writing a post about the slaughter of beautiful animals, and was feeling the need for a song about appreciating the beauty around us.  This song is just that.

Although Louis Armstrong was mainly a jazz musician, this song is the one most often associated with him.  Though it was first released in 1967, it didn’t become a hit in the U.S. until 20 years later when it was used in the Robin Williams movie Good Morning, Vietnam.  However, it went to #1 in the UK.

The song was written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss, both of whom were prominent in the music world (Thiele as a producer and Weiss as a composer/performer).  Armstrong’s recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

What a Wonderful World
Louis Daniel Armstrong

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

Songwriters: George Weiss / Robert Thiele
What a Wonderful World lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Concord Music Publishing LLC, Carlin America Inc