♫ Wonderful World ♫

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I’ve been behind on everything since two days before Thanksgiving, when I began grocery shopping, planning, baking, etc., and I’m still not caught back up, but … getting there.  I have missed reading friends’ blogs, and tonight I was trying to make a dent in the backlog when I came across a poem written by fellow-blogger and friend, Paul, aka Parallax.  As I commented on his post, a song came to mind … this song … What a Wonderful World, by Sam Cooke.

Released on April 14, 1960, this song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more.

According to Craig Werner, a professor of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the song may have a more politically charged meaning than at first glance. In his book, A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race and the Soul of America, Werner writes that “Wonderful World” may be one of the first examples of Cooke’s crossover into politics, where he informs white listeners that he “don’t know much about history” and “don’t know much biology” as a comment that these are the things to forget about African-Americans, and all they need to remember is love.

Wonderful World
Sam Cooke

Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about a science book
Don’t know much about the French I took

But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be

Don’t know much about geography
Don’t know much trigonometry
Don’t know much about algebra
Don’t know what a slide rule is for

But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

Now, I don’t claim to be an A student
But I’m trying to be
For maybe by being an A student, baby
I can win your love for me

Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about a science book
Don’t know much about the French I took

But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be

La ta ta ta ta ta ta (history)
Hmm-mm-mm (biology)
La ta ta ta ta ta ta (science book)
Hmm-mm-mm (French I took)

Yeah, but I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me, too
What a wonderful world this would be

Songwriters: Herb Alpert / Lou Adler / Sam Cooke
Wonderful World lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc

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15 thoughts on “♫ Wonderful World ♫”

    • I had never heard the Garfunkel/Simon/Taylor version, so a few minutes ago I checked it out. I still prefer Sam Cooke … the other version seems just a bit too slow for me, rather as if somebody changed the speed on an old record player. Odd, because as you know, I like Simon & Garfunkel, and LOVE James Taylor, but this one just didn’t do much for me.
      Cwtch

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    • I had never heard that version before! Since you and a few other readers mentioned it, I Googled and listened to it. I think it’s a bit too slow for my tastes, though I am a fan of Simon & Garfunkel, and an even bigger fan of James Taylor!

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