Hi everyone and happy Tuesday! Although I’ve heard today’s Romantic Tuesday song played at a few weddings, some say “What a Wonderful World” isn’t romantic at all. To me, it’s a beautiful love song that points out the beauty in nature and people. I think it’s sad this song wasn’t considered a success in the U.S. when it was first released in 1968. The song was number 116 on the Billboard Music Charts at the time. Less than 1,000 copies were sold. However, the song was a number one hit in the United Kingdom. Louis Armstrong was the oldest male to top the U.K. music charts at 66 years old. During its release, the U.S. was going through a lot of turmoil with race riots in more than 100 cities and the Vietnam war. The BBC did a great article about the song. You can check it out here.
The song’s writers initially wanted Tony Bennett to sing the song but he rejected it until several years later. Although “What a Wonderful World” has been covered by several artists throughout the years, it became popular in the U.S. in 1987. The song was played in the Robin Williams movie, “Good Morning, Vietnam.” It was also played in the 1995 movie, “12 Monkeys.” According to Wikipedia, more than 2 million digital music downloads of the song have been sold in the U.S. since April 2014. I found several covers of “What a Wonderful World” on YouTube. My favorite will always be the original but here are a few others I like. What do you think of this song? Do you have a favorite cover of it? Have a great rest of the day, everyone! I’ll be back soon!
Yes I agree with you! I can’t believe it wasn’t a hit in the U.S. until several years later!
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My favorite is still the original by Louis Armstrong.
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Hmm, I’ll have to look for it, Erika. Thanks! 🙂 I recently discovered the last version I included. Stacey Solomon won a talent contest in the U.K. Her music is pretty good. I might do a separate post about it.
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There are some amazing versions out there. I think the most popular these days is the one of Israel (please forgive me for not writing the whole name…. lol)
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