[cincopa AgGAEY6NlOHi]
Performed by Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua
Written by Bob Thiele (as George Douglas) and George David Weiss
c. 1968 by Memory Lane Music Group, Carlin Music Corp, and Bug Music, Inc.
I see trees that are green, red roses too,
I watch them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow.
They’ll learn much more, than I’ll ever know.
And I think to myself, ooh what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of the people passing by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?”
But they’re really saying, “I love you”.
I see trees that are green, and red roses too,
I watch them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, ooh what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of the people passing by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?”,
But they’re really saying, “I love you”.
I see trees of green, and red roses too.
I watch them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself, ooh what a wonderful world.
I think to myself, ooh what a wonderful world.
Before we can see, we have to look…..what keeps you from looking?
List some wonderful things.
How could appreciation of these things change you?
Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the United States in 1968, this song has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future. After Tony Bennett turned it down, it was offered to Louis Armstrong, who sold over one million copies in 1969. The song has become somewhat of a cliché in film and television because of its frequent use in an ironic way playing over a montage of bombings and other violence as in such films as Good Morning Vietnam, and Dr. Strangelove.
It’s popularity is further illustrated by the many superstars who have recorded their own versions, including Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, Diana Ross, LeAnn Rimes, Michael Bublé, Sarah Brightman, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Kenny G, Joey Ramone, Coldplay, Anne Murray, and B.B. King.