Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”

The song tells the story of a man observing things happening around him, which he sings about to someone else. It is as if he is imagining some sort of paradise, seeing trees, skies, people greeting each other, and the rainbow reflecting on people’s faces as they walk past each other in the scene he is singing about.

The song features predominantly violins, although a whole orchestra was hired for the recording session. Almost anyone who knows the song immediately recognizes it with its uniquely short string based intro, until his signature voice begins to sing.

In the broader context of the song, the 1960’s brought about a new period of American history, with central values of love and mutual appreciation rising, together with campaigns for peace and non-violence in various wars around the world that America was participating in.

This song was released with the background events of post World War 2 America leaving the US with mixed feelings about the rest of the world, and being in the midst of the Cold War with the USSR.

Another important aspect of this song is that it is sung by an African-American singer, which with the history of segregation not too far behind the publishing of this song, I believe represents a powerful message calling for love within America firstly, but also around the world.

A little about Louis Armstrong:

Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1906, a city that suffered greatly from racial segregation. He went to one of the few schools that accepted African American children. He was cared for by a Jewish family, and is rumourd to have worn a Star of David for the rest of his life as a result of their kindness.

He was one of the pioneers of Jazz singing, also being a talented trumpet player. Whilst it isn’t clear what caused his voice to sound so gravely, a few theories have emerged. First, it is said that he and his sister shared a similar voice through genes. Second, it is suggested that his voice is a a result of a bad cold he caught when he was young. Lastly, he had operations done on his vocal chords, and the mixture of them and him smoking throughout his life may have prolonged the effect that had begun on his voice.

A popular cover of the song was performed by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, and released in 2007 10 years after his death. The song features mostly a ukelele background, with the singer joining Louis Armstrong’s song together with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the film “The Wizard of Oz”. The songs share a natural theme that is connected with contemporary Hawaiian music, as demonstrated by Kamakawiwo’ole in his singing.

I believe this is Louis Armstrong’s most recognizable song. Whilst he also sang with Ella Fitzgerald in the 1950s (including Summertime and Dream a Little Dream of Me), and sang “Let My People Go” from the “Prince of Egypt”, this song immediately reminds me of his unique and significant voice.

He will always be remembered as an amazing Jazz singer and trumpet player.