"What a Wonderful World" is a song by Bob Thiele (using the pseudonym George Douglas) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968, and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.....
.....Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate in the U.S. of everyday life. The song also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to look forward to. The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies, but was a major success in the UK, reaching number one on the UK singles chart. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK. The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the charts, at sixty-six years and ten months old. (read more at Wikipedia)
I came across this perfect video one night this week and it moved me to tears. The song seems so different to me now than when it came out in 1968, one of the most tumultuous times in the last 50+ years. Even with all the hell that was going on at the time when I heard this song in those days I felt absolutely hopeful.
Now, not so much. The damage done to this wonderful world in the decades since has put Earth in real peril. We know this. Some argue the causes and the severity, but we know we are in danger of losing the environmental balance that was taken for granted by all the generations before us.
To acknowledge that it is we who have the weight of this wonderful world on our shoulders hurts almost more than bearing the weight of these times. But acknowledge we must. We must become as fully informed of as much detail of what is happening as we can, and we need to let our civic, state, and national leaders know that we are nuanced in our knowledge of environmental concerns.....and that we are watching their actions.
The second annual Earth Hour is coming up on Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 PM (your time). This year it's being promoted much more professionally and enthusiastically than last year, which seemed more an experiment. Inside candy in South Africa posted a great post with links on how to sign up for Earth Hour 2009. Come on, let's make a powerful global difference together that night!
Mike and I participated last year and in a later post I might share the hysterical video from that night. In the meantime, for this year's Earth Hour video I think Mike must learn What a Wonderful World on his guitar....
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