Louis Armstrong on his vision for a wonderful world

July 4th, 2023

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photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress

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Some of you young folks been saying to me, “Hey Pops, what you mean ‘What a wonderful world’? How about all them wars all over the place? You call them wonderful? And how about hunger and pollution? That aint so wonderful either.” Well how about listening to old Pops for a minute. Seems to me, it aint the world that’s so bad but what we’re doin’ to it. And all I’m saying is, see, what a wonderful world it would be if only we’d give it a chance. Love baby, love. That’s the secret, yeah. If lots more of us loved each other, we’d solve lots more problems. And then this world would be a gasser.

-Louis Armstrong

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Watch the official animated video of Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”   [Verve Records]

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