Wednesday, June 4, 2008

What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

First heard this one as part of the Good Morning Vietnam soundtrack in 1988. The song served as a shocking juxtaposition to the death and destruction in that movie. So simple...but words can't do it justice. Heartwarming? Heartwrenching? Stirring? Emotional? Whatever it is, at its most basic, it's just plain lovely. Lush orchestration and a nice, meandering pace accent the emotion in Louis Armstrong's rasp of a voice.
And the lyrics: It's always good to be reminded of the beautiful things in life, and to feel gratitude for them. And really, that's all this song is about...gratitude. No sadness, no plot lines, no developing theme, just plain old fashioned gratitude, through and through. Really, no day should go without it. Especially days where you just feel ground down by life.

Because, really, all the world really needs...

...is another blogger, or another music critic. That's why I'm here. That, and an insatiable desire to scratch an itch and document what I consider fabulous music. A huge guilty pleasure. Not just to listen but to critique. Call it mental masturbation. My partner would possibly walk in here and laugh his ass off. But anyhoo...and with no further ado...