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What a Wonderful Life
Words & Music:
Sid Wayne/ Jerry LivingstonIt's a wonderful life
This life I'm livin'
What a wonderful life, days with a life of ease, oh-ho-oh
Well, I've got no job to worry me
No big bad boss to hurry me
It's a wonderful life life's good to me
It's a wonderful road
This road I'm travelin'
It's a wonderful road headin' beyond the hills, oh-ho-oh
Oh it may go straight or it may detour
But one thing that I know for sure
It's a wonderful life, life's good to me
Don't know where I'm goin'
Don't care where I'm goin'
Like the four winds are blowin' I go on
Laughin' the day away, lovin the night away
Till the moon is gone
It's a wonderful life
This life I'm livin'
What a wonderful life
Livin' the life I love, oh yeah
Well I've got neighbors, I've got friends
Just about anywhere the rainbow ends
It's a wonderful life, life's good to me
Don't know where I'm goin'
Don't care where I'm goin'
Like the four winds are blowin' I go on
Laughin' the day away, lovin the night away
Till the moon is gone
It's a wonderful life
This life I'm livin'
What a wonderful life
Livin' the life I love, oh yeah
Well I've got neighbors, I've got friends
Just about anywhere the rainbow ends
It's a wonderful life, life's good to me
What a wonderful life, life's good to me, yeah
Crazy life, life's good to me
Oh what a life Recorded:
1961/07/02, first released on
EPReactions
I love this song, especially the undubbed Version on the FTD edition, as the sound is really great on that one.
What a wonderful song. Most of the EPs were good soundtracks, except for the last one. This is a perfect 1962 summer song. Elvis never sounded better.
Happy, feel good kind of song featured in a decent film. I've still got the EP from the film which I bought in Manchester around 1963.
Five stars for this one.
This is a really great movie song and yet such was the standard only my 3rd favourite from the Follow That Dream film.
What I would call a road song, it exhibits fun, energy and a committed Elvis.- 4/5 stars
This is such a terrific, fun and catchy song and it's easily one of Elvis' very best movie songs from the 1960's. This song should be way better known than it actually is.
A bouncy, fun song recorded for the movie and EP "Follow That Dream". All four songs on this EP were high quality and with the million plus sales of this one, you have to wonder why RCA was so bent on soundtrack LPs. When the material was good enough to warrant a LP, it made sense ("Blue Hawaii", "G.I. Blues"), but for the soundtrack LPs with only a hand full of quality songs ("Kissin' Cousins", "Double Trouble, etc) the EP would have been a better way to go. Notice the "Follow That Dream" EP did not have all the songs from the movie ("Sound Advice" was left off the record). Imagine how much better six song EP for "Girls! Girls! Girls!" would have been as opposed to the LP.
A real gem from the early sixties movies. A song for the road. But the literal wonderful roll came to stop, when money machine focused production set in, trying to repeat Blue Hawaii over and over...but it only got worse. Last great output, and also on EP was VLV...From then on: forget it.
It was 1962 and in the Uk Elvis could do no wrong. After 4 #1 hits during 1961 he carried on with 4 more in 1962. Had Follow that Dream been released as a single in Oct '62 with What a wonderful Life on the b~side i'm sure it would have been yet another double sided Uk #1. As it was, it was restricted to the EP release at the same time as Good Luck Charm was holding a top 10 spot. Still, this didn't stop the EP from getting into the Uk top 40 single's chart, his 2nd EP to do so. Yes, a great time to be an Elvis fan.
Good song and I agree that the movie EP soundtracks were of a higher standard than the soundtrack LPs. In this case, less was better.
I love this song. In fact, everything from Follow That Dream, Kid Galahad, Wild in the Country and Flaming Star were pretty top notch. But GI Blues and Blue Hawaii were the bigger hit movies and soundtracks. It's a shame because not only were those EPs better than the soundtrack LPs, but the movies were better too. But the market had spoken.....and Col Parker was listening. So that was all she wrote until 1968 (basically)
I think that the Follow That Dream EP contained good songs and this particular track swings along nicely.
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