Wonderful World (Sam Cooke song)

"Wonderful World" (occasionally referred to as "(What A) Wonderful World") is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Released on April 14, 1960, by Keen Records, it had been recorded during an impromptu session the previous year in March 1959, at Sam Cooke's last recording session at Keen. He signed with RCA Victor in 1960 and "Wonderful World", then unreleased, was issued as a single in competition. The song was mainly composed by songwriting team Lou Adler and Herb Alpert, but Cooke revised the lyrics to mention the subject of education more.

"Wonderful World" ended up doing substantially better on the charts than several of his early RCA Victor singles, becoming his biggest hit single since "You Send Me" in 1957. "Wonderful World" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number two on Billboard'sHot R&B Sides chart.

In 1965, Herman's Hermits recording of the song reached number one in Canada, number four in the United States, and number seven in the United Kingdom. Another version by Art Garfunkel with James Taylor and Paul Simon charted at number 17 in 1978. The Sam Cooke recording was featured in the film Animal House (1978) and gained greater recognition in the UK upon a 1986 re-release when it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, going gold (it had peaked at number 27 on the UK singles chart on first release in 1960). Its 1986 success was attributed to sound-alike versions featured in the film Witness (1985) and a Levi's 501 television commercial.