Blue Skies

The recent gray days have given way to blue skies.

They have been not just blue, but deep cerulean blue.

And there have been white clouds of different sizes and shapes.

Some formed a white wall in the sky, 

others reclined in horizontal streaks.

Some stretched and puffed at the same time:

Others just puffed and swam across the sky:

Yesterday, it seems I was greeted by blue skies everywhere I went.

After those rainy overcast days, 

I couldn't help but notice the field of azure above me.

And it reminded me of the song lyrics for "Blue Skies,"

written by Irving Berlin in 1926 for a Rodgers and Hart musical:

Blue skies

smiling at me,

Nothing but blue skies

do I see.

It's a beautiful song, one recorded by many great American singers

including Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, 

Judy Garland, and more recently Willie Nelson.

There's another great song that mentions blue skies,

and it has an interesting history.

In 1968, producer Bob Thiele and songwriter George David Weiss

brought America the song "What a Wonderful World."

According to BBC.com, the song was written to re-focus Americans on peace

following the race riots and assassinations of 1968. 

Louis Armstrong agreed to record the song.

 By all accounts, it was a flop, selling only 1,000 copies.

But in Britain, it was a huge hit.

The BBC web site says "What a Wonderful World"

was re-introduced to American audiences
 in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam," although selected as an irony.

Gradually, Americans have come to appreciate the song's sentiment and lyrics:

I see skies of blue ... clouds of white

Bright blessed days ... dark sacred nights.

And I think to myself ... what a wonderful world.

Here's a link to listen to Armstrong singing "What a Wonderful World": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5TwT69i1lU

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