What a Wonderful World - for Storytellers

What a Wonderful World
George David Weiss and Robert Thiele, ©1967
Additional words: Sandy Schuman

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Additional words

I hear sagas of old, adventures of new,
Legends and folklore, tall tales and true,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Tellers and listeners, youngsters and old,
Victims and villains and heroes so bold.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Everything in this story is true, so they say
Some of it actually happened that way.
So, we’ll tell all the stories, retell them and then
Listen anew, find what’s true once again.

I hear sagas of old, adventures of new,
Legends and folklore, tall tales and true,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The First Story

In a prehistoric time, a small group left the camp to forage for food. They wandered farther than they had ever gone before. They came to a steep ravine. They were about to start the descent when one of them held back and motioned for the others to come. There was a tree lying on the ground, tall enough to span the ravine. With great effort they lifted the small end of the tree and stood it on its big end. They angled it and let it drop so it fell across the ravine. It was The First Bridge. As they walked across it, one of them broke off a branch and used it as a walking aid. It was The First Walking Stick. They continued walking until they came to a field of berries. As they filled their pouches with berries, one of them was attacked by a bear. They started to run away but one of them had the idea to use the walking stick to beat the bear and all the others came with their walking sticks and they chased the bear away. They had to bring their injured fellow back to the camp, but there were unsure of the way. Two of them climbed a tall tree to get a better view. It was The First Lookout Post. Seeing smoke from the camp in the distance, they pointed the way home. When finally they returned home, they so wanted to tell the story of their adventures, they invented language.