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Alex Weidner

Professor Leonard

ENG 1201

13 February 2022

Joey Ramone vs. Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World” Rhetorical Analysis

“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is, in essence, about a wonderful world.

It speaks of peaceful scenes of nature, such as blue skies, white clouds, and red roses. The

message of the song is clear, it’s about appreciating the beauty in nature and the little things in

life, such as friends shaking hands. It’s an incredibly well-known and near-universally liked song

for the optimism and joy that it brings. Joey Ramone's rendition of "What a Wonderful World",

takes on a very similar, yet slightly different theme and message as Louis Armstrong's original,

and uses various devices such as genre, characters, and rhetorical appeals to direct that message

to a younger, rebellious audience.

An obvious difference in Ramone’s version of the song that leads to the change in

audience is the difference in genre. Ramone is a rock artist with energetic and fast-paced songs,

while Armstrong plays in slow and calm jazz. This difference in feel and style is the main cause

of the difference in audience. While not necessarily considered to be music for the older

generation, many of the fans of jazz do not overlap with rock fans since the style and feel of the

two genres are very different. For as long as it has been around, rock has been known as the

music of youth and rebellion, mostly attracting the attention of teenagers, especially in the 90s

and early 2000s, which is also when Joey Ramone’s version was released. Since Ramone is
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using a medium that is popular with a younger audience, he is opening the audience of the song

to the rock world, mostly a younger audience at the time.

Another very important difference between the two videos is the characters that are used,

which allows Ramone’s version to be further directed towards a younger audience. In the music

video for Armstrong’s version, there are no distinguished characters. It is a montage of

picturesque scenes of nature that bring about feelings of peace. On the contrary, Ramone’s

version has a teenage couple as its main characters. The video starts out by introducing the

characters by having the boy climb into his girlfriend’s window to meet with her. Already, the

video is making it clear that the audience is teenagers and young adults, by including them as the

main character of the video. Also, the rebellious nature of the audience is being highlighted and

appealed to by having the boy sneaking into the girl’s window as if he is avoiding coming

through the door to the apartment. The boy then puts in a VHS tape of “What a Wonderful

World” by Joey Ramone into a TV in the girl’s room, and they both listen to the song and dance.

Yet another clear example of the audience is shown when the audience of the song in the video is

quite literally two teenagers.

Finally, the difference in rhetorical appeals used makes an important difference in the

message that both songs convey. Both songs are very similar in their messages simply because

the words of the song are hard to give a different meaning. However, the rhetorical appeals do

slightly change the message and make it a bit more specific. Ramone’s video does this is through

a change in the video’s setting. For example, the bright colors and picturesque scenes of Louis

Armstrong’s video show the beauty in nature and that we live in a “Wonderful World”.

Ramone’s version, instead of highlighting the beauty of the world, chooses to focus on the

smaller, more nostalgic things in life, such as a couple dancing along to a song. As well,
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Ramone’s video does not particularly show any natural beauty as the apartment is in an urban

environment and the video on the VHS tape lacks any scenes of nature, perhaps opting to change

the focus from the beauty of nature to the beauty of life. Additionally, pathos plays an important

role in how the video is received by the audience and what it means to them as listeners. In

Armstrong’s video, the scenes of nature and the bright colors are used to bring out optimistic and

joyous feelings in the watchers. The slow and melodic tone also brings calming and soothing

emotions to the listeners of the song. However, Ramone’s version is more fast-paced and

energetic, which is represented by the joy, happiness, and energy being displayed by the two

main characters.

In summary, many similarities are shown between Louis Armstrong and Joey Ramone’s

versions of “What a Wonderful World”, yet there are some key differences that make both

versions unique. Ramone sets his version apart by shifting the audience to one that is younger

and more rebellious, as well as changing the message to focus not on the beauty of nature, but

instead on the beauty of life. The main modes for this shift are Ramone’s rock genre, the two

young and lively main characters of Ramone’s video, and the tone and setting of Ramone’s video

and song. In the end, both videos are sure to leave their audience saying, “What a Wonderful

World”.
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Works Cited

Armstrong, Louis. “Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World (Official Video).” YouTube,

written by Thiele Bob, and George David Weiss, singing by Armstrong, Louis, UMG, 20

Aug. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBrd_3VMC3c

Ramone, Joey. “Joey Ramone – What a Wonderful World.” YouTube, written by Thiele Bob,

and George David Weiss, singing by Ramone Joey, BMG Rights Management, 19 Feb.

2002, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IoO5nkxT_4