Songfacts®:

• Black started off as a UK trio including Liverpudlian Colin Vearncombe on vocals, but it soon trimmed down to Vearncombe recording on his own under the group name. In 1985 Vearncombe went through a messy divorce but out of it he wrote this ironically entitled minor key song. It was originally released in 1986 independently on Ugly Man Records peaking at #72 in the UK but it did enough to get Black noticed by A&M Records. They signed them and in June 1987 the single "Sweetest Smile," which was also inspired by Vearncombe's divorce, peaked at #8 in the UK. A&M then re-released "Wonderful Life," and this time it became a massive hit worldwide. The only territory to release the record that didn't have significant commercial success was the USA. The accompanying debut album then achieved over a million and a half sales worldwide.
• Colin Vearncombe backstage at the start of Black's 1993 tour, reflecting on this song: "It's another one of life's rich ironies that because my first marriage messed up in a very big way, I ended up writing a couple of songs that were the most successful I've ever written. My ex-wife is indirectly responsible for me having a hit," he says. "It makes me smile," he laughs. (courtesy: Sean McManus)
• In 1994 this song was re-released in the UK after its use in a TV advertising campaign for Standard Life insurance. This time it reached #42. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above
• A cover version by Katie Melua was used in a 2015 UK commercial for Premier Inn featuring Lenny Henry.
• Colin Vearncombe on the deep irony behind this tune. "I'd been in a couple of car crashes, my mother had a serious illness, I'd been dropped by a record company, my first marriage went belly-up and I was homeless. Then I sat down and wrote this song called Wonderful Life." (Source: Uncut magazine)