Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly-recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a black man.

Armstrong was born and brought up in New Orleans, a culturally diverse town with a unique musical mix of creole, ragtime, marching bands, and blues. Although from an early age he was able to play music professionally, he didn't travel far from New Orleans until 1922, when he went to Chicago to join his mentor, King Oliver. Oliver's band played primitive jazz, a hotter style of ragtime, with looser rhythms and more improvisation, and Armstrong's role was mostly backing. Slow to promote himself, he was eventually persuaded by his wife Lil Hardin to leave Oliver, and In 1924 he went to New York to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. At the time, there were a few other artists using the rhythmic innovations of the New Orleans style, but none did it with the energy and brilliance of Armstrong, and he quickly became a sensation among New York musicians. Back in Chicago in 1925, he made his first recordings with his own group, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and these became not only popular hits but also models for the first generation of jazz musicians, trumpeters or otherwise.

Other hits followed through the twenties and thirties, as well as troubles: crooked managers, lip injuries, mob entanglements, failed big-band ventures. As jazz styles changed, though, musical purists never lost any respect for him -- although they were sometimes irritated by his hammy onstage persona. Around the late forties, with the help of a good manager, Armstrong's business affairs finally stablilized, and he began to be seen as an elder statesman of American popular entertainment, appearing in Hollywood films, touring Asia and Europe, and dislodging The Beatles from the number-one position with Hello Dolly". Today many people may know him as a singer (a good one), but as Miles Davis said: “You can’t play nothing on modern trumpet that doesn’t come from him."

The 62-year-old Armstrong became the oldest act to top the US charts when "Hello Dolly" reached #1 in 1964. Four years later Satchmo also became the oldest artist to record a UK #1, when "What a Wonderful World" hit the top spot.

'Bout Time
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

'Bout time, 'bout time we had little taste of wasted time
Like love a deux, I wasted time alone with you
'Bout time we two we're livin' out a lovely dream come true
'Bout you, 'bout me, 'bout love, yes

'Bout time, 'bout time we spent good time with no one near
To watch me while I say a little somethin' in your ear
'Bout how I care, 'bout how I wanna make my feelin's clear

About you, 'bout me, 'bout love

We're in deep water, darlin', clear over my head
'Bout time to either sink or swim, let's swim, 'nuff said

'Bout time, 'bout time we didn't have to always steal a kiss
'Bout time, 'bout time I had my arms around your waste like this
My whole life through I wanna make you feel the way I do
'Bout you, 'bout me, 'bout love

Yes, we're in deep water, darlin', clear over my head
'Bout time to either sink or swim, let's swim, 'nuff said

'Bout time, yes time, we didn't have to always steal a kiss
'Bout time, time, I had my arms around your waste like this
My whole life through, I wanna make you feel the way I do

'Bout you, about me, 'bout us, ooo-eee
About your love and mine, budd-lee-ooo, 'bout time

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Bout Time" by Louis Armstrong speaks about the long-awaited time that has come for the singer and his lover to truly express their affections for each other after wasting precious time alone. The song's chorus repeatedly emphasizes it is "bout time" to spend good quality time together and to openly share their love without anyone else around. The singer notes that they are in "deep water" and needs to make a decision to either sink or swim, hence the urgency to act on their love before it's too late. The singer promises to make their lover feel the way he does and is excited to finally be able to embrace them with open arms.

Overall, the song depicts a sense of long-awaited anticipation and urgency to openly express their feelings to their loved ones. It is a beautiful expression of the magic moment of love that comes at a timely interval, and that should be cherished and enjoyed as a beautiful dream come true. The song also urges the listener to appreciate and cherish the time spent with their loved ones and not to wait any longer to express their love fully.

Line by Line Meaning

'Bout time, 'bout time we had little taste of wasted time
I think it's time we took a break from being productive and wasted some time together

Like love a deux, I wasted time alone with you
Just like love birds waste time together, I wasted time alone with you

'Bout time we two we're livin' out a lovely dream come true
It's about time that we started living our dream come true together

'Bout you, 'bout me, 'bout love, yes
It's about you, me, and our love for each other, and that's an affirmative

'Bout time, 'bout time we spent good time with no one near
It's about time that we spent some quality time, just the two of us, with no one else around

To watch me while I say a little somethin' in your ear
We don't need anyone watching while I whisper sweet nothings in your ear

'Bout how I care, 'bout how I wanna make my feelin's clear
It's about how much I care for you, and how I want to express my love for you

About you, 'bout me, 'bout love
It's about you, me, and our love for each other

We're in deep water, darlin', clear over my head
We've gotten in way over our heads, my love

'Bout time to either sink or swim, let's swim, 'nuff said
It's about time for us to decide if we're going to sink or swim, and I say let's swim, that's enough said

'Bout time, 'bout time we didn't have to always steal a kiss
It's about time that we don't have to sneak around to steal kisses from each other

'Bout time, 'bout time I had my arms around your waste like this
It's about time that I can hold you in my arms like this

My whole life through I wanna make you feel the way I do
For my entire life, I want to make you feel the way I feel about you

'Bout you, 'bout me, 'bout love
It's about you, me, and the love that we share

Yes, we're in deep water, darlin', clear over my head
Yes, we've gotten in too deep, my love

'Bout time to either sink or swim, let's swim, 'nuff said
It's time for us to decide if we're going to sink or swim, and I say let's swim, enough said

'Bout time, yes time, we didn't have to always steal a kiss
It's about time that we don't have to hide to steal kisses from each other

'Bout time, time, I had my arms around your waste like this
It's about time that I can hold you in my arms like this

My whole life through, I wanna make you feel the way I do
For my entire life, I want to make you feel the way I feel about you

'Bout you, about me, 'bout us, ooo-eee
It's about you, me, and our relationship, ooo-eee

About your love and mine, budd-lee-ooo, 'bout time
It's about your love for me and my love for you, budd-lee-ooo, and it's about time we express it

Contributed by Savannah D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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