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.
05-A Kiss To Build A Dream On
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
A kiss to build a dream on
Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart
Leave me one thing before we part
And when I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true
Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on
When I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true
Oh, give me lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Oh, give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on
Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" is a love song that is all about how a kiss can fuel one's imagination and create a beautiful dream. In the first stanza, Armstrong sings about how a kiss can be the foundation for all fantasy. He declares that his imagination will thrive upon the kiss he receives from his sweetheart, and he asks for nothing more than this.
In the second stanza, Armstrong begs his sweetheart to give him a kiss before she leaves. He tells her that her kiss will satiate his yearning heart and give him something to hold onto before she departs. He pleads with her to leave him with one thing before they part – a kiss to build a dream on.
In the third stanza, Armstrong sings about how he will be with his sweetheart even when he is alone with his fanciful thoughts. He will weave romances and imagine them to be true because of the kiss she gave him. The final stanza repeats the song's refrain but ends with a slight variation: Armstrong asks his sweetheart for her lips for just a moment, stating that his imagination will make that moment live, and he implores her to give him what she alone can give – a kiss to build a dream on.
Overall, Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" is a beautiful ode to love and the power of imagination. It reminds the listener that even the simplest of things, like a kiss, can fuel dreams and fantasies.
Line by Line Meaning
Give me a kiss to build a dream on
I long for a loving kiss that can inspire me and make me see a beautiful dream
And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
The kiss will be a catalyst to fuel my imagination and inspire me to accomplish my dreams
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
I don't ask for anything else besides your kiss to help me achieve what I aspire
A kiss to build a dream on
A kiss from you that can help me build a beautiful dream and keep me hopeful even in tough times
Give me a kiss before you leave me
I desire a kiss from you before you depart, so I can hold it close to my heart until we meet again
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart
The kiss will nourish my heart, and my creativity will flow, making me feel excited and energized
Leave me one thing before we part
Even though we'll be apart, I ask for one little thing, a kiss from you to help me get through my days
And when I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
When I'm lost in my thoughts, I'll imagine you're with me, and it'll make me happy and content
Weaving romances, making believe they're true
I'll imagine us having wonderful moments - our love story, which I’ll believe will come true someday
Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
I'm asking you to give me the special gift of your lips for a brief moment - a gift that will stay in my heart forever
And my imagination will make that moment live
I'll keep that kiss in my thoughts, and my creativity will make every moment spent with you feel real and unforgettable
Give me what you alone can give
I’m asking for something special - a kiss from you, because no one else can give me what you can
A kiss to build a dream on
A kiss that can help me envision wonderful things in life and hold onto the hope of making it a reality
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Oscar Hammerstein
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Anonymous
on What A Wonderful World
What A Wonderful World - Casey Abrams - Lyrics
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
Singing how do you do
They're really singing
I love you
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Musical Interlude
The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands
Singing how do you do
They're really singing
I love you
I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They goin’ learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
I think to myself
What a wonderful world