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.
93. I'll Never Be the Same
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Stars have lost their meaning for me
I'll never be the same
Nothing's what it once use to be
And when the songbirds that sing
Tell me it's spring
I can't believe their song
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
There is such an ache in my heart
Never be the same since we're apart
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
I know down deep inside
I'll never be the same never be the same again
I'll never be the same
Stars have lost their meaning for me
I'll never be the same
Nothing's what it once use to be
And when the songbirds that sing
Tell me it's spring
I can't believe their song
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
I'll never be the same
There is such an ache in my heart
Never be the same since we're apart
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
I know down deep inside
, I'll never be the same again.
The lyrics of "I'll Never Be the Same" express the singer's longing for a lost love and their inability to find joy in the things they once enjoyed. The opening lines suggest a loss of faith in hope or beauty, as even something as symbolic as the stars has become meaningless. The repetition of the title phrase emphasizes the permanence of this change, that the singer will never be the same again. This change is also reflected in the contrast between the past and present, as the second verse describes what used to be, and the chorus contrasts it with the present. This contrast is further emphasized by the seasonal imagery, with the songbirds' song indicating the arrival of spring, normally a time of rebirth and renewal, but the singer remains unable to believe or feel any hope through their sadness.
The last verse adds a layer of complexity to the singer's emotions, as they acknowledge that there is a lot that they are hiding with a smile, but deep down they know that they will never be the same. The final phrase, "I'll never be the same again," brings the song full circle, emphasizing the devastating effect that this lost love has had on the singer's life, even after time has passed.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll never be the same
My life has been irrevocably altered
Stars have lost their meaning for me
The things I once found joy in no longer hold any significance
I'll never be the same
I have changed beyond recognition
Nothing's what it once use to be
The world looks completely different to me now
And when the songbirds that sing
Even the most beautiful things in nature fail to bring me joy
Tell me it's spring
The changing seasons hold no significance to me anymore
I can't believe their song
I find it hard to believe in anything anymore
Once love was king but kings can be wrong
Even love, the most powerful emotion, can be fleeting and not always accurate
I'll never be the same
My transformation is permanent
There is such an ache in my heart
I feel a constant pain and sadness in my heart
Never be the same since we're apart
My separation from someone significant is the cause of my pain
Though there's a lot that a smile may hide
Even though I may look happy, there is sadness hidden beneath the surface
I know down deep inside
I am fully aware in my soul that I will never be the same again
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Gus Kahn, Matt Malneck, Frank Signorelli
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