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.
Autumn Leaves
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The autumn leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all my darling
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
Louis Armstrong's song "Autumn Leaves" is a classic love song that discusses the feelings of longing and sadness that come with the changing of seasons. The opening lyrics are a perfect example of his talent with imagery, as the falling leaves drifting by the window serve as a metaphor for lost love. He compares the leaves, with their red and gold hues, to memories of his former love and the summer kisses they once shared. These memories are painful as they serve as a stark contrast to the emptiness he feels without her. Armstrong's voice is incredibly emotive as he sings about the sun-burnt hands he once held and the long days he must now endure without her by his side.
As the song continues, the lyrics become even more poignant. As winter draws nearer, he knows that he will soon hear old winter's song, signaling the full arrival of colder weather and darker days. But it's in the falling of the autumn leaves that he feels the deepest sense of loss. It is here where he misses her most, when the world is in a state of transition and everything around him is changing. The line "C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble" roughly translates to "It's a song that resembles us", which is fitting as this song resonates with so many people who have also lost love and feel that sense of aching nostalgia during the autumn season.
Overall, Armstrong perfectly captures what it feels like to miss someone you once loved deeply, as well as the melancholic beauty of autumn.
Line by Line Meaning
The falling leaves drift by the window
The leaves that fall during autumn season pass through the window aimlessly.
The autumn leaves of red and gold
The leaves that fall during autumn season have remarkable shades of gold and red.
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The singer remembers the kisses he shared with his lover during summer.
The sun-burned hands I used to hold
The singer recalls holding the hands of his lover in the summertime and how they became sunburned.
Since you went away the days grow long
The singer feels that the days have become longer ever since his lover left him.
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
The singer expects to feel the coldness of winter soon.
But I miss you most of all my darling
Out of everything, the singer longs for his lover the most.
When autumn leaves start to fall
The singer feels lonely and melancholic when autumn leaves fall.
C'est une chanson, qui nous ressemble
This song is relatable to us.
Toi tu m'aimais et je t'aimais
You loved me and I loved you.
Nous vivions tous deux ensemble
We lived together as two.
Toi qui m'aimais moi qui t'aimais
You loved me and I loved you.
Mais la vie separe ceux qui s'aiment
Life separates the ones who love each other.
Tout doucement sans faire de bruit
Slowly and silently.
Et la mer efface sur le sable les pas des amants desunis
The sea washes away the footsteps of separated lovers on the sand.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CLAUDIO MERLINI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Trevor Morris
An attractive version. I wish that Sidney Bechet had recorded it. If his version of summertime was any indication, this would have been absolutely superb had Bechet recorded it. Still, this is very good.
Dov Landzbaum
Louis Armstrong??? That's a clarinet, not a trumpet!
MrKlemps
The clarinetist is Peanuts Hucko--in very good form!
Santiago
:)) true!!
Dov Landzbaum
+Loïc Lapatrie One note!
Loïc Lapatrie
+Dov Landzbaum He plays at 2:21 ...
Jamie Gisevius
Peanuts Hucko solo number during his time with the All Stars. I always wished this version was longer.
John Doe
Thank you for giving credit to him. ( peanuts, clarinet).
علي اكريم
But I miss you most of all My darling
when Autumn leaves begin to fall :(
Georgi Arutunov
👌👍👏👏👏👏