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.
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.
I have read His fiery gospel writ in rows of burnished steel!
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you My grace shall deal!
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,"
Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free!
While God is marching on.
Louis Armstrong's song Battle Hymn of the Republic is a powerful expression of faith and conviction. The lyrics paint vivid imagery of the Lord's coming and the impact it has on the world. The first verse is a description of the Lord's arrival, which is characterized by his trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, a reference to God's judgment of the wicked. The mention of lightning and swift swords reinforces the idea that the Lord's arrival will be a terrible and awe-inspiring event.
The second verse builds upon the idea of the Lord's arrival, and how it inspires people to worship and revere Him. The third verse describes the Lord's message, a fiery gospel that ensures justice for both the wicked and the righteous. The fourth verse stresses the importance of the Lord's trumpet, which will never retreat, and the notion of purity, as the Lord sifts out the hearts of men before His judgment seat.
Line by Line Meaning
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
I have witnessed the incredible arrival of God with my own eyes
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He is destroying the injustice that has been accumulating for so long, like a farmer trampling grapes to create wine
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
He has brought upon us swift and powerful punishment for our wrongs
His truth is marching on.
His righteousness and justice continue to prevail
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Praise God! Praise God!
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
I have seen God's presence among many people who gather together by the light of campfires
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
They have constructed a place of worship for God in the damp evening air
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps,
Even in the dim and flickering light, I can understand God's righteous judgment
His day is marching on.
The day of God's victory and vindication is approaching
I have read His fiery gospel writ in rows of burnished steel!
I have read the passionate message of God engraved in hard, polished steel
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you My grace shall deal!
"As you treat those who scorn me, I will treat you with my mercy
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,"
May the savior, born of a woman, defeat evil with his strength
Since God is marching on.
Because God's power is unstoppable and always advancing
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He has announced his arrival with a trumpet blast that cannot be ignored
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
God is examining and judging the hearts of all people
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet!
Let your soul be quick to respond and let your feet dance for joy in praise of God
Our God is marching on.
Our God's power and righteousness are always advancing
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
Jesus was born in a beautiful place across the ocean
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;
Jesus carried an aura of divine beauty within him that can transform us
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free!
Just as Jesus died to make people holy, let us also make sacrifices to bring freedom to others
While God is marching on.
God's power and righteousness is always advancing, even as we work for freedom and justice in the world
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ATKINS, TRADITIONAL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ange Kenos
Now this is music that you can truly feel and it feels so goooooooooooood
Adam Broit
Amazing. Thanks for that. This is the first song I heard as a kid in 1965 from dads collection. 5 penny saints on the flip side of the 45..but the first part of Red is amazing. Lovely piece.
juan avalos díaz
De la película Las cinco monedas. The five pennies con Danny Kaye y Susan Gordon.
Jonah Kyle
And if you want the South's song, Dixie, Louie's got you covered as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pnM2IVnGPI
Christopher McGuire
God he Red Nichols Rest, them were good
Tobias R
You southern boys'll be proud he did a bangup job with Dixie as well... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pnM2IVnGPI
だっしゅセブン
Red Nichols