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.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
I forgive you, 'cause I can't forget you
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
[Repeat: x2]
I ought to cross you off my list
But when you come a-knocking at my door
And I come running back for more
I should hate you, but I guess I love you
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
The devil and the deep blue sea
Louis Armstrong's song "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" talks about the internal conflict and struggles of a person who is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. In this song, the devil represents temptations and desires that he knows are not good for him while the deep blue sea represents the troubles of life. He doesn't want his love interest, but the thought of losing her scares him. He forgives her for the hurt she has caused him, and even though he ought to move on, his heart belongs to her.
The lyrics in this song highlight an internal battle that many people go through in relationships. They are unsure whether they should let go or keep holding on to something that might make them miserable. Even though the song is about love, it can apply to any situation where a person feels trapped between two opposing forces. It is a reminder of how tempting something can be, even when we know it is not good for us.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want you, but I'd hate to lose you
I have mixed feelings towards you, as I do not desire you, but I also do not wish to lose you.
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
I am in a difficult situation where I have to choose between two equally daunting options.
I forgive you, 'cause I can't forget you
Although I still hold a grudge against you, I cannot help but remember the good times we shared and thus forgive you.
I ought to cross you off my list
It would be best for me to remove you from my life completely.
But when you come a-knocking at my door
However, when you come back into my life unexpectedly,
Fate seems to give my heart a twist
My emotions become conflicted and unpredictable due to our history together.
And I come running back for more
I cannot resist the temptation to be with you again.
I should hate you, but I guess I love you
Logically, I should despise you for the pain you have caused me, but instead I cannot help but still feel something towards you.
You've got me in between the devil and the deep blue sea
Once again, I am faced with a difficult choice between two equally challenging options.
The devil and the deep blue sea
This phrase is repeated multiple times to emphasize the severity of the situation, as both options are extremely daunting.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Trombonology
Louis was always sublime, but I have a special fondness for both his material and manner of presentation in this period. His vocal, complete with lyrical alteration ("I should hate you but, Mama, I guess instead I love you") and aside ("Oh, you little devil"), is beautifully phrased. Though never closely associated with the use of mutes as certain other trumpeters are, at this time he was still fairly frequently employing a straight mute, as here, in which takes all but the last four bars of a full 32-bar chorus muted before going open for the the last four bars of that chorus and an additional eight bars. In his open passage, you can hear figures that one of his keenest admirers, the great Bunny Berigan, would adopt.
@BensPhonographs07
Wonderfully put, I agree.
@Trombonology
@@BensPhonographs07 Thank you!
@yaelpalombo4604
❤️❤️❤️🙏🌹🙏
@thomassmith5400
1:40