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.
Can't Help Lovin' That Man Of Mine
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I love my mister man and I can't tell you why
Dere ain't no reason why I should love dat man
It must be sumpin' dat de angels done plan
De chimbley's smokin'
De roof is leakin' in
But he don't seem to care
He can be happy
I even loves him when his kisses got gin
Fish got to swim and birds got to fly
I got to love one man till I die
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
Tell me he's lazy
Tell me he's slow
Tell me I'm crazy, maybe, I know
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
When he goes away
Dat's a rainy day
And when he comes back dat day is fine
The sun will shine
He can come home as late as can be
Home without him ain't no home to me
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
He can come home as late as can be
Home without him ain't no home to me
Can't help lovin' that man the way I do,
Oh Can't help lovin' that man of mine
In "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," Louis Armstrong sings about an all-consuming love for a man that defies reason. Despite the fact that her man seems to have no regard for their living conditions or her well-being, the singer still loves him. The lyrics suggest that there is something mystical or otherworldly about the pull she feels towards him, as if it has been planned by angels. The singer is helpless in the face of her love for him, and the song is a celebration of that helplessness.
The lyrics also touch on the idea that everyone's got to love someone, even if that someone isn't perfect. The refrain "Fish got to swim and birds got to fly, I got to love one man till I die" suggests that love is a natural part of life, and that it's perfectly normal to love someone even if they have flaws. In fact, the singer seems to love her man despite his laziness and shortcomings, giving the song a bittersweet tone that is both melancholic and tender.
Overall, "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" is a deeply emotional and romantic song that celebrates the power of love even in the face of adversity. It's a reminder that love isn't cut-and-dried, but rather messy and complicated, and that that's what makes it so beautiful.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh listen, sister
Hey there, listen up
I love my mister man and I can't tell you why
I love my partner and I don't know why
Dere ain't no reason why I should love dat man
There's no logic or reason why I should love him
It must be sumpin' dat de angels done plan
Perhaps it's just fate or meant to be
De chimbley's smokin'
The chimney's smoking
De roof is leakin' in
The roof is leaking
But he don't seem to care
He doesn't seem bothered by it
He can be happy
He can find joy
With jes' a sip of gin
With just a small amount of gin
I even loves him when his kisses got gin
I still love him even if he's been drinking gin
Fish got to swim and birds got to fly
It's natural for fish to swim and birds to fly
I got to love one man till I die
It's my destiny to love this one man forever
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
I can't stop loving him
Tell me he's lazy
Even if he's lazy
Tell me he's slow
Even if he's slow
Tell me I'm crazy, maybe, I know
Even if people think I'm crazy for loving him, I know
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
I can't stop loving him
When he goes away
When he's not here
Dat's a rainy day
It feels like a rainy and gloomy day
And when he comes back dat day is fine
But when he comes back it feels like a fine and sunny day
The sun will shine
Everything will feel brighter
He can come home as late as can be
He can come home really late
Home without him ain't no home to me
If he's not home, it doesn't feel like home
Can't help lovin' that man of mine
I can't stop loving him
He can come home as late as can be
He can come home really late
Home without him ain't no home to me
If he's not home, it doesn't feel like home
Can't help lovin' that man the way I do,
I can't help loving him as much as I do
Oh Can't help lovin' that man of mine
I just can't stop loving him
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jerome Kern, Oscar Ii 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