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.
Chlo-E
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Someone's calling, no reply
Nightshade's falling, hear him sigh
Chloe! Chloe!
Empty spaces in his eyes
Empty arms outstretched, he's crying
I've got to go where you are
If it's dark or bright
I've got to go where you are
I'll go through the dismal swampland
Searching for you
For if you are lost there
Let me be there too
Through the smoke and flame
I've got to go where you are
For no ways can be too far
Where you are
Ain't no chains can bind you
If you live, I'll find you
Love is calling me
I've got to go where you are
The lyrics to Louis Armstrong's song Chloe-E are filled with intense longing and desire for a woman named Chloe. The opening lines of "Chloe! Chloe! Someone's calling, no reply, Nightshade's falling, hear him sigh" convey the sense of desperation and despair the singer feels as he calls out for Chloe. The image of nightshade, a poisonous plant, adds to the song's ominous tone and suggests that the singer feels as if he is in danger or being threatened.
The second verse of the song continues with the theme of loss and emptiness, as the singer describes the "empty spaces" in his eyes and the "empty arms outstretched, he's crying". This reinforces the sense that the singer is searching for something or someone to fill the void in his life.
The final verses of the song introduce a note of hope and determination, as the singer declares that he will "go through the dismal swampland searching for you" and "go through the smoke and flame" to find Chloe. The final lines, "Ain't no chains can bind you, If you live, I'll find you, Love is calling me, I've got to go where you are" suggest that no matter what obstacles stand in his way, the singer will stop at nothing to find Chloe and be with her once again.
Line by Line Meaning
Chloe! Chloe!
The singer is calling out the name of Chloe.
Someone's calling, no reply
The singer hears someone calling Chloe's name but there is no response.
Nightshade's falling, hear him sigh
It is dark and the singer hears someone sighing.
Empty spaces in his eyes
The person who is calling Chloe looks empty or sad.
Empty arms outstretched, he's crying
The person who is calling Chloe is crying with empty arms.
Through the black of night
The singer is willing to go through the darkness of night.
I've got to go where you are
The singer feels a strong need to be where Chloe is.
If it's dark or bright
The brightness of the location isn't a concern for the singer.
I've got to go where you are
The singer needs to be where Chloe is.
I'll go through the dismal swampland
The singer is willing to go through an unpleasant environment to find Chloe.
Searching for you
The singer is looking for Chloe.
For if you are lost there
The singer thinks it is possible that Chloe is lost there.
Let me be there too
The singer wants to be with Chloe even if she is lost in the place they are searching.
Through the smoke and flame
The singer is willing to go through a dangerous or difficult situation to find Chloe.
For no ways can be too far
The singer thinks no distance is too far to find Chloe.
Where you are
The singer wants to be where Chloe is.
Ain't no chains can bind you
The singer will find Chloe no matter what obstacles there are.
If you live, I'll find you
The singer will find Chloe as long as she is alive.
Love is calling me
The singer is driven by love to find Chloe.
I've got to go where you are
The singer needs to be where Chloe is.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ELTON JOHN, GARY ANTHONY OSBORNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@myklorenzo87
Well we can thank Chlöe for introducing this to the current generation!
@BRORay611
Lol she brought me here too. 😊
@djatjj7599
I’m here because of Chlöe also
@ravenayele392
Chloe Bailey brought me here. :)
@mistyj5075
same here! love her
@Kap3lka
Chloe Bailey sent me here❤💔❤
@LuisElAngelito
Chloe Bailey thank youuuu
@JSOLITEmusic
Chlöe Bailey brought me here. 💯
@queens1ey
she knew what she was doing
@jazzgrampa
I hear his voice in the trumpet! Or do I hear his voice in his trumpet. Love(d) this man!🎺🎤