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.
Cold Cold Heart
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?
Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn't do, yes
In anger, unkind words are said that make the teardrops start
Louis Armstrong's song Cold Cold Heart was written by Hank Williams in 1951. The song's lyrics revolve around a man expressing his love and trying to win his lover back. The singer is pleading with his lover to open up and trust him because she is skeptical of his intentions due to a previous bad experience with love. He tried to make her realize that he's a good man and that she should give him a chance, but her past hurts and doubts keep her cold towards him. He feels helpless and frustrated because he can't get through to her and gets emotional when he speaks about how her past misfortunes shouldn't dictate their present and future.
The lyrics are simple yet heartfelt, and Louis Armstrong's raspy yet soothing voice captures the essence of the message. The song was well-loved by people for its emotional resonance and the relatable romantic struggles of the singer.
Some interesting facts about the song include:
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, yes, man, I tried so hard, my dear, to show that you're my every dream
I put in so much effort to demonstrate my love for you, my dear, to make sure you felt like you were the most important thing to me
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme
Despite my efforts, your trust has been broken by someone in your past and now you fear that all of my actions are motivated by ill intent
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart
A painful memory of a previous love is keeping us from being close to one another
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?
I don't understand why I can't convince you to let go of your doubts and fears and allow yourself to love me fully
Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
You experienced heartbreak and sadness from a past love, which occurred before I came into your life
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn't do, yes
Now, I'm paying the price for the hurt that another person caused you, even though I had no part in it
In anger, unkind words are said that make the teardrops start
Sometimes, when we argue, harsh words are spoken that hurt us both and lead to tears
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?
Despite my efforts, you remain hesitant and guarded, and I don't know how to break through to you emotionally
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Hank Williams, Sr.
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