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.
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong, the feeling's getting stronger
The longer I stay away
Miss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
I'd love to see that old lazy Mississippi
The moonlight on the bayou
A Creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom
And I'm wishin' I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans
"What's New" is a song written by Bob Haggart and Johnny Burke and it was first performed by Louis Armstrong. In "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans," Armstrong sings about his deep longing for his beloved city. Armstrong misses the city every night and day, and the feeling only grows stronger as he stays away. He reminisces about the special things that made New Orleans so dear to him, such as the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines, and the Mississippi River. He even dreams of magnolias in bloom and the sound of a Creole tune in the air--the music of his home.
The last verse is the most striking, as Armstrong reveals that he doesn't just miss the city he loves, but also the person he left behind. Armstrong's voice is smooth and full of emotion, painting a picture of both the city and the love he misses. Armstrong's deep affection for New Orleans and the person he left behind is palpable, and it is this emotion that makes the song truly timeless.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
Do you understand the sense of yearning that arises when you think of the city of New Orleans?
And miss it each night and day
It's a feeling that persists relentlessly, all throughout the day and even into the night.
I know I'm not wrong, the feeling's getting stronger
My conviction is unwavering, and the intensity of the longing only seems to be increasing.
The longer I stay away
This feeling only becomes more acute as I remain parted from the city.
Miss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
I long to once again experience the beauty of the moss-covered vines and towering sugar pines.
Where mockingbirds used to sing
These are the surroundings where the sweet melodies of mockingbirds once filled the air.
I'd love to see that old lazy Mississippi
It would bring me joy to behold the languorous flow of the Mississippi River.
Hurrying into Spring
As if eager to hurry itself along towards the beauty of spring.
The moonlight on the bayou
I remember the way moonlight cascades across the waters of the bayou.
A Creole tune that fills the air
In my mind's ear I can hear the delightful strains of a Creole tune that wafts through the humid air.
I dream about magnolias in bloom
I long to witness the magnificent sight of magnolias in all their blooming glory.
And I'm wishin' I was there
And all the while, I cannot help but indulge in wishing that I could be there in person to witness all these things.
When that's where you left your heart
It was in New Orleans that I left my heart - and so my attachment to the city runs particularly deep.
And there's one thing more, I miss the one I care for
Above and beyond all else, it is the person who is dear to me that I miss the most of all when I am away from New Orleans.
More than I miss New Orleans
Even more than my beloved city itself.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eddie De Lange, Louis Alter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@rslashbri
Do you know what it means
To miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong
The feeling's getting stronger
The longer I stay away
Miss the moist covered vines
The tall sugar pines
Where mocking birds used to sing
And I'd like to see the lazy Mississippi
A hurrying into spring
The Mardi Gras memories
Of creole tunes that filled the air
I dream of oleanders in June
And soon I'm wishing that I was there
Do you know what it means
To miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's something more
I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans
@uhtred5574
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong this feeling's gettin' stronger
The longer, I stay away
Miss them moss covered vines the tall sugar pines
Where mockin' birds used to sing
And I'd like to see that lazy Mississippi hurryin' into spring
The moonlight on the bayou a creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom and I'm wishin' I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans
The moonlight on the bayou a creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom and I'm wishin' I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more I miss the one I care for
More more than I miss New Orleans
@keanulechat2510
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong, the feeling's getting stronger
The longer I stay away
Miss the moss-covered vines, tall sugar pines
Where mockingbirds used to sing
I'd love to see that old lazy Mississippi
Hurrying into Spring
The moonlight on the bayou
A Creole tune that fills the air
I dream about magnolias in bloom
And I'm wishin' I was there
Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
When that's where you left your heart
And there's one thing more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans
@kilouis
Recorded live in Chicago at Medina Temple on June 1st,1956
Louis Armstrong - Trumpet,vocal
Edmond Hall - Clarinet,vocal
Trummy Young - Trombone,vocal
Billy Kyle - Piano
Dale Jones - Bass
Barrett Deems - Drums
Velma Middleton - Vocals
@scorpionola7457
There's a very good reason why we're consistently rated the happiest people in the USA in spite of the beatings we constantly take from Mother Nature (including this one). She can beat us all she wants (and she does) but she will never defeat us. I'm a Bywater New Orleanian who's been away on "vacation" for over a week and the homesickness is killing me already. Merci bon Dieu pour la Louisiane.
@firefall5748
For real .. New Orleans is the happiest place I've ever lived. It's also Drunk Central, which possibly has some effect on this :D
@InnocentKhajiit
As a frenchman, you have no idea how happy I am from your last sentence.
@cynthiahawkins2389
My husband lived in Jackson Sq for 30+ years, working on the waterfront, with a few of the Nevilles, who were merchant seamen before they took up music. Ric came up North, after Katrina in 2005, and happened to walk into my classroom, where I was teaching. (He was actually looking for the men's room).We married in 2008, and live in NYC now, but next year we are moving back. I will be a NOLA-newbie, and I can't wait!!!!
@cybelewilson8910
Oui Merci! Et bonjour de tes cousins du Quebec qui Aime la Louisiane ;)
@buttersstotch744
laissez le bon temps rouler toujours...
@purpleisaflavor
I left half my heart there as well. Can't wait until the day I can call this beautiful city home.
@zombiecow1909
same here my friend.
@thejoydivision8
Have you make it there yet?
@purpleisaflavor
@D D I lived there for 3 beautiful years and am presently in love with southwest New Mexico