Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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.

Dummy Song
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'll take the legs from some old table

I'll take the arms from some old chair

I'll take the neck from some old bottle

And from a horse I'll take the hair

I'll take the hands and face from some old clock

And baby, when I'm through

I'll get more loving from the dum, dum, dummy

Than I ever got from you

Get me some legs, get me a chair

And a bottle, too

Give me a horse, give me some time

And baby, when I'm through

I'll take the legs from some old table

I'll take the arms from some old chair

I'll take the neck from some old bottle

And from a horse I'll take the hair

I'll take the hands and face from some old clock

And baby, when I'm through

I'll get more loving from the dum, dum, dummy

Than I ever got from you

I get more loving

From that dum, dum, dummy

Than I've ever gotten from you

Yeah, mama, get more loving

From a dummy than I get from you

Overall Meaning

Louis Armstrong's The Dummy Song is a fun and whimsical tune about a man who finds more love and affection from his dummy than he does from his partner. The first verse describes how he will create his new partner, using various items and materials to build it up. He takes the legs from an old table, the arms from an old chair, the neck from an old bottle, and even the hair from a horse. The chorus then repeats the idea that he will get more love from his dummy (made from these inanimate objects) than he ever got from his partner.

The second verse continues with this idea and calls for even more materials to make his dummy. He wants some legs, a chair, a bottle, and some time to put it all together. The chorus then repeats once more, emphasizing the point of the song. Though it may seem lighthearted and silly, there is an underlying message about the dissatisfaction and loneliness that may come from a lack of love and affection in a relationship.

Overall, The Dummy Song is a playful tune that showcases Armstrong's charismatic voice and jazz-influenced melodies. It's a song that can be enjoyed on a surface level for its catchy tune and clever lyrics, but can also be analyzed for its commentary on human emotions and relationships.

Line by Line Meaning

I'll take the legs from some old table
I'll extract something useful out of something that is no longer needed.

I'll take the arms from some old chair
I'll find a way to re-purpose something that is now useless.

I'll take the neck from some old bottle
I'll repurpose a bottle to create something new.

And from a horse I'll take the hair
I'll collect material from any source available to achieve my goal.

I'll take the hands and face from some old clock
I'll use what's left of something to create something of value.

And baby, when I'm through
And when I'm finished with my creation

I'll get more loving from the dum, dum, dummy
I'll derive more satisfaction from my own handiwork

Than I ever got from you
Than I ever got from being in a relationship with you

Lyrics © SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: BILLY ROSE, LEW BROWN, RAY HENDERSON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@elisinoia

2y↑12

Lyrics:
I'll take the legs from some old table
I'll take the arms from some old chair
I'll take the neck from some old bottle
And from a horse I'll take the hair
I'll take the hands and face from some old clock
And baby when I'm through
I'll get more loving from the dumb-dumb-dummy
Than I ever got from you

Get me some legs get me a chair
And a bottle, too
Give a horse give me some time
And baby when I'm through
I'll take the legs from some old table
I'll take the arms from some old chair
I'll take the neck from some old bottle
And from a horse I'll take the hair
I'll take the hands and face from some old clock
And baby when I'm through
I'll get more loving from the dumb-dumb-dummy
Than I ever got from you
I get more loving from the dumb-dumb-dummy
Than I ever got from you

Yeah Mama get more loving
From a dummy than I get from you