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.
East Of The Sun
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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We'll build a dream house of love, dear
Near to the sun in the day, near to the moon at night
We'll live in a lovely way, dear, living our love in pale moonlight
Just you and I
Forever and a day
Love will not die
Up among the stars we'll find
A harmony of life to a lovely tune
East of the sun and west of the moon, yes
East of the sun and west of the moon
The lyrics to Louis Armstrong's song "East of the Sun" express the idea of creating an ideal home, a "dream house of love," with a loved one. The lyrics suggest that this dream house will be located somewhere "east of the sun and west of the moon," which suggests a mystical and distant location, somewhere idyllic and removed from the realities of everyday life. The couple will be near to the sun in the day and near to the moon at night, implying a sense of balance and harmony in their relationship. They will live in this dream house in a lovely way, basking in the pale moonlight and nurturing their love.
However, the song's lyrics also acknowledge that even the most perfect love can face challenges. The couple will need to work to keep their love alive and prevent it from dying. The line "forever and a day" emphasizes the idea that love requires constant attention and effort to survive.
Overall, "East of the Sun" paints a romantic picture of a relationship built on love, harmony, and idyllic surroundings. At the same time, it suggests that such love requires dedication and effort to maintain.
Line by Line Meaning
East of the sun and west of the moon
We will go to a magical place that is far away and doesn't exist in reality.
We'll build a dream house of love, dear
We will create a beautiful haven for our love that is perfect in every way.
Near to the sun in the day, near to the moon at night
Our love won't be bound by time, we'll show our love day and night.
We'll live in a lovely way, dear, living our love in pale moonlight
We'll live a beautiful life full of love, cherishing each other, while basking in the serene moonlight.
Just you and I
We'll be together, just the two of us, and nothing else would matter.
Forever and a day
Our love will last forever and even more, surpassing the concept of time as we know it.
Love will not die
Our love will continue to thrive, it will never perish.
We'll keep it that way
We'll take every measure to ensure that our love remains true and eternal.
Up among the stars we'll find
We'll find a higher and brighter state of being beyond our earthly limitations.
A harmony of life to a lovely tune
In this elevated state of being, we'll experience a beautiful and perfect balance, which can be likened to a sweet melody.
East of the sun and west of the moon, yes
We will go to this magical realm we imagined earlier, that exists beyond the bounds of reality.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Brooks Bowman
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