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.
Gee
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gee, baby, ain't I good to you
There's nothing too good for a girl, so true
Mama, ain't I good to you
Yes, I bought you furs for Christmas
And a diamond ring
A big Cadillac car and everything
Gee, baby, ain't I good to you
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee, baby, ain't I good to you
There's nothing too good for a boy, that's so true
Gee, ain't I good to you
Bought you some cashmeres for Christmas
A diamond ring
A Mark 7 car, and everything
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
There's nothing too good for a boy that's so true
Baby, baby, ain't I good to you
Bought you some crazy sport shirts
You had your fling
A Mercedes Benz sport car and everything
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
Get me paying taxes of what I gave to you
Gee baby, ain't I good to you
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's song "Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You" express the way that love can inspire selfless giving and treating someone with the utmost kindness and generosity. The opening line "Love makes me treat you the way that I do" sets the tone for the rest of the song, emphasizing the theme of how love motivates the singer's actions in the relationship. The repetition of the refrain "Gee baby, ain't I good to you" reinforces this idea and serves as a reminder to the listener that love should be appreciated and reciprocated.
The second verse highlights the lavish gifts that the singer has given to their partner, such as furs, a diamond ring, and a Cadillac car. These gifts are indicative of the opulence and abundance that the singer feels they can offer to the person they love. The third verse takes a turn to showcase the female perspective, with the lines "There's nothing too good for a boy, that's so true" and "Bought you some cashmeres for Christmas / A diamond ring / A Mark 7 car, and everything". This shift shows that the desire to give and show love isn't exclusive to one gender or partner.
Overall, the lyrics of "Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You" communicate the idea that love should inspire giving and treating someone with the utmost kindness and generosity. The repetition of the refrain reinforces this theme and serves as a reminder that the love and effort put into a relationship should be appreciated and reciprocated.
Line by Line Meaning
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
I treat you well because I love you.
Gee, baby, ain't I good to you
Don't you think I treat you well?
There's nothing too good for a girl, so true
I believe you deserve the best.
Mama, ain't I good to you
Don't you think I'm a good provider?
Yes, I bought you furs for Christmas
I got you nice gifts for the holidays.
And a diamond ring
I also bought you jewelry.
A big Cadillac car and everything
I even got you a luxurious car.
There's nothing too good for a boy, that's so true
I believe men also deserve the best.
Gee, ain't I good to you
Don't you think I'm treating you well?
Bought you some cashmeres for Christmas
I got you nice clothes for the holidays.
A Mark 7 car, and everything
I even got you a fancy car.
Baby, baby, ain't I good to you
Don't you think I treat you well, my love?
Bought you some crazy sport shirts
I got you some fun shirts.
You had your fling
You enjoyed yourself.
A Mercedes Benz sport car and everything
I even got you a luxurious car (again).
Get me paying taxes of what I gave to you
I am paying taxes for the gifts I gave you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Andy Razaf, Don Redman
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