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.
How Come You Do Me Like You Do
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How come you do me like you do?
Why do you try to make me feel so blue?
I've done nothing to you.
Do me right or else just let me be.
'Cause I can beat you doing what you're doing to me.
How come you do me like you do do do?
How come you do me like you do?
Louis Armstrong's song "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" is a bluesy tune about a relationship that's gone sour. The opening line "How come you do me like you do do do?" is a rhetorical question that implies the singer doesn't understand why their partner is treating them poorly. The line is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the confusion and hurt that the singer feels.
The second line "Why do you try to make me feel so blue?" reveals that the singer is feeling down and doesn't understand why their partner is causing them pain. The singer asserts that they have done nothing wrong and begs their partner to treat them fairly, saying "Do me right or else just let me be." The final line, " 'Cause I can beat you doing what you're doing to me," shows the singer's determination to not let their partner's behavior get the best of them.
Overall, the song is a powerful expression of hurt and frustration, blending Armstrong's distinctive voice with a catchy melody and bluesy instrumentation. It's a timeless classic that continues to resonate with listeners today.
Line by Line Meaning
How come you do me like you do do do?
Why do you treat me so poorly?
How come you do me like you do?
Why do you treat me badly?
Why do you try to make me feel so blue?
Why are you making me sad?
I've done nothing to you.
I haven't done anything to deserve the way you treat me.
Do me right or else just let me be.
Treat me well or leave me alone.
'Cause I can beat you doing what you're doing to me.
I could treat you just as badly as you treat me.
How come you do me like you do do do?
Why do you continue to mistreat me?
How come you do me like you do?
Why do you treat me this way?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Gene Austin, Roy Bergere
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