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.
I’m Shooting High
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Got my eye on a star in the sky, shooting high
I'll never stop till I get to the top
Tell me why, shooting high
You know it's you I'm after
You're my lucky star
I'm on a rainbow rafter
I'll have the time
It's a climb
But I'll make it
'Cause I'm shooting high
Every morning when I raise my blind
To greet another day
I begin by making up my mind
That it's my lucky day
I'm shooting high
Got my eye on a star in the sky, shooting high
I'll never stop till I get to the top
Tell me why, shooting high
You know it's you I'm after
You're my lucky star
I'm on a rainbow rafter
Climbing up to where you are
I'll have the time
It's a climb
But I'll make it
'Cause I'm shooting high
Louis Armstrong's song I'm Shooting High is about a person who is determined to reach their goals and achieve success. The singer is shooting high, which means that they have high ambitions and expectations. They have their "eye on a star in the sky," which represents their ultimate goal.
The song is about the singer's journey to achieve their goal. They are determined to "never stop till [they] get to the top." The line "you know it's you I'm after, you're my lucky star" suggests that the singer is pursuing someone they admire or love, and this person is like their good luck charm.
The line "every morning when I raise my blind, to greet another day" suggests that the singer is optimistic and ready to face the challenges of the day. They begin by "making up [their] mind that it's [their] lucky day" and they are optimistic that they will achieve their goals.
The song's lyrics encourage listeners to have high ambitions and work hard to achieve them. It also emphasizes the importance of having a positive attitude and outlook on life.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm shooting high
I'm setting my goals high and reaching for the stars
Got my eye on a star in the sky, shooting high
I have a specific goal in mind and I'm determined to achieve it
I'll never stop till I get to the top
I won't give up until I reach my ultimate goal
Tell me why, shooting high
Asking for encouragement or reassurance that I'm on the right path
You know it's you I'm after
I have a specific person or thing in mind as my target
You're my lucky star
I believe that this person or thing is the key to my success
I'm on a rainbow rafter
I'm pursuing my dreams with joy and optimism
Climbing up to where you are
I'm working hard to reach my goal and be in the same position as this person or thing
I'll have the time
I'm patient and willing to put in the necessary effort to achieve my goal
It's a climb
I know that reaching my goal will require hard work and effort
But I'll make it
I have confidence in my abilities and believe that I can achieve my goal
'Cause I'm shooting high
My determination and ambition will help me reach my goal
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JIMMY MC HUGH, TED KOEHLER
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