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.

I’ve Got the World on a String
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

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I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow
Got the string around my finger
What a world, what a life, I'm in love!
I've got a song that I sing

I can make the rain go, anytime I move my finger
Lucky me, can't you see, I'm in love
Life is a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string

I'd be a silly so and so, if I should ever let go

I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow
Got the string around my finger
What a world, what a life, I'm in love

Life is a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string
I'd be a silly so and so, if I should ever let go
I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow
Got the string around my finger
What a world

Man this is the life
And now I'm so in love!

Overall Meaning

Louis Armstrong's song "I've Got the World on a String" is about feeling on top of the world, with everything under control and love in your heart. The lyrics describe the feeling of complete happiness due to having a firm grasp on everything - represented by the string and the world - and also the feeling of being in love. The "rainbow" in the first line of the song symbolizes the colorful and joyous feeling of being in love, while the "string" around the finger represents control over the world. The line "I've got a song that I sing" signifies that the singer is happy with life and has found his place in the world.

The next verses in the song reinforce the idea of control with the lyrics "I can make the rain go, anytime I move my finger" which showcases the idea that everything can be controlled if one is confident enough. The chorus repeats the idea that the singer is in love and has the world under their control with the famous line "What a world, what a life, I'm in love!". The song ends with the final chorus which expresses the ultimate happiness felt by the singer due to being in love and having control of the world.

Overall, "I've Got the World on a String" is a joyful song about finding true love and feeling in control of one's life. The lyrics are optimistic and encouraging, and the upbeat tempo adds to the overall feeling of happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

I've got the world on a string, sittin' on a rainbow
I feel like I have everything I need and more, nothing can stop me

Got the string around my finger
I am in control of my destiny

What a world, what a life, I'm in love!
I appreciate and love everything in my life

I've got a song that I sing
I have an optimistic outlook on life, and I am always finding joy

I can make the rain go, anytime I move my finger
I have the power to make positive changes in my life and in the world

Lucky me, can't you see, I'm in love
I feel incredibly fortunate and grateful for all that I have in my life

Life is a beautiful thing, as long as I hold the string
I know that life can be unpredictable, but as long as I stay in control, I will enjoy everything it has to offer

I'd be a silly so and so, if I should ever let go
I would be foolish to let go of everything I have worked so hard for

Man this is the life
I am truly content and satisfied with all that I have

And now I'm so in love!
I am filled with love for the world and all that it offers

Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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