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 Gonna Gitcha
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And there's nobody cares for me
I'm so sad and lonely, baby
Won't someone take a chance with me?
I'll sing love songs all the time
If you'll tell me, baby, babe, that you'll be mine
Now I ain't got nobody, babe
The lyrics for Louis Armstrong's song "I'm Gonna Gitcha" pulls on one's heartstrings as it speaks to feelings of loneliness and wanting to find someone who cares. The opening lines "Now I ain't got nobody, babe / And there's nobody cares for me" elicit a sense of desolation, setting the tone for the rest of the song. The singer is in a vulnerable state, feeling sad and lonely, hoping that someone will take a chance and offer companionship.
The following lines express the lengths the singer is willing to go to secure this bond as they promise to "sing love songs all the time" to their potential partner, as long as they agree to commit to being together. The final lines of the chorus are a repetition of the beginning, cementing the singer's sense of loneliness.
The song as a whole embodies a relatable feeling of yearning for connection, displaying the beauty and power of music to convey emotions and bring people together.
Line by Line Meaning
Now I ain't got nobody, babe
I currently do not have a loving partner or friend, dear.
And there's nobody cares for me
No one seems to show concern or affection towards my well-being.
I'm so sad and lonely, baby
I am feeling extremely down and isolated, dear.
Won't someone take a chance with me?
Would someone be willing to give me an opportunity at companionship?
I'll sing love songs all the time
I will happily serenade with melodious love ballads consistently.
If you'll tell me, baby, babe, that you'll be mine
Should you express commitment, my dearest, that you will be my romantic partner, I will continue my affectionate performances.
Now I ain't got nobody, babe
Once again, I must emphasize that presently, I am without an intimate connection, dear.
And there's nobody cares for me
No one seems to empathize or look out for my emotional state.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LILLIAN HARDIN ARMSTRONG
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