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 My Fingers Crossed
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Not that I'm superstitious
I'm afraid it's too good to be true
I've got my fingers crossed
No wonder I'm suspicious
I'm so gay, and the skies are much too blue
Don't want no trouble with Old Man Trouble
On account of, because I'm in love again
This thrill is so delicious
I'm afraid it's too good to be true
Haven't you heard what happened?
Give you my word, it happened
Like a thunderbolt it came from out of nowhere
I only know it's heaven
How did I throw that seven?
There's only one thing more
Maybe it won't last long
Louis Armstrong's song I've Got My Fingers Crossed is a song about being cautiously optimistic about a new love affair. Louis sings about having his fingers crossed, not because he is superstitious, but because he is afraid it's too good to be true. He is suspicious despite feeling elated and happy. He doesn't want to attract any trouble with Old Man Trouble, and that's doubly true because he is in love again.
The thrill of being in love is so delicious that he is afraid it won't last long. He asks if the listener has heard what happened, and swears it happened like a thunderbolt from out of nowhere. Suddenly he is in love and he doesn't know how he threw that seven. But Louis knows that maybe it won't last long, and he is prepared for the worst. The song has an air of caution despite the joyful subject matter, and Louis' deep voice and slightly somber delivery reflect this sentiment.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got my fingers crossed
I'm hopeful and optimistic
Not that I'm superstitious
I don't believe in luck or chance
I'm afraid it's too good to be true
I'm worried that this happiness won't last
I've got my fingers crossed
I'm still hopeful and optimistic
No wonder I'm suspicious
It's not surprising that I'm skeptical
I'm so gay, and the skies are much too blue
I'm very happy and everything seems perfect
Don't want no trouble with Old Man Trouble
I don't want any problems or difficulties
And that goes double
Especially since I've fallen in love again
On account of, because I'm in love again
Being in love makes me even more cautious
This thrill is so delicious
The excitement I feel is amazing
I'm afraid it's too good to be true
But I'm still worried it won't last
Haven't you heard what happened?
Do you know what's been going on?
Give you my word, it happened
I swear it's true
Like a thunderbolt it came from out of nowhere
This feeling of love hit me suddenly and unexpectedly
I only know it's heaven
Being in love feels like paradise
How did I throw that seven?
How did I get so lucky?
There's only one thing more
My happiness would only be greater if it lasts a long time
Maybe it won't last long
But I'm still trying to stay positive
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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