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 Double Dare You
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I double dare you to lend me your ear
Take off your high hat and let's get friendly
Don't be a scared cat; say, what do you care?
Can't you take a dare?
I double dare you to kiss me, and then
I double dare you to kiss me again
I double dare you to fall in love with me
Hot mama, I double dare you
The first two lines of the song "I double dare you to sit over here, I double dare you to lend me your ear" seems like a challenge, but in reality, it is a subtle way of telling someone to come and sit next to the singer. The singer then says, "Take off your high hat and let's get friendly. Don't be a scared cat; say, what do you care? Can't you take a dare?" The phrase "take off your high hat" means to relax and be comfortable around the singer. The singer then challenges the person to take a chance and get to know each other better. This line can be interpreted as a request for conversation and connection.
The second stanza of the song "I double dare you to kiss me, and then, I double dare you to kiss me again. And if that look in your eyes means what I'm thinkin' of, I double dare you to fall in love with me" speaks of the singer's romantic interest in the person they are speaking to. By daring the person to kiss them, the singer is indicating that they are interested in them. The singer then challenges the person to fall in love with them if the look in the person's eyes indicates mutual interest. The song is upbeat, and the lyrics may appear to be frivolous, but they are, in fact, a request for genuine human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
I double dare you to sit over here
I am challenging you to come and sit next to me.
I double dare you to lend me your ear
I challenge you to listen to what I have to say.
Take off your high hat and let's get friendly
Drop the formality and be comfortable with me.
Don't be a scared cat; say, what do you care?
Do not be afraid, what is the harm in trying something new?
Can't you take a dare?
Are you up for the challenge or not?
I double dare you to kiss me, and then
I challenge you to come and kiss me.
I double dare you to kiss me again
I challenge you to come and kiss me one more time.
And if that look in your eyes means what I'm thinkin' of
If your gaze is showing an affirmative response to my advances,
I double dare you to fall in love with me
I dare you to take a chance on loving me.
Hot mama, I double dare you
Hey there, I am daring you again.
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: J. EATON, T. SHAND
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