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 Get Ideas -
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you're dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas
I want to hold you
So much closer than I dare do
I want to scold you
'Cause I care more than I care to
And there's fire in every finger
I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
And after we have kissed goodnight
And still you linger
I kinda think you get ideas too
Your eyes are always saying
The things you're never saying
I only hope they're saying
That you could love me too
For that's the whole idea, it's true
The lovely idea
That I'm falling in love with you
Louis Armstrong’s classic “I Get Ideas” is a romantic ballad that speaks about the feelings one has while dancing with someone they are deeply in love with. The first verse communicates the intense longing to hold the person closer than they have dared to do before, even scolding them out of care for them. When they are touched by the person, they get ideas, indicating that there is an overwhelming feeling of love and affection that the singer can't help but feel around their dancing partner. The second verse indicates that both parties might be feeling the same way, with the singer believing that their partner's eyes are saying things they are not saying themselves, as the singer hopes that these unsaid things could mean that they feel the same way.
The chorus is where the theme of the song is laid bare, as the singer admits their love for the other person. They state that they hope that this feeling is mutual, and that the whole idea behind their desire to be closer to the other person is to fall in love completely. Overall, “I Get Ideas” is a timeless classic that speaks to those who've ever felt the pangs of deep, romantic love.
Line by Line Meaning
When we are dancing
Whenever we are dancing together
And you're dangerously near me
And you are standing dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas
I start developing certain thoughts or ideas
I want to hold you
I have an intense desire to hold you
So much closer than I dare do
Even though I wish to hold you close, I am hesitant to do so
I want to scold you
Sometimes I feel like scolding you
'Cause I care more than I care to
Because I care about you more than I usually admit or show
And when you touch me
Whenever you touch me
And there's fire in every finger
I feel an intense passion in every touch
I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
I start having vivid and passionate thoughts
And after we have kissed goodnight
After we have shared a goodnight kiss
And still you linger
When you are still there with me
I kinda think you get ideas too
I have a feeling that you are also having similar thoughts
Your eyes are always saying
Your eyes are always expressing
The things you're never saying
Things that you never express with words
I only hope they're saying
I hope your eyes are expressing something positive
That you could love me too
That you could also have feelings for me
For that's the whole idea, it's true
That's the main idea or hope I have
The lovely idea
This is a beautiful and romantic notion
That I'm falling in love with you
The idea of me falling head over heels in love with you
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SANDERS, DORCAS COCHRAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mohamedalaa5431
When we are dancing
And you're dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas
I want to hold you
So much closer than I dare do
I want to scold you
'Cause I care more than I care to
And when you touch me
And there's fire in every finger
I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
And after we have kissed goodnight
And still you linger
I kinda think you get ideas too
Your eyes are always saying
The things you're never saying
I only hope they're saying
That you could love me too
For that's the whole idea, it's true
The lovely idea
That I'm falling in love with you
@charlesalan62
Originally a tango made famous by Carlos Gardel, “Adios Muchachos”,Louis Armstrong makes it his own , with the suggestive lyrics it was banned from the radio. Times have changed, but Louis is Imortal.
@serrotrasecoiluj4734
Love it. I knew Armstrong's version first. My dad use to listen to it.
@bot616.4
Actually de original composer is Julio Cesar Sanders
@franciscobabino3716
and Carlos Gardel is inmortal too
@mohamedalaa5431
When we are dancing
And you're dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas
I want to hold you
So much closer than I dare do
I want to scold you
'Cause I care more than I care to
And when you touch me
And there's fire in every finger
I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
And after we have kissed goodnight
And still you linger
I kinda think you get ideas too
Your eyes are always saying
The things you're never saying
I only hope they're saying
That you could love me too
For that's the whole idea, it's true
The lovely idea
That I'm falling in love with you
@minasemoi2867
Gracias por la letra
@kwontec
Thanks for the lyrics. I adore Armstrong's music
@lilcaptain1014
Thank you kindly
@MartinEstin
Interesante versión del tango "Adiós muchachos" (1927).
@joelaldodiaz
Martín Estín Louis Armstrong hizo varias versiones de canciones en español. No solamente de Gardel si no de varios artistas Cubanos y Mexicanos de su época.
Louis Armstrong fue un tesoro de la humanidad.