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 Got Rhythm
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who can ask for anything more
I got daisies....In green pastures....I got my gal
Who could ask for anything more
Old man trouble....I don't mind him.
You won't find him.... 'round my door
I got starlight...I got sweet dreams...I got my gal
Who could ask for anything more
I got rhythm....I got music....I got my gal
Who can ask for anything more
Who could ask for anything more
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's song I Got Rhythm are ones of pure joy and contentment. The song is about appreciating the simple things in life and realizing that they are enough to make us happy. The repetition of the phrase "I got rhythm...I got music...I got my gal" emphasizes the feeling of abundance and satisfaction that the singer is experiencing. The combination of the soft syllables with the upbeat tempo creates a sense of buoyancy and cheerfulness that is characteristic of Armstrong's music.
The line "Old man trouble...I don't mind him" shows the singer's resilience and optimism in the face of hardship. This attitude is reinforced by the statement that "you won't find him 'round my door", illustrating how the singer has chosen to surround themselves with positivity and light instead of dwelling on negativity. The final lines "I got starlight...I got sweet dreams...I got my gal" reinforce the refrain that having these simple pleasures along with their love interest is all the singer needs to feel complete.
Overall, the lyrics of I Got Rhythm are a celebration of the joys of life and a reminder that often the most important things can be found in the simplest of pleasures.
Line by Line Meaning
I got rhythm....I got music....I got my gal
I have a sense of rhythm and music, and I am with my lady love.
Who can ask for anything more
What more could one possibly desire?
I got daisies....In green pastures....I got my gal
I have flowers, lush green fields, and my sweetheart by my side.
Who could ask for anything more
What more could one possibly desire?
Old man trouble....I don't mind him.
I do not let any hardships bother me.
You won't find him.... 'round my door
I do not invite any troubles in my life.
I got starlight...I got sweet dreams...I got my gal
I have the beauty of the night sky, lovely dreams, and my lady by my side.
Who could ask for anything more
What more could one possibly desire?
I got rhythm....I got music....I got my gal
I have a sense of rhythm and music, and I am with my lady love.
Who can ask for anything more
What more could one possibly desire?
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY WOODS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Geir Stensund
I´m not a jazz fan, but love this music: a combination of nostalgia and just enjoying listen to people who LOVE what they are playing!
Tom M
Damn, it's just too awfully bad that George G and Satch never got a chance to play this together, it would have been wonderful.
Bruce Nicholls
Wow,now that's an all star band!!!
Adrian Kelly
I haven't heard this in years - really classic stuff!
Edward Lee
Much respect ✊ to whom discovered, Louis Armstrong jazz wouldn’t be the same without him 🙌
SELMER B.Action
Louis & Fats together !!! Incredible !
Raphael Seltzman
Been Lovin' this tune since I was a kid...
Leon Childs jr
It's been 50 years since The Happenings had a top 10 smash out of this song.
Charles Barry
The first great jazz soloist.
Al Biondi
That cat could play like no one else!