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 Hate to Leave You Now
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never saw you act like this before
Look as if we're unreal
Honey, don't you love me any more?
Would you, could you break up our romance?
Would you, could you give me just one more chance?
It's much pain, I can't take
Baby, don't you love me any more?
Oh, I know there must be someone else
If you can treat me so
But I don't care if there's another cat, baby
I ain't gonna let you go
And what you do is what you don't
And what you do is what you won't
Now baby, I'm going mad 'cause I
Baby, don't you love me any more? Yeah
Now honey, don't you love me any more?
Never saw you act like this before
Look as if we're unreal
Louis Armstrong's I Hate to Leave You Now is a song about a man desperately pleading with his partner to not give up on their relationship. The song begins with the man asking his partner if she still loves him, as her recent behavior has suggested otherwise. He describes their current situation as unreal, implying that he cannot fathom being without his partner or the possibility of them breaking up.
The man then continues to try and convince his partner to not give up on their love, asking if she would be willing to give him one more chance. He explains that the idea of losing her causes him immense pain that he cannot bear. Despite suspecting that there may be another person in her life, he declares that he will not let her go.
The chorus features the man seemingly losing his grip on reality, as he sings about how what she does and doesn't do is driving him mad. The song ends with the man repeating his initial plea for his partner to not give up on their relationship, expressing his love for her and his reluctance to leave.
Overall, I Hate to Leave You Now by Louis Armstrong is an emotional and relatable song about the struggles of love and the fear of losing someone important.
Line by Line Meaning
Now honey, don't you love me any more?
Louis is feeling unsure about his partner's love and is seeking reassurance.
Never saw you act like this before
Louis has noticed his partner's unusual behavior and is curious about the cause.
Look as if we're unreal
Louis feels like their relationship is not as genuine as it used to be.
Would you, could you break up our romance?
Louis is questioning if his partner wants to end their relationship.
Would you, could you give me just one more chance?
Louis is hoping for another opportunity to save their relationship.
It's much pain, I can't take
Louis is feeling a lot of emotional pain and can't handle it anymore.
Baby, don't you love me any more?
Louis asks again for confirmation of his partner's love.
Oh, I know there must be someone else
Louis suspects that his partner may have feelings for someone else.
If you can treat me so
Louis feels like his partner is treating him poorly.
But I don't care if there's another cat, baby
Louis doesn't care if his partner has feelings for someone else, he still wants to be with them.
I ain't gonna let you go
Louis is determined to hold onto his partner despite the difficulties in their relationship.
And what you do is what you don't
Louis is confused about his partner's actions and words not matching up.
And what you do is what you won't
Louis doesn't understand why his partner is being so indecisive and contradictory.
Now baby, I'm going mad 'cause I
Louis is becoming frustrated and upset with the situation.
Baby, don't you love me any more? Yeah
Louis repeats his initial question with added emphasis.
Now honey, don't you love me any more?
Louis repeats his question once again, desperate for a response.
Never saw you act like this before
Louis is still surprised by his partner's unusual behavior.
Look as if we're unreal
Louis still feels like something is off in their relationship.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DOROTHY DICK, HARRY LINK, THOMAS 'FATS' WALLER
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