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 Must Have That Man
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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I don't need a friend
My heart is broken, it won't ever mend
I ain't much carin'
Just where I will end
I must have that man
I'm like an oven
He treats me awful
Each time we meet
It's just unlawful
How that boy can cheat
But I must have that man
He's hot as Hades
A lady's not safe in his arms when she's kissed
But I'm afraid that when he's cooled off
And maybe I'm ruled off his list
I'll never be missed
I need that person much worse 'n just bad
I'm half alive 'n he's drivin' me mad
He's only human if he's to be had
I must have that man
I must have that man
Louis Armstrong's song "I Must Have That Man" tells the story of a woman who is desperately in love with a man who treats her poorly. She is so consumed by her desire for him that she doesn't care where their relationship will end. She needs him in her life, even though he cheats on her every time they meet. She describes him as "hot as Hades" and acknowledges that he's not safe to be around, but she can't help her feelings of attraction towards him.
Overall, the song is about the addictive nature of love and the lengths to which people will go to pursue it, even at the cost of their own well-being. It's a poignant reminder of the power of love and how it can often overpower reason and logic.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't want my mammy
I don't need to be pampered or coddled
I don't need a friend
I don't need platonic companionship or someone to talk to
My heart is broken, it won't ever mend
I have been deeply hurt and will never fully recover
I ain't much carin'
I don't really care
Just where I will end
What will become of me is not a concern
I must have that man
The only thing that matters is being with that man
I'm like an oven
I am consumed with desire and passion
That's cryin' for heat
Burning with a need for physical and emotional warmth
He treats me awful
He treats me poorly or unfairly
Each time we meet
Every time we come together
It's just unlawful
His actions are wrong or unjust
How that boy can cheat
He is unfaithful or dishonest in his dealings
But I must have that man
Despite his flaws, I cannot resist being with him
He's hot as Hades
He is extremely attractive and alluring
A lady's not safe in his arms when she's kissed
He is so tempting that a woman cannot resist him
But I'm afraid that when he's cooled off
I worry that his passion will fade or he will lose interest in me
And maybe I'm ruled off his list
Perhaps he will no longer consider me
I'll never be missed
He will forget about me if I am not with him
I need that person much worse 'n just bad
I am obsessed with him and cannot live without him
I'm half alive 'n he's drivin' me mad
He is the only thing that makes me feel truly alive, but he is also driving me crazy
He's only human if he's to be had
He is not perfect, but it is natural to want him
I must have that man
Once again, the only thing that matters is being with that man
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: DOROTHY FIELDS, JIMMY MC HUGH
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