Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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 Won`t Dance
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Think of what you're losing
By constantly refusing to dance with me
You'd be the idol of France with me
And yet you stand there
And shake your foolish head dramatically
While I wait here so ecstatically
You just look and say emphatically

Not this season, yes that's the reason
I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, madam, with you
My heart won't let my feet
Do things they should do

You know what, you're lovely
And so what, you're still lovely
But oh, what you do to me
I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore
I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor

Yes, when you dance you're charming and you're gentle
Especially when you do the continental
But this feeling isn't purely mental
For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos

And that's why
I won't dance, why should I
I won't dance, how could I
I won't dance, merci beaucoup
I know that music leads the way to romance
So if I hold you in my arms, I won't dance

I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, monsieur, with you
My heart won't let my feet
Do things they should do

You know what, you're handsome
And so what, you're handsome
But oh, what you do to me
I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore
I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor

When you dance you're charming and you're gentle
Especially when you do the continental
But this feeling isn't purely mental
For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos

And that's why
I won't dance, why should I
I won't dance, how could I
I won't dance, merci beaucoup
I know that music leads the way to romance
So if I hold you in my arms, I won't dance

I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, don't ask me
I will not dance, madame, with you
Yes, my heart won't let my feet do things they should do

You know what, you're kinda lovely
And so what, I'm lovely
But oh, what you do to me
I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore
I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor

When you dance you're charming and you're gentle
Especially when you do the continental
But this feeling isn't purely mental
For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos, honey

And that's why
I won't dance, why should I
I won't dance, how could I
I won't dance, merci beaucoup

I know that music leads the way to romance
So if I hold you in my arms, I won't dance

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald’s “I Won’t Dance” express the male perspective of the struggle to dance with the person they desire. The singer encourages his partner to dance with him, insisting that she would be popular in France if she did so, but she continually refuses. He admires her beauty and charm but cannot muster the courage to dance with her because he feels overwhelmed and stumped on the floor. Even though he acknowledges that dancing is the path to romance, he cannot bring himself to do it.

The refusal to dance is a metaphor for the fear of taking a chance or expressing one's feelings for another person. It conveys the sentiment of being defeated or rendered helpless by someone's attractiveness, charm, or personality. The lyrics address not only the vulnerability of the male singer but also the female partner's power to choose whether or not to dance.

Line by Line Meaning

Think of what you're losing
Consider what you're missing out on

By constantly refusing to dance with me
Because you keep saying no to dancing with me

You'd be the idol of France with me
We would be popular in France together

And yet you stand there
But you just stay there

And shake your foolish head dramatically
And dramatically shake your head in refusal

While I wait here so ecstatically
While I eagerly wait for you to join me

You just look and say emphatically
You just stare back and say strongly

Not this season, yes that's the reason
You refuse to dance this season, that's your explanation

I won't dance, don't ask me
I refuse to dance, so don't even ask

I won't dance, madam, with you
I won't dance with you, madam

My heart won't let my feet
My heart is preventing my feet

Do things they should do
From doing what they should do

You know what, you're lovely
You're quite beautiful

And so what, you're still lovely
But that doesn't change anything

But oh, what you do to me
But the effect you have on me

I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore
I'm like a wave that's been stopped by the shore

I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor
I feel completely stuck on the dance floor

Yes, when you dance you're charming and you're gentle
You're very charming and graceful when you dance

Especially when you do the continental
Especially when you do the Continental dance

But this feeling isn't purely mental
This feeling is not just in my mind

For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos
God help me, I'm not immune to you

And that's why
That's the reason

I won't dance, why should I
I refuse to dance, why should I?

I won't dance, how could I
I wouldn't be able to dance

I won't dance, merci beaucoup
Thank you very much, but no thanks

So if I hold you in my arms, I won't dance
So even if I hold you in my arms, I won't dance

I will not dance, madame, with you
I won't dance with you, madam

You know what, you're kinda lovely
You're somewhat beautiful

And so what, I'm lovely
But that doesn't change anything

But oh, what you do to me
But the effect you have on me

For heaven rest us, I'm not asbestos, honey
God help me, I'm not immune to you, honey

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern, Jimmy Mc Hugh, Oscar Hammerstein Ii, Otto Harbach

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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