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.
It's Been A Long Long Time
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long, long time
Haven't felt like this, my dear
Since i can't remember when
It's been a long, long time
You'll never know how many dreams
Or just how empty they all seemed without you
So kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long, long time
Oh, kiss me once...and kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long...such, a long time
I haven't felt like this my dear
Since i don't remember when
It's been a long....been a mighty long time
You'll never know how many dreams
I've dreamed about you
Or how empty they all seem without you
So kiss me once...and kiss me twice
And kiss me once again
It's been a long...long time
It's been a mighty, mighty long time
Louis Armstrong's song It's Been A Long Long Time is a romantic ballad about rekindling a love that has been gone for a long time. Throughout the song, the lyrics speak of wanting to be kissed multiple times after a long time apart. The first stanza begins with the singer asking to be kissed once, twice, and then once again, emphasizing the desire for a deep intimacy. The second stanza talks about how long it has been since the singer has felt this way about someone, making the listener feel the weight and significance of the reunion. The chorus repeats the request for kisses while also admitting to dreaming of this person during their absence. The whole song implies that the singer has been longing for this love and is finally reunited with it.
Line by Line Meaning
Kiss me once...and kiss me twice
Show me your love and affection by kissing me twice or even more.
Then kiss me once again
Tell me that you still love and want me by kissing me once again.
It's been a long, long time
It has been quite some time since I have felt this loved and appreciated.
Haven't felt like this, my dear
I haven't felt this much loved and wanted, my dear.
Since i can't remember when
I cannot recall the last time I have felt this loved and wanted.
You'll never know how many dreams
You will never be aware of the number of dreams I have had.
I've dreamed about you
All of my dreams involve you, and you alone.
Or just how empty they all seemed without you
Without you, my dreams seem meaningless and incomplete.
It's been a long, long time
It has been so long since I have felt this much love and longing.
Oh, kiss me once...and kiss me twice
Please show me your love by kissing me twice or more.
It's been a long...such, a long time
It has been quite a long time since I have felt loved like this.
I haven't felt like this my dear
I have not felt this loved and wanted, my dear.
Since i don't remember when
I cannot recall the last time I have felt this much affection and longing.
It's been a long....been a mighty long time
It has been an extremely long time since I have felt this loved and wanted.
And kiss me once again
Please show me your love and longing by kissing me once again.
It's been a long...long time
It has been quite some time since I have felt this much love and affection.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
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