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 Easy To Remember
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The smile you gave me
The way you looked when we met
It's easy to remember
But so hard to forget
I hear you whisper
"I'll always love you"
It's easy to remember
But so hard to forget
So I must dream
To have your hand caress me
Fingers press me tight
I'd rather dream
Than have that lonely feeling
Stealing through the night
Each little moment
Is clear before me
And though it brings me regret
It's easy to remember
But so hard to forget
Louis Armstrong's It's Easy To Remember is a nostalgic love song about a relationship that has come to an end but the memory of it remains. The lyricist paints a vivid picture of the sweetness of the relationship through the memories of the expressions, smiles, and the way they looked when they first met. The memory of the relationship is so intense that it is impossible to forget. Louis Armstrong further explains that the memory of his lover's whisper of "I'll always love you" is still very fresh in his mind, even though he knows it's over. He reminisces on his dream to have her hand caress him, fingers press him tightly, and how he'd rather dream than have the lonely feeling stealing through the night. The little moments are like a recap of the past, and though they bring regrets, they still so easy to remember, but so hard to forget.
Line by Line Meaning
Your sweet expression
The look on your face when we were together, it was so kind and endearing
The smile you gave me
Your warm and genuine smile that still remains in my memory
The way you looked when we met
The image of you that is forever etched into my mind from the very moment we first laid eyes on each other
It's easy to remember
The memories of you come flooding back to me so easily
But so hard to forget
However, getting over you and moving on from our relationship is proving to be an incredibly difficult feat
I hear you whisper
Although it's only in my head, I can still hear your voice saying sweet nothings and professing your love for me
"I'll always love you"
You once told me that your love for me would never falter, and these words will forever be ingrained in my memory
I know it's over, and yet
Despite the fact that our relationship has ended, I still find myself holding on to the hope that we could one day find our way back to each other
So I must dream
In order to cope with the reality of our separation, I must escape into the realm of my dreams
To have your hand caress me
I yearn to feel the touch of your hand and the warmth of your embrace once more
Fingers press me tight
I long to be held tightly and securely by you, to have your fingers intertwined with mine
I'd rather dream
I'd rather live in a world of illusions and fantasy where we are still together, than in a harsh reality where we are not
Than have that lonely feeling
The feeling of loneliness and isolation that comes with acceptance of our breakup is something I cannot bear
Stealing through the night
It creeps up on me like a thief in the night, causing me to feel a deep sadness and overwhelming sense of loss
Each little moment
Every small interaction and experience we shared together
Is clear before me
I remember every detail so vividly and with such clarity
And though it brings me regret
While remembering the past brings me some feelings of disappointment and regret, I still cannot help but hold on to those memories
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@letticeramos9954
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
Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying
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
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Ooh, yes
@Ilovemonkey123
Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed days, the dark sacred nights
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
[Bridge]
The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you"
[Verse 3]
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
Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
@kingerdinger
this song genuinely makes me cry, not out of sadness, not out of happiness either
it makes me remember how much i've experienced in my life, how much i've grown and how much i've lost, i feel regret for things i had done wrong but i feel good that i have helped people with their struggles
even though everything i've done will never matter to the world in the end, i am truly at peace when i listen to this
it makes me think my life over, every year, every minute of everything
i love this song. i want to listen to this in my final moments, i want to feel like a warm blanket is being put over me
@belledelphine7303
Lyrics:
I see trees so green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
I see skies so blue and clouds so 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 saying how do you do.
They're really saying I love you.
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow.
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.
@dantheman1508
Louis Armstrong Isn't Dead, He's Just In Another Wonderful World.
@tangoaustin7998
Wdym about that
@sunnydasheep
Whyyyyyyy did u need to make me cry 😢
@tangoaustin7998
But it made me cry too lol
@bobanderson9076
Tango Austin kkk
@sunset_4625
Awwww
@squishee5890
"I'm not singing about the world as it is now. I'm singing what it could be"
-Louis Armstrong
@zsar_official
True
@zsar_official
What a wonderful world it could be
@secludedsnail3424
@@rbloobloo16 BLM protesting is a good thing, the violence is not but it’s message is, and people doing weed is not on the same level as rapists, not to mention, it’s a much safer drug than most others