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.
La vie en rose
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The magic spell you cast
This is la vie en rose
When you kiss me, Heaven sighs
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose
And in a world apart
A world where roses bloom
And when you speak
Angels sing from above
Every day words
Seems to turn into love songs
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose
The song La Vie En Rose by Louis Armstrong is a beautiful ode to the joy and beauty of love. The lyrics suggest a magical, almost surreal quality to love and the effect it can have on an individual. The opening lines "Hold me close and hold me fast. The magic spell you cast. This is la vie en rose" talk about how love can be a transformative experience, casting a magical spell over us, and turning our lives into something beautiful and enchanting.
The lyrics further depict the power of love in the lines "When you kiss me, Heaven sighs. And though I close my eyes, I see la vie en rose". This portrays the idea that a kiss from a loved one can make everything else fade away and make us feel like we are in heaven. The lyrics also suggest that love is a force that can create its own world- "When you press me to your heart, and in a world apart, a world where roses bloom."
The song continues to illustrate the strong feelings that love evokes in the lines "And when you speak, angels sing from above. Every day words seem to turn into love songs". It suggests that the feeling of being in love is so strong that even ordinary day-to-day conversations can become filled with immense emotion and depth.
In the chorus, the song declares that if we give our heart and soul to love, life will always be "La vie en rose" or a rose-tinted life. This phrase has come to signify seeing the world through a positive, optimistic lens, and this song is a beautiful representation of that sentiment.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold me close and hold me fast
Hold me tightly and securely with all your heart
The magic spell you cast
The enchanting feeling you give me
This is la vie en rose
This is life in pink, a world of true love and happiness
When you kiss me, Heaven sighs
The kiss from you is like heaven itself breathing a sigh of contentment
And though I close my eyes
Even when I'm not seeing the world, I can feel it
I see la vie en rose
I see life in pink, surrounded by love and exquisite beauty
When you press me to your heart
When you hold me close to your heart, I feel a world apart from others
And in a world apart
In a place that only you and I exist
A world where roses bloom
A world filled with beauty and love, where roses never stop blossoming
And when you speak
Each word you speak is like a soothing melody to my ears
Angels sing from above
Even the angels in the sky sing and dance to the tune of your voice
Every day words
The simplest words you say
Seems to turn into love songs
Makes every moment between us feel like a love song
Give your heart and soul to me
Promise me your deepest and strongest love
And life will always be
And this world of love, happiness and beauty will stay forever
La vie en rose
Life in pink, a world of true love and happiness, always and forever
Lyrics © BEUSCHER ARPEGE, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: David Mack, Edith Piaf, Louis "Louiguy" Guglielmi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@francescadesales306
Hold me close and hold me fast,
This magic spell you cast,
This is la vie en rose.
When you kiss me Heaven sighs,
And though I close my eyes
I see la vie en rose.
When you press me to your heart,
I'm in a world apart,
A world where roses bloom.
And when you speak
Angels sing from above,
Everyday words seem
To turn into love songs.
Give your heart and soul to me
And life will always be
La vie en rose.
@EthanAnania
Pixar’s WALL-E brought me here!
@VEXALL44
THATS HOW I KNOW THE SONG
@groupswing58383
So many comments like “This movie brought me here” and I just randomly listened to the song not knowing it’s in these movies that I’ve seen.
@spencerkepfer457
Same, Wall-E is my favorite
@christophermwila3105
And more it recruits ❤
@Relativegaminghub
God do I not care!
@andreatrenka5689
Always gives me teary eyes...I was 16 and my dad danced with me this song saying "happy birthday to my sweet 16 girl"
Soon after dad passed away in an accident leaving all the record of Louis Armstrong to me. I dont have the LP-player anymore but I kept all those pieces and of course I still listening all the songs on CDs.
@DeathSensei
May he rest in peace love
@MariaRodriguez-bp1tl
I appreciate you sharing this thought with us
May you dad rest in peace
@flame9234
Rest in peace