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.
Life Is So Peculiar
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know it too? (mm-hm)
You get so warm in the sunshine, (Get my sun tan)
(It doesn't pay to complain), I never complain
When I get up each morning, there's nothing to breathe but air, (Yeah)
(And when I look in the mirror, there's nothing to comb but hair)
And when I sit down to breakfast, there's nothing to eat but food
(Life is so peculiar but you can't stay home and brood)
The desert has only got sand, (And that's grand)
The oceans only got water,(And you can't drink it all up)
You never know where you stand
(When I get out to dinner, there's nothing to wear but clothes)
(Whenever I get sleepy, there's nothing to do but doze), Yeah
(Whenever I get thirsty, there's nothing to do but drink)
(Life is no peculiar that it makes you stop and think)
Yes, life (boop-a-doo-wa-boo-waa), is so peculiar, (It sure is)
A fork belongs with the knife (It sure does)
(Corn beef is lost without cabbage)
I love cabbage, a husband should have a wife
(Yes), (life is so peculiar, but as everybody says)
(That's life)
(Life), Yes life (it's so peculiar), a-hugh
(a bird can usually sing). A bird, I do too
(A pearl is made by an oyster), New Orleans?
(Rampart Street)
(You can't be sure of a thing)
When I get tired of restin' there's nothing to do but walk (walk it off pop)
And when I don't care to listen there's nothing to do but talk (keep you big mouth shut)
When I'm up in the airplane there's nothing to do but fly (mm-hm)
(Life is so peculiar but I often wonder why)
Oh, life, (boop-a-doo-wa-boo-waa), is so peculiar, (sure is)
A fork belongs with a knife you know, (mm-mm)
(Corn beef is lost without cabbage), leftover cabbage? (Yeah)
A husband should have a wife
(Yeah), (life is so peculiar, but what everybody says that's life)
One more for me Jim (that's life)
Let me hear it one time (that's life)
All together (That's life), yeah
Louis Armstrong's song Life Is So Peculiar is a whimsical and humorous take on the vagaries of life. The lyrics describe the fact that life is filled with contradictions and paradoxes that can sometimes be frustrating, but ultimately make it worth living. The song begins by noting that in the rain, one gets wet, but in the sunshine, one gets warm. The singer also comments that he loves to get a sun tan. Despite the fact that sometimes things are not ideal, there's no point in complaining, and it's best just to deal with the hand that's been dealt.
The rest of the song is filled with more examples of life's peculiarities. The singer notes that when he wakes up each morning, there's nothing to breathe but air, and when he looks in the mirror, there's nothing to comb but hair. Similarly, when he sits down to breakfast, there's nothing to eat but food. All of these seemingly mundane examples highlight the fact that life is simple and straightforward, and that sometimes it's best to just take pleasure in the small things.
The song also makes some more abstract observations about life's peculiarities. For example, the singer notes that a fork belongs with a knife, and that corned beef is lost without cabbage. He also comments that a husband should have a wife. All of these observations are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also hint at the fact that despite life's many complexities, there are certain things that are fundamental and cannot be changed.
Overall, Life Is So Peculiar is a lighthearted and fun song that celebrates the contradictions and paradoxes of life. It is a reminder that even though things don't always make sense, there's still something wonderful about the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh life (is so peculiar), (you get so wet in the rain)
Life can be strange and unpredictable. For instance, you might get wet in the rain.
You know it too? (mm-hm)
Don't you agree? (Yes, I do.)
You get so warm in the sunshine, (Get my sun tan)
But life can also be enjoyable, such as soaking up the sun and getting a tan.
(It doesn't pay to complain), I never complain
Complaining is pointless, therefore I never waste my time doing so.
When I get up each morning, there's nothing to breathe but air, (Yeah)
Each morning we wake up to a brand new day only to breathe the air around us.
(And when I look in the mirror, there's nothing to comb but hair)
Looking in the mirror shows us a reflection where we can only possibly fix our hair.
And when I sit down to breakfast, there's nothing to eat but food
When it's time for breakfast the only thing to consume is food and nothing else.
(Life is so peculiar but you can't stay home and brood)
Although life can be strange, unpredictable or even somewhat boring, one can't sit around sulking, instead we need to embrace what life has to offer.
Oh, life(Tell 'em about it pops) is so peculiar
Again life can be unpredictable but it's just the way it is.
The desert has only got sand, (And that's grand)
The desert is just sand, yes, but still magnificent in its own way.
The oceans only got water,(And you can't drink it all up)
The ocean has a lot of water, but you can't drink all of it.
You never know where you stand
Life is full of surprises, one can't always know what to expect.
(When I get out to dinner, there's nothing to wear but clothes)
Attending dinner outings simply require us to wear our appropriate clothes and nothing else.
(Whenever I get sleepy, there's nothing to do but doze), Yeah
If we're feeling tired there's almost nothing we can do other than sleep.
(Whenever I get thirsty, there's nothing to do but drink)
If we get thirsty, we can't do anything but drink to quench our thirst.
(Life is no peculiar that it makes you stop and think)
Life is so strange that it can make you ponder, revaluate and reconsider things in life.
Yes, life (boop-a-doo-wa-boo-waa), is so peculiar, (It sure is)
As the chorus repeats, life really is a funny old thing.
A fork belongs with the knife (It sure does)
Just as a fork belongs with a knife when eating.
(Corn beef is lost without cabbage)
Corn beef is best served alongside cabbage.
I love cabbage, a husband should have a wife
I love cabbage and it's only natural for a husband to have a wife.
(Yes), (life is so peculiar, but as everybody says)
Everyone seems to agree that life is indeed strange and unpredictable.
(That's life)
That's just the way things are.
(Life), Yes life (it's so peculiar), a-hugh
Once again, life continues to be unpredictable.
(a bird can usually sing). A bird, I do too
Birds tend to sing, and I myself tend to do the same.
(A pearl is made by an oyster), New Orleans?
Pearls are produced by oysters and the singer may also be alluding to New Orleans, a city known for its oyster bars.
(Rampart Street)
A street in New Orleans, known for its music scene.
(You can't be sure of a thing)
Life can be wildly unpredictable, nothing is for certain.
When I get tired of restin' there's nothing to do but walk (walk it off pop)
When feeling restless or bored, one can walk to alleviate that feeling or try to distract themselves in order to feel better.
And when I don't care to listen there's nothing to do but talk (keep you big mouth shut)
In times when we feel uninterested, our only option is to engage in conversation with others to keep us occupied or shut up and keep to ourselves.
When I'm up in the airplane there's nothing to do but fly (mm-hm)
Once we're on an airplane it's out of our hands and all we can really do is simply fly and let the pilot do their job.
(Life is so peculiar but I often wonder why)
Life is strange in so many ways and it's completely normal and natural to wonder why it is like this.
One more for me Jim (that's life)
Another one for the road, that's just the way life is.
Let me hear it one time (that's life)
Repeating the same thing, that's just how things are.
All together (That's life), yeah
That's just life, we need to learn to accept it and move forward together.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAMES VAN HEUSEN, JOHNNY BURKE
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