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.
On The Sunnyside Of The Street
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Leave your worry on the doorstep
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street
Can't you hear a pitter pat
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street
I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
But no I'm not afraid
This Rover crossed over
If I never have a cent
I'd be rich as Rockefeller
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street
Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worry on the doorstep
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street
Can't you hear a pitter pat
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street
I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
But no I'm not afraid
This Rover crossed over
If I never have a cent
I'd be rich as Rockefeller
With gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street
Louis Armstrong's song On The Sunnyside Of The Street is a beautiful and uplifting tune that takes us on a journey from hardship to happiness. The lyrics start by telling us to leave our worries behind and take a stroll on the sunny side of the street where everything is bright and cheerful. The pitter-patter of footsteps and cheerful tunes add to the sense of joy and optimism.
The song contrasts the past, where the singer was walking in the shade with the blues on parade, with the present, where he is no longer afraid and has crossed over to a happier side of life. The mention of Rockefeller, a famous American businessman and philanthropist at the time, symbolizes the idea that one can feel rich even without material wealth, as long as they have joy and positivity in their heart, just like gold dust at their feet.
Overall, the song encourages us to choose joy and optimism over sadness and pessimism, to step into the sun and let the light guide our way through life.
Line by Line Meaning
Grab your coat and get your hat
Get ready to leave your current state.
Leave your worry on the doorstep
Let go of your anxieties and concerns.
Just direct your feet
Move confidently in the direction that brings you peace.
To the sunny side of the street
To the place where happiness and positivity abound.
Can't you hear a pitter pat
Listen carefully and you may hear the joyous music of life.
And that happy tune is your step
Allow the happiness to lift your feet as you move forward.
Life can be so sweet
The world is full of beauty and opportunity.
On the sunny side of the street
Where hope and optimism prevail.
I used to walk in the shade
I used to dwell in negativity and darkness.
With those blues on parade
My sadness and difficulties were always on display.
But no I'm not afraid
But I have overcome my fears and doubts.
This Rover crossed over
This wanderer has found a new path.
If I never have a cent
Even if I have no money or material belongings.
I'd be rich as Rockefeller
I would still feel wealthy and content.
With gold dust at my feet
With abundance and prosperity surrounding me.
On the sunny side of the street
In a place where positivity and joy reign supreme.
Lyrics © SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Written by: JIMMY MC HUGH
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