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.
Our Love Is Here To Stay
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Not for a year but ever and a day
Oh the radio and a telephone, movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
But oh my dear our love is here to stay
Together we're going on a long, long way
In time the rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
It's very clear our love is here to stay
Not for a year but ever and a day
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
But oh my dear our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
In time the rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay but our love is here to stay
But oh my dear our love is here to stay
Together we're going a long, long way
In time the rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
They're only made of clay but forever and a day
Our love is here to stay, our love is here to stay
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald's song "Our Love Is Here to Stay" emphasize the eternal, unbreakable nature of true love. The opening lines suggest that the love between the two is not only unwavering but is bound to stay forever. The second and third lines express that although the modern inventions of radio, telephone, and movies may be gone with the times, their love will never be. The beauty of this love lies in its solidity and resilience that can withstand the tests of time.
The chorus reiterates the same sentiment that their love is stronger than any material thing, including mountains and Gibraltar rock, which are symbolic of strength and stability. The lines "They're only made of clay but our love is here to stay" indicate that nothing in this world is eternal, be it material things, but their love is different from other worldly things, and it will continue to thrive.
In conclusion, the song's underlying message is that true love is not fleeting and can endure throughout a lifetime. Despite the inevitable ups and downs that life brings us, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" holds steadfast and provides a sense of security.
Line by Line Meaning
It's very clear our love is here to stay
It's quite evident that our love is permanent and not temporary
Not for a year but ever and a day
Our love will last not just for a year, but forever
The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know
The latest trends we see or hear through technology can be momentary diversions
May just be passing fancies and in time may go
They might just be fads which come and go with time
But oh my dear our love is here to stay
Though everything else may change, our love will remain constant.
Together we're going a long, long way
We will stay committed to each other for a long, long time to come.
In time the rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble
Even the biggest or strongest things in the world may not last, but our love will.
They're only made of clay but forever and a day
They are just material things and can be destroyed, but our love will survive forever and a day.
Our love is here to stay, our love is here to stay
In conclusion, our love is not temporary, it's here to stay.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
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