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.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My true love was true
I ofcourse reply
Something inside
Cannot be denied
They said some day you'll find
All who love are blind
You must realise
Smoke gets in your eyes
So I chaffed them
And I gayly laughed
To think they could doubt
To think they could doubt my love
But today
My love has flown away
I am without my love
Now laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide
So I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
But today my love has flown away
I am without
I'm without my love
And now laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide
So I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
Smoke gets in your eyes
Louis Armstrong's song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a poignant ballad about the pain and sorrow of lost love. The song tells a story of love, laughter, and tears, and the inevitability of heartbreak. The opening lines of the song, "They ask me how I knew my true love was true, I of course reply, something inside cannot be denied," immediately set the tone for the song. The singer is confident in his love, but the people around him doubt it. He scoffs at their doubts, not realizing the pain he will soon feel.
As the song progresses, the singer's love fades away, and he is left alone, heartbroken. The line "When a lovely flame dies, Smoke gets in your eyes" is a powerful metaphor for the pain of lost love. The singer's friends mock him, but he forces a smile and tries to hide his tears. The final lines of the song, "But today my love has flown away, I am without, I'm without my love," perfectly capture the desperation and loneliness of lost love.
Overall, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a beautifully written and performed song that perfectly captures the pain of lost love. The lyrics are simple yet evocative, and the melody is hauntingly beautiful. It is a song that has stood the test of time, and continues to resonate with audiences today.
Line by Line Meaning
They ask me how I knew
People inquire how I was able to tell
My true love was true
That my real passion was genuine
I of course reply
I always respond with confidence
Something inside
There's an inner feeling
Cannot be denied
That can't be ignored
They said some day you'll find
People say you'll eventually realize
All who love are blind
That love can cloud one's judgement
When your heart's on fire
When you're in love
You must realise
You need to acknowledge
Smoke gets in your eyes
That your vision could be obscured
So I chaffed them
So I teased them
And I gayly laughed
And I laughed heartily
To think they could doubt
To imagine they could question
To think they could doubt my love
To think they could question my affection
But today my love has flown away
But now my love has left me
I am without my love
I am alone without my beloved
Now laughing friends deride
Now, my friends mock me with their laughter
Tears I cannot hide
I can't conceal my tears
So I smile and say
So I force a smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
When a beautiful love fades away
Smoke gets in your eyes
One's vision can become obscured
But today my love has flown away
But now my love has left me
I am without
I am lacking
I'm without my love
I am alone without my beloved
And now laughing friends deride
And now my friends mock me with their laughter
Tears I cannot hide
I can't conceal my tears
So I smile and say
So I force a smile and say
When a lovely flame dies
When a beautiful love fades away
Smoke gets in your eyes
One's vision can become obscured
Contributed by Harper L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jaromíra Krestanpolova
Naprosto úžasné
Marcos Moraes
Arsmtrong never plays "Smoke gets in yours eyes", unfortunely.
Josimar Agnus Pereira
Quem postou, está enganado, porque não Louis Armstrong quem está tocando!
Luan Augusto
maneiro
elsegno
This version doesn't belong to Satchmo, but Marvin Peterson. Check it out!
Bobby Mobay
What album is this from?
Nadav Haber
Whoever posted it should fix the title - this is surely not Armstrong and his name should not appear falsely
坂巻 去来
😃💙🌱🌸
Lorenzo Cuevas
oye oye un momento ese es mil davis jeje
a proposito buenisimo
Alberto Josè Cacurri
Me suena Clifford conRichie Powell al piano.