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.
Someday You'll Be Sorry
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The way you treated me was wrong
I was the one who taught you all you know
Your friends have told you to make me sing another song
So good luck may be with you
And for the future have no fears
There won't be another to treat you like a brother
Louis Armstrong’s “Someday You’ll Be Sorry” is a song about regret and holding grudges. It speaks to a past love who has mistreated the singer and how they will one day deeply regret their actions. He sings about how he was the one who taught them everything they know and how their friends have encouraged them to make him sing another song. While expressing some bitterness, Armstrong maintains a tone of sympathy and understanding for the person and makes it clear that he does not hold ill will towards them.
The lyrics suggest that the person will one day realize the mistake they made, and that nobody will ever treat them the same way again. Armstrong seems to be expressing his belief that forgiveness and understanding is always the best way to move forward, rather than holding resentment and grudges. Overall, the song captures the pain of having been hurt by someone you cared about, but also the hope that perhaps, someday, they may come to understand the damage they have done and seek to make amends.
Line by Line Meaning
Someday you'll be sorry
One day, you will feel regret for your actions
The way you treated me was wrong
Your treatment towards me was improper
I was the one who taught you all you know
I was your teacher, instilling in you all the knowledge you possess
Your friends have told you to make me sing another song
Your companions have advised you to seek a different outcome from me
So good luck may be with you
May fortune smile upon you
And for the future have no fears
Do not worry about what is yet to come
There won't be another to treat you like a brother
No one else will care for you as much as I did
Someday you'll be sorry, dear
One day, you will regret your actions towards me
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Wolfhoundersful
Someday you'll be sorry
The way you treated me was wrong
I was the one who taught you all you know
Your friends have told you to make me sing another song
So good luck may be with you
And may your future you won't fear dear
Oh, there won't be another to treat you like a brother
Someday you'll be sorry, dear
Oh, there won't be another to treat you like a brother
Oh, someday you'll be sorry, dear
@jmtibau
Someday you'll be sorry
The way you treated me was wrong
I was the one who taught you all you know
Your friends have told you to make me sing another song
So good luck may be with you
And for the future have no fears
There won't be another to treat you like a brother
Someday you'll be sorry dear
@iamdrye
R.I.P Louis Armstrong. He will never be forgotten as the best Jazzist to ever live.
@stillbee7222
❤❤👏👏👏 When music was still beautiful when people could just sway and smile. He was so talented.
@stevetessier6568
Pops was my first teacher. He was very very close friends with my beloved Grandmother Ruth H. Orr. I adored Louis, who took me under his wings. And let me work and valet , and stagehand for him early in my youth. I miss pops eternally. He was the Swiss Kris's man. My mentor, my dear dear friend and teacher.... The Angels attend him thru eternity....!!!! 🙏🙏🙏.
@aleksakosanovic7922
I'm doing a documentary on louis armstrong, I would love to hear your stories 😊
@tomsokoli
No he wasn’t
@Wolfhoundersful
Someday you'll be sorry
The way you treated me was wrong
I was the one who taught you all you know
Your friends have told you to make me sing another song
So good luck may be with you
And may your future you won't fear dear
Oh, there won't be another to treat you like a brother
Someday you'll be sorry, dear
Oh, there won't be another to treat you like a brother
Oh, someday you'll be sorry, dear
@kcuhca1953
louis played at a big dance hall in benld, illinois back around 1954. had six musicians playing while the rest of his his big band group slept outside in their bus. played for four hours, took only two 15 minute breaks, unbelieveable music and i danced to every tune! he really put on a show. a nite i will always remember!
@melizavenegas8789
What a beautiful memory. Cherish it always💋❤
@KWwest
My mum used to take me to all the concerts at the beautiful Hotel Del in Coronado California where we lived. We’d sit it at a small round table close to the stage. I remember him bending over and taking to me with such a pure and sweet soul. That was almost 60 years ago and I remember it like yesterday. I was enchanted.
@avingaline
nobody will ever have that special touch like louie !!!