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: โYou canโt play nothing on modern trumpet that doesnโt 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.
St.james Infirmary
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Saw my baby there
Stretched out on a long white table
So sweet, so cold, so fair
Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Wherever she may be
She can look this wide world over
When I die, want you to dress me in straight-lace shoes
Box-back coat and a Stetson hat
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys'll know that I died standin' pat
Louis Armstrong's "St. James Infirmary" is a mournful blues song that deals with death, loss, and the fleeting nature of love. The song tells the story of a man who goes to the St. James Infirmary to see his lover, only to find her lying dead on a table. He mourns her passing and reflects on their relationship, declaring that she will never find a man as sweet as him.
The opening lines present a vivid image of the dead lover lying on a table in the infirmary, surrounded by the singer's grief and sorrow. The imagery of the long white table and the cold, fair beauty of the deceased is powerful and poignant, evoking the sense of a life cut short and a love that was too brief. The refrain, "Let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be," is a mournful farewell to the dead lover, a recognition that she is now gone and beyond the singer's reach.
The final verse of the song presents the singer's own vision of his death and burial, suggesting that he wants to be remembered as a gambler who died "standing pat," or holding his ground, rather than folding or giving up. The image of the twenty-dollar gold piece on his watch chain, signaling his wealth and status, is a reminder that even in death, he wants to be remembered as a man of means and importance.
Overall, "St. James Infirmary" is a haunting and powerful song that speaks to our deepest fears, desires, and aspirations. It is a testament to the enduring power of the blues to touch our hearts and souls.
Line by Line Meaning
I went down to the St. James Infirmary
I went to the hospital where sick and dying people go.
Saw my baby there
Saw my girlfriend or wife there.
Stretched out on a long white table
Lying on a table looking pale, experiencing a near-death situation.
So sweet, so cold, so fair
My girlfriend or wife looks beautiful and immaculate despite being dead.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Let her go peacefully and respectfully, God bless her soul.
Wherever she may be
Wherever she goes after death, let it be.
She can look this wide world over
She can look anywhere in the world to find a man as sweet and kind as I am.
She'll never find a sweet man like me
She will never find a man like me who is so sweet and kind, true to her love.
When I die, want you to dress me in straight-lace shoes
When I die, I want to be well-dressed, respectable and look good.
Box-back coat and a Stetson hat
I want to wear a suit coat with a square, angular back and a cowboy hat.
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
Place a $20 gold coin on my pocket watch's chain as a symbol of my wealth.
So the boys'll know that I died standin' pat
So everyone would know that I was a man of principle, I never gave up or back down throughout my life.
Lyrics ยฉ Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Irving Mills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@andreamedina1564
I went down to St. James Infirmary
Saw my baby there
She was stretched out on a long white table
So cold, so sweet, so fair
Let her go, let her go!
God bless her wherever she may be
She can look this wide world over
But she'll never find a sweet man like me
(*Laughter* braggin')
When I die bury me in straight lace shoes
I want a box-back coat and a Stetson hat
(John B., that is)
Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys will know that I died standin' pat
@jeffersonsteelflex1391
I went down to St.James Infirmary
Saw my baby there
She was stretched out on a long, white table
So cold, so sweet, so fair
Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Wherever she may be
She can look this wide world over
But she'll never find a sweet man like me
When I die bury me in shoes,
I want a Boxback coat and a Stetson hat
Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys will know that I died standin' pat
@ignaciocanepa2436
Just a cooler way of being sad
@OrangeJuiceDripping
Under rated comment
@nyontozel
Wayyyyy Cooolllerrr broda!
@lilhomiecasey9906
So real
@notjoshmerkle
Well mate if weโre gonna be sad it might as well be cool too yea?
@purpleblah2
I have depression and I'm never this cool
@jeffgoldenberg4009
One of the thrills of my life was seeing him in 1961 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ with my father, a huge fan. I was 10 and a novice on the trumpet. We went backstage and hung with him for a while; i sat on his knee as they chatted, and he led me back to the end of the room where his trumpet sat in its case. I tooted a few notes and her roared in approval, a huge smile across his face. I still have the program he signed.
@flxcreative.
incredible story
@ousarlxsfjsbvbg8588
Jeff Goldenberg what a memory that is
@ousarlxsfjsbvbg8588
Jeff Goldenberg what a memory that is