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.
Star dust
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
Louis Armstrong’s Star Dust is a touching song that reflects on lost love and the power of memories. The lyrics paint a picture of the peaceful time of twilight where the purple dusk spreads across the heart, and the stars begin to twinkle in the sky. This peacefulness also serves as a reminder that the singer and their love are currently apart. The lyrics go on to describe how the person wanders off leaving the song as a mere reminder of their love. The lyrics also reflect on loneliness and how the song can bring back fond memories of when love was new and fresh, the kisses pure inspiration, and the songs leading their reverie.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
As the day comes to an end, a blue twilight appears, symbolizing the singer's loneliness and dark mood.
Steals across the meadows of my heart
The singer's desolation and melancholy take over his soul, as he thinks of his lover no longer being there.
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Stars are a witness to the absence of the singer's lover, and symbolize his pain caused by the distance between them.
Always reminding me that we're apart
The stars serve as a constant reminder of the great distance and the loss the artist feels due to the absence of his lover.
You wander down the lane and far away
The artist's lover has gone far away, leaving the artist alone and yearning for her instead.
Leaving me a song that will not die
The singer's lover left him a song, which will forever be a part of him and represent their love.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The emotions the singer felt before are now distant memories, represented by the alluring yet fleeting and uncatchable elements of stardust.
The music of the years gone by.
The song takes us back in time to recall the music and emotions of the past, now lost and forgotten.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The artist questions his own life and is always searching for ways to make meaning of his loneliness.
The lonely nights
The nights the artist spends without his lover are unbearable and gloomy, driving his thoughts to sadness.
Dreaming of a song
The melody of the lost song remains in the singer's head, providing a dreamlike solace, but unable to erase the pain of missing her lover.
The melody
The song's melody is the essence of the feelings and longing the artist experiences, having lost the love he once held dearly.
Haunts my reverie
The song invades the singer's thoughts and memories, disrupting his peace and distracts him from reality.
And I am once again with you
The song brings the singer to an imaginary space, where he feels close to his lover despite the distance.
When our love was new
The memory of his lover's presence brings back a past time of happiness, their love was once fresh and unmarred.
And each kiss an inspiration
The sweet, delicate kiss of his lover was an aspiration to the artist, providing moments of hope and the desire to remain in her arms.
But that was long ago
The memories are from long ago and the present reality is filled with the pain of her absence, the song reminds the artist of what he's lost.
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
The singer finds consolation in the scattered memories and traces of stardust, which reminds him of his lover's touch and his love for her.
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
The singer imagines himself beside the garden wall, perhaps where his lover and he shared moments of happiness, and now longing for the same happiness beneath a starry sky.
You are in my arms
The artist relives the touch of his lover as they lay together, he yearns for this presence once again.
The nightingale
The nightingale is a symbol of the beauty in nature, and the singer evokes the notion of the nightingale's call as nature consecrating human romance.
Tells his fairy tale
As the nightingale sings its song, the artist supposes him to be telling a story of an impossibly happy and eternal love, becoming similar to the lovers adventure.
Of paradise where roses grew
The song evokes the sensual pleasures of paradise lost and the sweet fragrance of roses, representing the happiness and intimacy that is lost for the singer and his lover.
Though I dream in vain
The artist's treasured memories are bittersweet, they are now a representation of what he can no longer possess.
In my heart it will remain
The memories of his love will never completely disappear or lose their significance for the singer.
My stardust melody
The song remains the only tangible element for the singer, serving as a comfort to his restlessness, loneliness and love for his lost lover.
The memory of love's refrain.
The song brings back the refrain of love once between the singer and his lover, which is now past, a memory.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@anthonyamaral3672
Sometimes, I wonder why I spend
The lonely nights
Baby, lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
Melody my memory
And I am once again with you
When our love was new, oh babe
Each kiss an inspiration
That was long ago
Now my consolation is
In the stardust of a song
Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright
You were in my arms, baby babe
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
A paradise, where roses bloom
Though I dream in vain, oh babe
In my heart, it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain
Mama, mmmm, love's refrain
@jimcharme2772
Hard to believe in less than two years, Louis Armstrong will have been gone for 50 years. His enormous artistry remains an inspiration and continues to bring so much joy.
@janberings7743
50 years!!' I played trumpet and sang this fine tune in 1962 (my twenties) in de pub in Callao. Hardly spoke english.
Made a funny mistake " constllation" Didnt even know the lyrics; a sailor from the usa stood next to me and helped me out ......... I still have the tape.... dont dare to listen.
Louis is still my hero "what a wonderful legend" And I blow my horn daily.
@Yrr666
@Jan Berings You know how big and important the man and his music was. I always wanted to play the trumpet but never got the chance. Keep your great memories close to your heart.
@kevinrobinson2537
Jimi Hendrix has now been gone for 50 years
@laurielyon7740
I’m 73 and bought tickets to see (and hear!!) Louis Armstrong perform at Toronto’s O’Keefe Centre. I think the year was 1964.......not positive. His performance was the first live jazz performance I had ever seen.
Magic!!
@faithbaldwin69
It's 50 years 2022
@ChristianCorrao
This is some serious business. He makes the record in '31, some 3 or 4 years after the lyric is penned. He barely sings the melody as written, not to mention his trumpet playing. A true improviser at the dawn of improvising. Maybe I'm crazy, but these days I'm thinking he just might be the most influential musician that has ever lived.
@emmahallard1949
You're not crazy at all
@57dogsbody
Right On Man.
@jamesshea897
Read Pops by Terry Teachout, one of the finest biographies I've read. You will love Louis Armstrong even more than you do now.