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.
Sunrise Sunset
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?
Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset,
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years.
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.
What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?
Now they must learn from one another,
Day by day.
They look so natural together,
Just like two newlyweds should be.
Is there a canopy in store for me?
Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years.
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.
The popular song "Sunrise Sunset" by Louis Armstrong is a reflection on the fleeting nature of time and the inevitability of change. The lyrics express the melancholic nostalgia of an aging parent who realizes how quickly time has passed and how much their children have grown. The song opens with the refrain "Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play?" as the singer looks back on his children's youth with a sense of disbelief that time has gone so quickly. He admits, "I don't remember growing older, when did they?" emphasizing how the changes in his children and the passage of time have seemed to slip by unnoticed.
The central metaphor of the song is the rising and setting of the sun, which symbolizes the cyclical nature of life and how time continues to move forward. The second verse describes how the children have grown into adulthood without the singer's awareness, and how they now face the struggles and joys of life together. Even as they navigate their own paths, the singer notes how they "look so natural together, just like two newlyweds should be," and wonders what blessings and challenges lie ahead for himself.
In the end, "Sunrise Sunset" captures the bittersweet emotions of letting go of the past and embracing the present while acknowledging that time will continue to flow and change will come. The song poignantly evokes the universal human experience of the passage of time and the inevitability of aging, reminding us to cherish each fleeting moment and the people we love.
Line by Line Meaning
Is this the little girl I carried?
Am I really looking at the same person I used to carry in my arms as a little girl?
Is this the little boy at play?
Is this the same boy I remember who used to play around here?
I don't remember growing older, When did they?
I can't remember how time passed so quickly, when did they grow up?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did she become so beautiful?
When did he grow to be so tall?
When did he grow so tall all of a sudden?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?
It feels like just yesterday when they were small kids, where did time go?
Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset, Swiftly flow the days.
The sun rises and sets so quickly, the days just fly by.
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,Blossoming even as we gaze.
Plants grow so quickly, they can bloom into beautiful flowers right before our eyes.
Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset, Swiftly fly the years.
The years just fly by like the sun rises and sets so quickly.
One season following another,Laden with happiness and tears.
Each season brings its own joys and sorrows.
What words of wisdom can I give them? How can I help to ease their way?
What advice can I give them to make their journey through life easier?
Now they must learn from one another,Day by day.
They must learn from their experiences and from each other, one day at a time.
They look so natural together,Just like two newlyweds should be.
They look so perfect together, just like newlyweds should look.
Is there a canopy in store for me?
Is there a happy future waiting for me?
Lyrics © BOCK IP LLC, Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jerrold Bock, Sheldon Harnick
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