Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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.

Sweet Sue Just You
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Every star above, baby,
Knows the one I love:
Sweet Sue - just you!

And the moon on high, baby,
Knows the reason why:
Sweet Sue - is you!

No one else it seems,
Ever shared my dreams,
Without you I don't know what I'd do.

In this heart of mine,

You live all the time,
Ooh, Sue - just you!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Louis Armstrong's song Sweet Sue Just You are a declaration of love to a sweetheart named Sue. The first verse mentions how every star above knows the one he loves is Sue. This conveys the idea that the singer sees Sue as the center of his world and that his love for her is as vast and infinite as the universe. The chorus repeats the titular phrase "Sweet Sue - just you" in a playful and catchy melody that reinforces the singer's devotion to Sue.

The second verse uses the moon as a metaphor for the singer's feelings towards Sue. The moon, being a symbol of romantic love, "knows the reason why" the singer loves Sue. The verse also expresses how no one else seems to share the same dreams as the singer, which makes Sue unique and special to him. The last two lines of the chorus, "In this heart of mine, You live all the time," encapsulates the depth of the singer's love for Sue. The repetition of Sue's name throughout the song also adds a personal touch and highlights the importance of the person the song is dedicated to.

Overall, Sweet Sue Just You is a sweet and cheerful love song that celebrates the singer's love for a woman named Sue. The lyrics convey the singer's deep affection for Sue, and the catchy melody makes it a memorable and enjoyable song to listen to.

Line by Line Meaning

Every star above, baby
All the shining stars up in the sky

Knows the one I love:
Are aware of the person that I love

Sweet Sue - just you!
That person is you, Sweet Sue

And the moon on high, baby,
The bright moon above us, my dear

Knows the reason why:
Understands the reason behind my love

Sweet Sue - is you!
For that reason, Sweet Sue, you are the one

No one else it seems,
It seems that no other person

Ever shared my dreams,
Has ever shared the same dreams as me

Without you I don't know what I'd do.
I can't imagine what I would do without you

In this heart of mine,
In my deep heart

You live all the time,
You live inside of me all the time