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.
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home
A band of angels coming after me
If you get there before I do
Coming for to carry me home
Tell all my friends I'm coming too
Coming for to carry me home
I'm sometimes up and sometimes down
Coming for to carry me home
But still my soul feels heavenly bound
Coming for to carry me home
The brightest day that I can say
Coming for to carry me home
When Jesus washed my sins away
Coming for to carry me home
Louis Armstrong's "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" is a gospel hymn that has been covered by numerous artists over the years. This song expresses the yearning of the singer to be reunited with God in the afterlife. The lyrics are simple yet powerful, and the melody is hauntingly beautiful.
In the first two lines of the song, the singer beckons for the chariot to come and carry them home. The chariot is a symbol of the afterlife, and the rider is eagerly anticipating the journey that will lead them there. The repetition of the phrase "swinging low" suggests that the chariot is already on its way, and the singer is excitedly anticipating its arrival.
In the second verse, the singer talks about looking over Jordan and seeing a band of angels coming to carry them home. This imagery is powerful and evocative, suggesting that the singer is already on the brink of the afterlife. The third verse talks about the singer's friends, whom they ask to spread the word that they are coming as well. This highlights the communal nature of the gospel and the desire to be reunited with loved ones in the afterlife.
The fourth verse talks about the singer's journey through life, sometimes up and sometimes down but always bound for heaven. The final verse speaks of the moment of salvation when Jesus washed away the sins of the singer, allowing them to join the angels and ride the chariot to their eternal home.
Line by Line Meaning
Swing low, sweet chariot
Oh, chariot, with your gentle swing, come to me
Coming for to carry me home
And take me to my heavenly home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Oh, chariot, please come close
Coming for to carry me home
And take me to the place of peace and love
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
As I looked over the land of Jordan, what did I see approaching?
Coming for to carry me home
It's a band of angels, coming to take me home
A band of angels coming after me
It's a group of divine beings coming to carry me to the promised land
Coming for to carry me home
And take me to my heavenly home
If you get there before I do
If you reach there before me
Coming for to carry me home
Please tell my friends that I am also on my way
Tell all my friends I'm coming too
Ask them to wait for me, for I am on my way too
Coming for to carry me home
And take me to the place of peace and love
I'm sometimes up and sometimes down
I am happy on some days and sad on others
Coming for to carry me home
But regardless of the ups and downs, I know that I will eventually reach the place of peace and love
But still my soul feels heavenly bound
But in my heart, I know that I am bound for heaven
Coming for to carry me home
And my chariot will come to take me there
The brightest day that I can say
The most wonderful day that I have ever experienced
Coming for to carry me home
Was the day when Jesus washed away my sins, and He came to take me home
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@courathiam256
Pour Gaudance et le merveilleux son de sa trompette. See you, soon, cousin !
@vernonndimeni362
Ohlange High School KZN South Africa students from the Student Christian Movement (SCM) would sing this beautifully during the chapel church service during the reign of principal Mr. S. D. Ngcobo.
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@kinanare91
2022 watching ? .... I lov this song 🖤
@tiftirighin
Swing Low, Sweet. Â Magic
@rubaopferreira
uma das coisas mais fantásticas que ja escutei!
@sorceligenbalade
Sublime
@rockedthecrapout
please stay anonymous Santeria.
@ReaLityBlue
"...Sweet home..." , Great singer, song, and message...
@AxeMoose
Ah this is wonderful.
@briangrandy7316
Dope