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.
There's A Cabin In The Pines
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wrapped in honeysuckle vines
Where a mellow moon is always shining
Shining on my cabin in the pines
There's a sweetheart in the pines writing me a letter
I can read between the lines
I can see she longs for my returning
Whispering breeze, whisper to my love
Tell her I'll come back some day
Say that I'm blue, broken-hearted too
Sorry that I went away
There's a cabin in the pines meant to be a love nest
Down among the Carolines
Is it any wonder I'm so lonely
Longing for my cabin in the pines?
Louis Armstrong's song "There's A Cabin In The Pines" is an ode to a cabin tucked away in the woods, adorned with honeysuckle vines and perpetually basked in moonlight. The song paints a tranquil image of a lover yearning to return to the cabin and his sweetheart waiting for him there. The lyrics speak of a sense of longing and heartache, with the singer asking the whispering breeze to convey his message of remorse to his lover. The allusion to the Carolinas in the final verse also invokes a sense of nostalgia and a longing for a simpler, more peaceful time.
The quaint cabin in the woods is portrayed as a sanctuary, a place of respite from the commotion of everyday life. The proximity to nature and the tranquility it offers is a central theme in the song. Despite the serenity of the surroundings, the singer experiences a sense of loneliness and pines for his lover's presence. His hope and optimism are evident in his plea to the whispering breeze, as he longs to reunite with his lover in their little cabin in the pines.
Overall, Louis Armstrong's "There's A Cabin In The Pines" captures the essence of human longing and the search for peace and love. It speaks to the universal human desire for a respite from the chaos of everyday life and the comfort of being with those we love.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a cabin in the pines, hidden in the wild wood
There is a house surrounded by pine trees that is secluded from view in the forest
Wrapped in honeysuckle vines
The cabin is surrounded and covered with sweet-smelling vines
Where a mellow moon is always shining
The area around the cabin is always lit up by a peaceful moon
Shining on my cabin in the pines
This moonlight gives the cabin a magical glow
There's a sweetheart in the pines writing me a letter
There is a lover who lives nearby in the same forest who has written a letter to the singer
I can read between the lines
The singer understands the nuances of the letter and what the writer really means to say
I can see she longs for my returning
The writer is expressing a deep desire for the singer to come back to her
To my little cabin in the pines
She wants to see him return home to their small cabin in the forest
Whispering breeze, whisper to my love
The singer is asking the wind to carry a message to his lover
Tell her I'll come back some day
The message is that he will return to her in the future
Say that I'm blue, broken-hearted too
He wants her to know that he is also sad and misses her
Sorry that I went away
He expresses regret for leaving and wishes he could be with her now
There's a cabin in the pines meant to be a love nest
The cabin was designed as a romantic getaway for the two of them
Down among the Carolines
It is located in the southern United States, where the Carolinas are
Is it any wonder I'm so lonely
The singer is feeling lonely and sad because he is far away from his love and their cabin
Longing for my cabin in the pines?
He is wondering if anyone else can understand his desire to return to his home in the forest
Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: BILLY HILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bigeman25
I love to hear Louie singing, but this is one where his trumpet does all the singing I need to hear. Mr. Armstrong, we love you.
@statjay
This has always been my favorite Louis Armstrong song (can't way why). Thanks for posting such a clear version.
@fillra
Thankyou, cdbpdx, really nice. Louis Armstrong And His Orchestra April 26, 1933, Chicago. Recorded for Victor records. According to the "michaelminn armstrong" discography, this session "was the last studio recordings for a year and a half . An inconceivable break for such an incomparable star at the pinnacle of his craft." I think Louis had gangster-manager problems, and needed to get out of the USA, so went to Europe.
@muffs55mercury61
Originally Victor 24335. Great to hear from 78 rpm sources rather than remastered. Nothing beats originality.
@cdbpdx
They were experimenting with new technology back then. Actually, I hit a 2 when I wanted to hit a 3. Thanks fro the proof-read! CDB