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.
These Foolish Things
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Oh! Will you never set me free?
The ties that bound us
Are still around us
There's no escape that I can see
And still those little things remain
That bring me happiness or pain
An airline ticket to romantic places
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
A fair ground's painted swings
These foolish things remind me of you
You came you saw you conquer'd me
When you did that to me
I knew somehow this had to be
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
First daffodils and long excited cables
And candle lights on little corner tables
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
The "Ile de France" with all the gulls around it
The beauty that is Spring's
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
Silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
And still my heart has wings
These foolish things remind me of you
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
The song that Crosby sings
These foolish things remind me of you
How strange how sweet to find you still
These things are dear to me
They seem to bring you near to me
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
Oh, how the ghost of you clings!
These foolish things remind me of you
These lyrics are about the memories that remain after a long relationship comes to an end. Louis Armstrong sings about how he cannot escape the ties and little things that remind him of his former lover. The things that make him both happy and sad, such as a cigarette with a lipstick trace, an airline ticket to romantic places, or a telephone that rings but no one answers. These little things make him reflect on the love that they shared, and even though it is gone, it still haunts him.
The song speaks to the fact that sometimes it's the small things that are the most meaningful when it comes to remembering someone. The ties that bound them may still be around, but they no longer share the love they once had. The memories of the times they spent together keep coming back to Armstrong, and he can't shake them off. It's a beautiful and sad reflection on how we hold onto the people we love and how they live on in our memories long after they are gone.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh! Will you never let me be?
Will you never stop haunting me and give me peace?
Oh! Will you never set me free?
Will you never release me from your hold?
The ties that bound us
Our past relationship that still affects me
Are still around us
Are still present and affecting us
There's no escape that I can see
I cannot find a way to break free from these ties
And still those little things remain
The small things that remind me of you still exist
That bring me happiness or pain
That evoke positive or negative emotions in me
A cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces
A reminder of your presence and the intimacy we shared
An airline ticket to romantic places
A reminder of the adventures we had together
And still my heart has wings
I still feel the same emotions for you
These foolish things remind me of you
These seemingly insignificant things trigger my memories of you
A tinkling piano in the next apartment
A sound that reminds me of our time together
Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant
The words I struggled to express to you out of love
A fair ground's painted swings
A symbol of the happiness we shared
You came you saw you conquer'd me
You swept me off my feet and won my heart
When you did that to me
When you made me fall deeply in love with you
I knew somehow this had to be
I knew we were meant to be together
The winds of March that make my heart a dancer
The season that reminds me of our passionate love
A telephone that rings but who's to answer?
A missed opportunity to reconnect with you
The park at evening when the bell has sounded
A romantic atmosphere that reminds me of us
The "Ile de France" with all the gulls around it
A place that holds memories of our travels together
The beauty that is Spring's
The season that reminds me of our love's beauty
How strange how sweet to find you still
How unexpected and pleasing it is to remember you
These things are dear to me
These memories hold sentimental value for me
They seem to bring you near to me
These memories make me feel closer to you
The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations
A feeling of loneliness without you by my side
Silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations
A reminder of the sensuality we shared
Gardenia perfume ling'ring on a pillow
A lingering scent of our romantic nights
Wild strawb'ries only seven francs a kilo
A reminder of a sweet moment we shared
The smile of Garbo and the scent of roses
Reminders of the beauty and romance we shared
The waiters whistling as the last bar closes
A memory of a fun night out together
The song that Crosby sings
A song that reminds me of our love
The scent of smould'ring leaves, the wail of steamers
The atmosphere of Fall that reminds me of our love
Two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers
A symbol of the love we shared
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOB STANLEY, PETER STEWART WIGGS, SARAH CRACKNELL
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