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.
Throw It Out of Your Mind
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've had enough of you,
I'm tired of your lying,
So throw it out your mind,
You toss me around,
Lately I've found,
That someone else's love,
So bye bye my friend!
Too bad it had to end!
My brand new love is waiting so I'll see you now and then,
But as,
Of now,
We're through,
And how,
So throw,
It,
Out,
Your,
Miiiiiiind
(TRUMPET SOLO WITH CLARINET)
So bye bye my friend!
Too bad it had to end!
My brand new love is waiting so I'll see you now and then.
But as,
Of now,
We're through,
And how,
So throw,
It,
Out,
Your,
Miiiiiiiiiiiind!
Louis Armstrong's song "Throw It Out of Your Mind" is a classic breakup song in which the singer indicates that he is moving on from a relationship that has been filled with lies and betrayal. The opening lines say it all with "Yes, I've got someone new, I've had enough of you, I'm tired of your lying, So throw it out your mind". The singer is resolute in his decision to end the relationship as he is currently seeing someone new who treats him better than his ex-lover.
The song's theme revolves around the idea that sometimes it's difficult to let go of a toxic relationship, but it is always the right decision in the end. In the chorus, he emphasizes the end of the relationship with the lines, "So bye bye my friend! Too bad it had to end! My brand new love is waiting so I'll see you now and then." He will visit his ex-lover occasionally, but he is clear that it is over between them.
The trumpet solo with the clarinet is significant in the song because it intensifies the emotions and feelings that are resonating from the breakup. The song's message is that it is okay to leave behind the unhappiness in one's past, embrace new love and start afresh. The line "So throw it out your mind" can serve as a mantra for those looking to let go of past hurt and move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes, I've got someone new,
I have found a new lover.
I've had enough of you,
I am tired of being in a relationship with you and no longer want to be with you.
I'm tired of your lying,
I am exhausted from your dishonesty.
So throw it out your mind,
Please do not dwell on me any longer.
You toss me around,
You have put me in a situation where I am being moved back and forth between emotions.
Lately I've found,
Recently, I have come to realize that...
That someone else's love,
The love I receive from someone else
Can be so fine.
Is truly exceptional.
So bye bye my friend!
I bid farewell to you, my friend.
Too bad it had to end!
It's unfortunate that our relationship has come to an end.
My brand new love is waiting so I'll see you now and then,
I have a new lover and will only occasionally see you in the future.
But as,
However,
Of now,
At this moment,
We're through,
Our relationship is over.
And how,
And without a doubt,
So throw,
Please dispose of,
It,
Thoughts of me and our past relationship.
Out,
Do not keep them inside.
Your,
Your personal.
Miiiiiiind
Mind.
(TRUMPET SOLO WITH CLARINET)
Musical interlude without any lyrics.
Contributed by Xavier K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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