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.
To You Sweetheart Aloha
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the sea is dark and cold
My love has gone
And our dreams grow old
There'll be no tears
There'll be no regretting
Will she remember me?
I'll send a thousand flow'rs
When the trade winds blow
I'll send my lonely heart
For I love her so
Someday I know
She'll come back again to me
Till then my heart will be
Beyond the reef
Some day I know
She'll come back again to me
Till then my heart will be
Beyond the reef
The lyrics of Louis Armstrong's "To You Sweetheart Aloha" evoke a sense of longing and loss. The opening lines, "Beyond the reef, where the sea is dark and cold" set a somber tone, suggesting that the singer's love has departed to a distant and uninviting place. As their love fades into the depths of the sea, their dreams also grow old and distant.
The following lines, "There'll be no tears, there'll be no regretting" convey a sense of acceptance and resignation. The singer acknowledges that their love may have come to an end, and there is a sense of uncertainty whether their partner will remember or forget them. Despite the potential heartbreak, the singer expresses their deep love by promising to send a thousand flowers when the trade winds blow and even offering their lonely heart.
The chorus comes in with a glimmer of hope, as the singer believes that someday their love will return. They dream of the moment when their beloved will come back to them. However, until that day arrives, the singer's heart will remain beyond the reef, echoing their longing and enduring love.
Overall, "To You Sweetheart Aloha" speaks to the bittersweet nature of love. It captures the pain of separation and the uncertainty of whether a love once cherished will be rekindled. The lyrics emphasize the enduring power of love, even when physically distant or seemingly lost at sea.
Line by Line Meaning
Beyond the reef
Far away from the shore
Where the sea is dark and cold
In a place where the ocean is gloomy and chilly
My love has gone
The person I deeply care about has left
And our dreams grow old
As time passes, our aspirations become faded and less hopeful
There'll be no tears
I won't cry
There'll be no regretting
I won't feel remorse
Will she remember me?
I wonder if she will think of me
Will she forget?
I question whether she will forget about me entirely
I'll send a thousand flow'rs
I will send numerous flowers
When the trade winds blow
During the time when the winds from the trade routes blow
I'll send my lonely heart
I will metaphorically send my lonely emotions
For I love her so
Because I deeply love her
Someday I know
In the future, I have a certainty
She'll come back again to me
She will return to my side once more
Till then my heart will be
Until that time, my emotions will exist
Beyond the reef
Far away from the shore
Lyrics © ROYAL MUSIC PUBLISHER
Written by: HARRY OWENS
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