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.
True Confession
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To make to you alone
It's all about the way I love you
And adore you my own moment
I've tried to seek expression
For this desire I feel
You made a very deep impression
Let me confess what I feel for you
The dreams that I dream
I'd even lie, I'd steal for you
Go to most any extreme moment
This is my true confession
I swept by stars above
And now, you're in complete possession
Of my secret of love
Louis Armstrong's song "True Confession" is a romantic ballad that speaks about an individual's deep desire and love for their partner. The singer describes having a confession that they can only reveal to their loved one. They express the passion and admiration they have for their partner, assuring them that their love is true and pure. The desire to express their feelings is so strong that they even dream about them and would do anything, including lying and stealing, to make them happy.
The song's lyrics are poetic and emotive, expressing the depth of love that the singer has for their partner. It is undoubtedly a declaration of love, and the melody matches the sentiment, with the slow and smooth notes adding to the romantic atmosphere. The song captures the intensity of love, the desire to be truthful and transparent with one's partner, and the willingness to do anything to make the other person happy.
Line by Line Meaning
I have a true confession
I need to tell you something important and personal
To make to you alone
I want to tell you this privately
It's all about the way I love you
This confession is related to my strong feelings of love for you
And adore you my own moment
These feelings are sincere and genuine
I've tried to seek expression
I have been trying to find a way to express these feelings
For this desire I feel
I have a deep longing for you
You made a very deep impression
Your presence has affected me greatly
That my heart must reveal
I cannot keep this a secret any longer and need to share it with you
Let me confess what I feel for you
I want to open up and share my feelings for you
The dreams that I dream
I have a vision of a future with you
I'd even lie, I'd steal for you
I am willing to do anything for you
Go to most any extreme moment
I am ready to face any challenge for you
This is my true confession
This is the truth and I am being honest with you
I swept by stars above
My love for you is vast and all-encompassing
And now, you're in complete possession
I have given my heart to you fully
Of my secret of love
This is my deepest and most personal feeling of love for you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Duke Reid, Euwart Beckford
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