Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, … Read Full Bio ↴Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
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.

When We Are Dancing I Get Ideas
Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When we are dancing and you're dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas
I want to hold you so much closer than I dare to
I want to scold you 'cause I care more than I care to

And when you touch me and there's fire in every finger
I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
And after we have kissed goodnight and still you linger

I kinda think you get ideas too

Your eyes are always saying the things you're never saying
I only hope they're saying that you could love me too
For that's the whole idea; it's true
Lovely idea that I'm falling in love with you

And after we have kissed goodnight and still you linger
Babe, I kinda think you get ideas too

Overall Meaning

Louis Armstrong's "When We Are Dancing I Get Ideas" is a romantic ballad that speaks to the overwhelming feelings of desire and longing that one can experience when dancing with a close partner. The lyrics paint a picture of two people lost in the moment, caught up in the electricity of their connection.

The singer reveals that when he and his partner are dancing, he gets ideas - ideas about getting closer to her, ideas about scolding her for being so irresistible. The touch of her fingers sends a jolt of fire through his body and he is overwhelmed by the desire to hold her so much closer. The singer believes that his partner is having similar thoughts and imagines that her eyes are saying things that she can't put into words. Despite the potential risk of revealing his true feelings, he hopes that she could love him too, because falling in love with her is the lovely idea that keeps him dancing all night long.

Line by Line Meaning

When we are dancing and you're dangerously near me
Whenever we dance and you are close enough to me to make me feel uneasy

I get ideas, I get ideas
I start to have thoughts or feelings that I wouldn't normally have

I want to hold you so much closer than I dare to
I have a strong desire to be physically closer to you than what might be considered appropriate

I want to scold you 'cause I care more than I care to
I feel so strongly about you that I want to correct you for the things you do wrong, even if it could push you away

And when you touch me and there's fire in every finger
When you touch me, I feel an intense burning sensation throughout my body

I get ideas, yes, I get ideas
These sensations lead me to have even more forbidden thoughts and desires

And after we have kissed goodnight and still you linger
Even after we have said goodnight and our physical contact has ended, you stay close to me

I kinda think you get ideas too
I suspect that you also have thoughts and feelings that you would not normally have when we are close

Your eyes are always saying the things you're never saying
Your eyes convey emotions and desires that you do not express verbally

I only hope they're saying that you could love me too
I wish that the emotions your eyes convey are ones of love for me

For that's the whole idea; it's true
The entire reason for my being hesitant to act on these feelings is because I want you to love me back

Lovely idea that I'm falling in love with you
It is a wonderful thought to imagine that I am falling in love with you despite the complications and risks involved

Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DORCAS COCHRAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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