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.
Will You Won't Be My Baby
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're never satisfied until the teardrops start
I tried to shower you with lovin' kisses
But all i ever get from you is naggin' & braggin',
My poor heart is raggin'
The way you toss my heart around's a cryin' shame
I'll bet you wouldn't like it if i did the same
You won't be satisfied until you break my heart
The way you toss my heart around's a cryin' shame
I'll bet you wouldn't like it if i did the same
You're only happy tearin' all of my dreams apart
Unless you hurt me and you'd know that i'd cried
It doesn't seem as though you'll ever be satisfied
Louis Armstrong's song "Be My Life" is a passionate plea for true love and a warning against the dangers of settling for less. The opening lines, "You won't be satisfied until you break my heart / You're never satisfied until the teardrops start," convey the singer's frustration with his partner's manipulative and hurtful behavior. He has tried to shower her with love and affection, but all she ever does is nag and boast about her own accomplishments, leaving his heart ragged and worn.
The singer goes on to challenge his partner's behavior, suggesting that if he were to treat her the same way, she wouldn't like it. He accuses her of being happy only when tearing his dreams apart, and warns that she won't be satisfied until she breaks his heart. The repetition of this phrase throughout the song emphasizes the emotional toll that her behavior is taking on him.
The singer's final lines, "Unless you hurt me and you'd know that I'd cried / It doesn't seem as though you'll ever be satisfied," reveal a deep sense of resignation and despair. Despite his efforts to love and care for his partner, she seems unable to find happiness and fulfillment. This reflects a common theme in many of Armstrong's songs, which often explore the complexities of love and relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You won't be satisfied until you break my heart
You have an insatiable desire to cause me pain and heartbreak, and it seems like that's the only thing that will make you content.
You're never satisfied until the teardrops start
Seeing me cry is what brings you joy, and you won't stop until my emotions are in shambles.
I tried to shower you with lovin' kisses
I gave you all the love and affection I could, hoping to make you happy and content.
But all i ever get from you is naggin' & braggin',
My poor heart is raggin'
Instead of appreciation, all I receive from you is criticism and boasting. This constant mistreatment is tearing my heart apart.
The way you toss my heart around's a cryin' shame
Your careless treatment of my heart is something that's truly pitiful and shameful, and it hurts me deeply.
I'll bet you wouldn't like it if i did the same
I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate it if I treated your heart with the same lack of care and respect that you show to mine.
You're only happy tearin' all my dreams apart
Your happiness seems to come solely from crushing my hopes and dreams, a fact that's incredibly upsetting to me.
Unless you hurt me and you'd know that i'd cried
It seems like the only way you feel any sense of control or satisfaction is by causing me pain and seeing me suffer.
It doesn't seem as though you'll ever be satisfied
Your hunger for my pain and suffering is so great that I don't think you'll ever truly be content or fulfilled unless I'm miserable.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Larry Stock, Freddy James
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