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.
You Are Woman I Am Man
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You are smaller, so I can be taller then
You are softer to the touch
It's a feeling I like feeling very much
You are someone I've admired
Still our friendship leaves something to be desired
Does it take more explanation than this?
You are woman, I am man
You are woman, I am man; let's kiss
Does it take more explanation than this?
You are woman, I am man
You are woman, I am man; let's kiss
Louis Armstrong's "You Are Woman I Am Man" explores the classic gender roles in a romantic relationship. The opening lines immediately set the stage by outlining the physical differences between a man and a woman. The man, in this case, is thrilled to be able to physically tower over the woman in question. He also admires her delicate and gentle nature, which he finds appealing.
Despite his admiration, he acknowledges that there is something more to their relationship than just friendship. This tension between friendship and romance is often present in relationships between men and women. The man is clearly interested in taking their relationship to the next level, but he wonders if he needs to explain himself more thoroughly.
The song ultimately comes to a head when the man asks the woman to kiss him. This line reflects the impulsiveness and passion often associated with romance. Overall, the song is a classic example of a man being attracted to a woman and the emotions and physical differences that come with that.
Line by Line Meaning
You are woman, I am man
I am a man and you are a woman
You are smaller, so I can be taller then
I am taller than you because you are smaller than me
You are softer to the touch
You are gentle and tender to touch
It's a feeling I like feeling very much
It's a sensation that I enjoy a lot
You are someone I've admired
I have great respect for you
Still our friendship leaves something to be desired
We need to improve our friendship
Does it take more explanation than this?
Is further explanation necessary?
You are woman, I am man; let's kiss
Let's kiss because you are a woman and I am a man.
Lyrics © CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOB MERRILL, JULE STYNE
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