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 Turned The Tables On Me
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I had you with me every day
But now whenever you are passing by
You're always looking the other way
It's little things like this
That prompt me to say
You turned the tables on me
You turned the tables on me
I can't believe that it's true
I always thought when you brought
The lovely presents you bought
Why hadn't you brought me more?
But now if you'd come
I'd welcome anything from
The five-and-ten-cent store
You used to call me the top
You put me up on a throne
You let me fall with a drop
And now I'm out on my own
But after thinking it over and over
I got what was coming to me
Just like the sting of a bee
You turned the tables on me
The lyrics to Louis Armstrong's song "You Turned The Tables On Me" are on the theme of a relationship that has taken a drastic turn but in the opposite way. The verse begins with the singer reminiscing about the time when he was the center of attention for the person he was involved with. However, things seem to have changed now, and whenever they see each other, the person is always looking the other way. This change or shift in attitude prompts the singer to think of how they have turned the tables on him, and now he finds himself falling in love with his former partner.
The following lines suggest that, previously, the singer had fancied his partner for the lovely presents they used to buy him, but now he is okay with anything from a five-and-ten-cent store. At some point in the relationship, he was on a pedestal and referred to as the 'top,' but now he has fallen with such a drop that he is left out on his own. The final line is admitting that he deserved what he is getting because he has been stung, just like the sting of a bee. The theme of this song shows a relationship where one person is given all the attention, but they now find themselves falling in love with a former partner who has taken control of the relationship, and the tables have turned.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to be the apple of your eye
I once had your complete admiration
I had you with me every day
You were by my side constantly
But now whenever you are passing by, you're always looking the other way
Now you ignore me and avoid me completely
It's little things like this that prompt me to say
These small gestures make me wonder why
You turned the tables on me, and now I'm falling for you
You've made me the one who's infatuated with you and I can't help it
You turned the tables on me, I can't believe that it's true
I am incredulous that you've managed to gain the upper hand in this way
I always thought when you brought the lovely presents you bought, why hadn't you bought me more?
I used to question why you didn't bring me more expensive gifts
But now if you'd come, I'd welcome anything from the five-and-ten-cent store
Now even something small from a bargain store would be appreciated from you
You used to call me the top, you put me up on a throne
You once esteemed me highly and praised me
You let me fall with a drop, and now I'm out on my own
You betrayed me and abandoned me, leaving me to fend for myself
But after thinking it over and over, I got what was coming to me, just like the sting of a bee
Upon reflection, I realize that I deserved to be treated this way, much like the painful punishment of a bee's sting
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CARLIN AMERICA INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LOUIS ALTER, SIDNEY D. MITCHELL
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