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.
Youve Got Me Voodood
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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And I hope you're satisfied
You've got me where you want me
And you hardly even tried
One single look was all I took
And then, starry-eyed
I watched my poor old heart
Go on that roller-coaster ride
But I know darn well I will
My hopes are pretty slender
And my chances almost nil
Why should I try to alibi
Anyone can see
You've got me where you want me
And it's where I wanna be
You've got me where you want me
And I hope you're satisfied
You've got me where you want me
And you never even tried
A single look was all it took
And then, starry-eyed
I watched my poor heart
Go on that roller-coaster ride
I say I won't surrender
But I know darn well you will
My hopes are pretty slender
And my chances almost nil
Why should I try to alibi
When anyone can see
You've got me where you want me
You've got me where you want me
And it's where I wanna be
And it's where I wanna be
And it's where I wanna be
Louis Armstrong's Where are You? delves into the story of someone who has fallen head-over-heels in love with another person who hardly put any effort into capturing their heart. The lyrics start with the singer acknowledging their powerlessness and admitting that the other person has them exactly where they want them. A single look from the other person was all it took for the singer to go on a roller-coaster ride with their heart. The singer confesses that they won't surrender to their feelings, but deep down, they know they will. The chances of them reciprocating the feelings seem almost nil, and they won't try to deny it since anyone can see that the other person has them right where they want them. However, the singer seems content with the situation and admits that this is where they want to be.
These lyrics encapsulate the feelings of the overwhelming power of love and how it can drive us to surrender despite knowing the implications it may entail. It highlights the vulnerability that comes with being in love and how it can leave us at the mercy of the other person's desires. The lyrics also illustrate the complexity of love and how we often find ourselves in situations that may not make sense, yet we continue to indulge in them because of our intense feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
You've got me where you want me
I am entirely at your mercy, completely under your control
And I hope you're satisfied
I hope that you're content with having me in this state
And you hardly even tried
You did not have to put much effort into getting me to this point
One single look was all I took
I was enamored with you from just one glance
And then, starry-eyed
I was instantly captivated and infatuated with you
I watched my poor old heart
I witnessed my vulnerable emotions falling under your spell
Go on that roller-coaster ride
My emotions were completely out of control, as if on a wild and intense theme park ride
I say I won't surrender
I claim that I will not give in to your power over me
But I know darn well I will
However, I am aware that I will inevitably submit to you
My hopes are pretty slender
My chances of resisting your hold on me are slim
And my chances almost nil
I have almost no possibility of breaking free from your grasp
Why should I try to alibi
There is no need to justify or make excuses for my lack of control
Anyone can see
It's obvious to anyone who looks that you have complete power over me
And it's where I wanna be
Despite all these realizations, I still desire to be under your control
And it's where I wanna be
I cannot resist the allure of being under your spell
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY WARREN, JOHNNY MERCER
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