the classroom blog for Kelli Nørgaard's 2Y English class
at Herning Gymnasium in Herning, Denmark
30 March 2011
Louis Armstrong & the Harlem Renaissance
Your group's task is to analyze a
Collection of five songs by Louis Armstrong. Before you began your analysis, you need a bit
of background information about Mr. Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong was born in 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana and died at the age of 69 in New York. He came to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player and was a foundational influence in jazz.
Armstrong had what many, today, would refer to as a traumatic or dysfunctional childhood. Out of this environment was born a desire to succeed, be admired, and make people happy. Louis learned at an early age that music could lead to fame and money. He and his friends would sing for nickels and pennies on the streets of his native New Orleans and he saw how popular the musicians who played the funeral and celebratory parades were with the public. On New Year’s Eve in 1913, when he was only 12 years old, Armstrong was caught firing a gun into the air and sentenced to a boys home for orphans. It was here under the guidance of Peter Davis, who ran the home, that Armstrong learned how to play the cornet and he was soon playing picnics and parades. Later in life Louis returned year after year to the same orphanage to spread his joy to whoever was staying there at that time. He never forgot Peter Davis.
With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive 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. 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 amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a huge supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
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Your Group's Task: Step 1-Listen to each song, while at the same time reading the lyrics. Step 2- Come to a consensus as a group about what each song means (according to the lyrics, the tone, the rhythm, etc). Step 3-Discuss the 5 songs as a "collection" from the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Knowing what you know about the Harlem Renaissance, do you feel that this collection reflects the era of the H.R. or is it something different? Step 4- Compare this collection from Louis Armstrong to the collection of poems from Langston Hughes. What similarities can you find? What differences? _____________________________________________________
1. Mack the Knife
Oh, the shark, has, pretty teeth, dear....and he shows them, pearly whiteJust a jackknife, has macheath, yeah.....and he keeps it, out of sightWhen the shark bites, with his teeth, dear....scarlet billows start to spreadFancy gloves, though, wears macheath, yeah..so there’s not a trace, hmmmm of redOn the sidewalk...sunday morning, ...lies a body oozin’ lifeSomeone’s sneakin’ ’round the corner...is the someone, mack the knife?From a tugboat.... by the river..... a cement bag’s, droopin’ downYeah, the cement’s just for the weight, dear...bet you mack, he’s back in townLooky here louie miller, disappeared dear...after drawing, out his cashAnd macheath spends, like a sailor...did our boy do, somethin’ rash?Sukey tawdry, jenny diver..lotte lenya, sweet lucy brownOh, the line forms on the right, dears.....now that macky’s back in town
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2. When the Saints Go Marching In
We are traveling in the footstepsOf those who’ve gone beforeBut we’ll all be reunited (but if we stand reunited)On a new and sunlit shore (then a new world is in store)Oh when the saints go marching inWhen the saints go marching inOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inAnd when the sun refuse (begins) to shineAnd when the sun refuse (begins) to shineOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inWhen the moon turns red with bloodWhen the moon turns red with bloodOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inOn that hallelujah dayOn that hallelujah dayOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inOh when the trumpet sounds the callOh when the trumpet sounds the callOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inSome say this world of troubleIs the only one we needBut I’m waiting for that morningWhen the new world is revealedWhen the revelation (revolution) comesWhen the revelation (revolution) comesOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inWhen the rich go out and workWhen the rich go out and workOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inWhen the air is pure and cleanWhen the air is pure and cleanOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inWhen we all have food to eatWhen we all have food to eatOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching inWhen our leaders learn to cryWhen our leaders learn to cryOh lord I want to be in that numberWhen the saints go marching in
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3. Nobody Knows
Nobody knows the trouble I've seenNobody knows but JesusNobody knows the trouble I've seenGlory, HallelujahSometimes I'm up, sometimesI'm down, ohh, yes LordSometimes I'm almostTo the ground, oh yes, LordNobody knows the trouble I've seenNobody knows but JesusAnybody knows the trouble I've seenGlory, HallelujahIf you got there beforeI do, oh yes LordTell all my friends, I'mComing too, oh yes LordNobody knows the trouble I've seenNobody knows but JesusNobody knows the trouble I've seenGlory, HallelujahAlthough you see meGoin' on so, oh yesI have my trials, here belowOhh yes, LordOh, nobody knows the trouble I've seenNobody knows but JesusNobody knows the trouble I've seenGlory, HallelujahOhh, glory, Hallelujah
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4. When You're Smiling
When you're smilin'....keep on smilin' The whole world smiles with you And when you're laughin'....keep on laughin' The sun comes shinin' through But when you're cryin'.... you bring on the rain So stop your frownin'....be happy again Cause when you're smilin'....keep on smilin' The whole world smiles with you (instrumental break) Oh when you're smilin'....keep on smilin' The whole world smiles with you Ah when you're laughin'....keep on laughin' The sun comes shinin' through Now when you're cryin'.... you bring on the rain So stop that sighin'....be happy again Cause when you're smilin'....just keep on smilin' And the whole world gonna smile with The great big world will smile with The whole wide world will smile with you
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5. What a Wonderful World
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 saying how do you do They're really saying I love you. I hear babies cry, I watch them grow They'll learn much more than I'll never know And I think to myself what a wonderful world Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.
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