Abc's of 'black and Blue'

"The ABC's of Ð''Black and Blue'"

"Black and Blue" was one of Armstrong's greatest hits, it is hard to believe that a remade song could rank so high on his greatest. Armstrong had a unique way of taking a song that had already been published and making into his own work of art. "Black and Blue" is a song that can have a few different meanings depending on the way you look at it. "Black and Blue" can be described as abstract, bruised, and colorful. Armstrong was the greatest artist of his time and he shows us this in the ways he could take songs, manipulate them and make them his own. "Black and Blue" could be one of the best examples of this. The fact that Armstrong's version of "Black and Blue" is more popular than the original version has a lot to say about his abilities.

Abstract: consider theoretically or separately from something else, make a written summary of, a summary of a book or article, an abstract work of art. Armstrong was a great musician of his time and a musician is an artist. Therefor his works (songs) are considered art work. To many people of his time this art that he made may have seemed off the beaten path. To many this may have seemed abstract. He had a presence that would radiate through an audience manly from the way he held himself on stage, and compared to the many other performers of the time this was different from anyone else. The way Armstrong took this song, "Black and Blue," from its original version, sung by Edith Wilson, and manipulated it to what it is now, could be said to be an abstract work of art. He had the raw talent to take a song and change it into something known as an Armstrong song, not a remake. "Black and Blue" was a song that was originally made to be sung by a woman, some how he pulled it off. The manor in which Armstrong preformed on stages may have been too soon for his time, meaning that the people may not have been ready for what he had to give them, but this may have also been perceived as abstract. An Armstrong performance was different from what everyone was used to seeing, he stepped out on his own and made it work, the fact that he was different and now accepted by many made him and his work abstract.

Bruised: an injury appearing as an area of discolored skin on the body, caused by a blow rupturing underlying blood vessels. When you first hear the song "Black and Blue" one of the first things to pop into your head is a bruise, because those are the colors associated with bruising. There are two main types of bruising that we think of, physical and emotional. Sometimes an emotional bruise can be just as or even more painful than a physical bruise. Black were bruised with rude remarks and racial slurs probably just as much or even more than they were beaten and bullied with physical bruises. Blacks at this time period receive little to no respect at all. It was very hard for a black man to make it very far in life. If in fact he did make something of himself, the speed bumps passed along the way were ten feet tall. Who would want to even attempt to make something of yourself when it was much easier to sit back and stay away from being picked on even more. The easiest way to explain the white people of Armstrong's day is rude, the pure disrespect for blacks was sickening. The title of the song itself can be thought to be talking about someone or something that has taken a beating, verbal or physical. This song may indeed represent the struggles and falls of trying to make it big or even to make it at all, and just being a black man during these times. There is a line in the song that says, "I'm white inside but that don't help my case", that right there sais something about being excepted and appreciated for the color of skin. The line " my only sin is in my skin" also says a lot about how much black were approved of and appreciated. Regardless if he was the best jazz musician or not,

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