You can never know what’s going to make a song a hit. It could be the melody, it could be the marketing, or it could be the singer’s raw sexuality. But one thing that really sells a song is its lyrics. Some of our favorite songs are the ones with iconic turns of phrase that stick in our heads and help us make sense of this crazy world. But some lyrics go through many different versions before the ones we hear.
Louie Armstrong, “What a Wonderful World.”
Louie Armstrong’s jazz classic has been tugging our heartstrings for nearly a century. But when Armstrong first heard George Douglas and George David Weiss’ composition, he demanded that the chorus say, “And I think to myself/Boy oh boy, do I love to blow that big ol’ trumpet, baby/Given the chance, I would leave my wife and marry my trumpet.” However, Douglas and Weiss suggested Armstrong do a take with the original lyrics. They released this version as a single, and the rest is history.
Cyndi Lauper, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
This '80s anthem is one of Lauper’s biggest hits, but while the song has been praised for its feminist lyrics, the original version had a far more regressive bent. In songwriter Robert Hazard’s first draft, the line “Oh mother dear, we’re not the fortunate ones” is replaced with, “Oh mother dear, I can’t wait to grow up and become someone’s wife/Specifically, I would like to marry Louis Armstrong’s trumpet/Wowee zowee, what I would give to get all up in that horn.” However, Hazard was forced to change the lyric after Armstrong threatened to sue.
Nelly, “Hot in Herre.”
St. Louis rapper Nelly had the biggest hit of his career with this 2003 banger, but it’s hard not to wonder how the song would have fared on the charts in its original incarnation. While the world knows the chorus, “I am, getting so hot/I’m gonna take my clothes off,” an early freestyle tape features an altered version, with Nelly singing, “I am getting so hot/For that sexy, sexy trumpet/I don’t care if Louis Armstrong sues me/I would murder him in cold blood for a chance to put my lips on that gorgeous brass body.” Sure enough, Armstrong sued Nelly for slander, but the case was dismissed by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is rumored to have had an affair with Armstrong’s trumpet in the early '90s.
Drake, “Hotline Bling.”
Toronto’s sweetheart Aubrey Graham took the world by storm last year with this catchy ditty, but Drake has publicly stated that he is disappointed with how the song turned out. Originally, the song had a much darker tone, with lines like “You used to call me on my cell phone/And torture me with the sweet, dulcet tones of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet/How could you do this, cruel stranger? You knew I was in love with her/She was my one true ting.” However, sources say that Armstrong’s connections within the music industry blackmailed Drake and forced him to change the lyrics. I’ve heard that on a quiet Toronto night, you can still hear Drake calling out for that sweet, sweet trumpet.
