Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers". He released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers as part of The Rat Pack. His career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums. In 1965, he recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and released the tracks "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way". After releasing Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was followed by 1968's collaboration with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later and recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and reached success in 1980 with "New York, New York". Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until a short time before his death in 1998.
Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He appeared in various musicals such as On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957), winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he became associated with playing detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome (1967). Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Sinatra was also heavily involved with politics from the mid-1940s, and actively campaigned for presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, though before Kennedy's death Sinatra's alleged Mafia connections led to his being snubbed.
While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had an impressive understanding of it, and he worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music. A perfectionist, renowned for his dress sense and performing presence, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes". Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976. Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century", and he continues to be seen as an iconic figure.
Sinatra died with his wife at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 14, 1998, aged 82, after a heart attack. Sinatra had ill health during the last few years of his life, and was frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He was further diagnosed as having dementia. He had made no public appearances following a heart attack in February 1997. Sinatra's wife encouraged him to "fight" while attempts were made to stabilize him, and his final words were, "I'm losing." Sinatra's daughter, Tina, later wrote that she and her sister, Nancy, had not been notified of their father's final hospitalization, and it was her belief that "the omission was deliberate. Barbara would be the grieving widow alone at her husband's side." The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on the Empire State Building in New York City were turned blue, the lights at the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor, and the casinos stopped spinning for a minute.
Sinatra's funeral was held at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on May 20, 1998, with 400 mourners in attendance and thousands of fans outside. Gregory Peck, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra's son, Frank Jr., addressed the mourners, who included many notable people from film and entertainment. Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit with mementos from family members—cherry-flavored Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, stuffed toys, a dog biscuit, and a roll of dimes that he always carried—next to his parents in section B-8 of Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.
His close friends Jilly Rizzo and Jimmy Van Heusen are buried nearby. The words "The Best Is Yet to Come", plus "Beloved Husband & Father" are imprinted on Sinatra's grave marker. Significant increases in recording sales worldwide were reported by Billboard in the month of his death.
The Tender Trap
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And suddenly your sighing sighs
You're thinking nothing's wrong
You string along, boy, then snap
Those eyes, those sighs,
They're part of the tender trap
And soon there's music in the breeze
You're acting kind of smart, until your heart just goes wap
Those trees, that breeze,
They're part of the tender trap
Some starry night, when her kisses make you tingle
She'll hold you tight, and you'll hate yourself for being single
And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot, that's just a dot on the map
You're hooked, you're cooked,
You're caught in the tender trap
Some starry night, when her kisses make you tingle
She'll hold you tight, and you'll hate yourself for being single
And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map
And then you wonder how it all came about
It's too late now there's no gettin' out
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap
Frank Sinatra’s The Tender Trap talks about falling in love and the delicate trap that it can be. At the beginning of the song, the singer sees a pair of laughing eyes which trigger his attraction, although he thinks that nothing is wrong. He gets caught up in this attraction and is led on, only to snap back when he realizes that he has fallen into the trap. The romance develops further as they walk hand in hand beneath the trees and the music in the breeze sets the stage for their intimacy. The singer is scared of his own feelings when he realizes that he doesn't want to be single anymore but is utterly thrilled by his lover's kisses.
Line by Line Meaning
You see a pair of laughing eyes
You catch a glimpse of someone's happy eyes
And suddenly your sighing sighs
You feel yourself become enamored
You're thinking nothing's wrong
You believe everything will work out
You string along, boy, then snap
You continue on without much thought before realizing your mistake
Those eyes, those sighs,
They're part of the tender trap
This experience is a common occurrence known as the tender trap
You're hand in hand beneath the trees
You find yourself walking alongside nature with someone else
And soon there's music in the breeze
You are consumed by the atmosphere around you
You're acting kind of smart, until your heart just goes wap
You are trying to be cool until your heart betrays you
Those trees, that breeze,
They're part of the tender trap
This beautiful environment is a hallmark of the tender trap
Some starry night, when her kisses make you tingle
On a beautiful night, when you are thrilled by her kisses
She'll hold you tight, and you'll hate yourself for being single
You'll feel regretful for not being with someone before
And all at once it seems so nice
You suddenly become overwhelmed with happy thoughts
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
Your loved ones are celebrating your happiness
You hurry to a spot, that's just a dot on the map
You can't wait to join your loved one in your own little world
You're hooked, you're cooked,
You're caught in the tender trap
You are now hopelessly in love and unable to escape the tender trap
And then you wonder how it all came about
You start to question how you fell in love so quickly
It's too late now there's no gettin' out
You've fallen too deep and there's no turning back
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap
You were caught in love and it's a commonly known thing
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, THE MUSIC GOES ROUND
Written by: Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mrsc0rpi0n81
You see a pair of laughing eyes
And suddenly your sighing sighs
You're thinking nothing's wrong
You string along, boy, then snap!
Those eyes, those sighs, they're part of the tender trap
You're hand in hand beneath the trees
And soon there's music in the breeze
You're acting kind of smart, until your heart just goes wap!
Those trees, that breeze, they're part of the tender trap
Some starry night, when her kisses make you tingle
She'll hold you tight, and you'll hate yourself for being single
And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot, that's just a dot on the map
You're hooked, you're cooked, you're caught in the tender trap
Some starry night, when her kisses make you tingle
She'll hold you tight, and you'll hate yourself for being single
And all at once it seems so nice
The folks are throwing shoes and rice
You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map
And then you wonder how it all came about
It's too late now there's no gettin' out
You fell in love, and love is the tender trap
@Lady-gd8zl
In my humble opinion, this is one of Sinatra’s best.🎼
@paulusferdinand1136
Laughing eyes!
Oh yes I’ve been trapped many times…
@qasimat
Agreed!
@bruce92106
In my humble opinion, I totally agree! 👍😊
@elementrypenguin3116
It’s fantastic. This is great
@chelle329
Frank's phrasing is amazing. He said he learned to sing like this from talking to musicians, how they syncopated the notes. Fond memories of my grandparents playing his music. Kinda felt jealous I couldn't see these greats in person. Can just imagine what it was like when the big bands played! Then hearing Swank Frank... ahhh!
@macolive65
It was the attitude, phrasing etc that made him a great singer and performer. No need for vocal acrobatics. If he joined american idol or something, he wouldn’t win..but we would be the losers.
@elisabeth840
Great song!! Also «The Tender Trap» was a great movie with Frank Sinatra and Debbie Reynolds!!
@burlingtonbill1
This song was ALL OVER MOR AM RADIO in the 50's and into the early 60"s. Just a kid at the time, I grew to HATE hearing it so much. My parents weren't fans of Ol' Blue Eyes, either. But now in my late 60's, I can see the brilliance of the lyrics and grudgingly admit Sinatra was a master of the song. He was "good if you like it." (The style, the Voice.)
@Gibraltarx2
Where Did Music Like This Go ?!?!?! Love It !!! Thanx For Posting :)