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.
Boys and Girls Like You and Me
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We walk in lanes where branches meet
And stars send down their blessings from the blue
We go through storms of doubt and fear
And so we walk from year to year
Believing in each other as we do
Bravely marching forward two by two
Walk beneath the skies
They love just as we love
With the same dream in their eyes
Songs and kings and many things
Have their day and are gone
But boys and girls like you and me
We go on and on
Songs and kings and many things
Have their day and are gone
But boys and girls like you and me
We go on and on
In "Boys and Girls Like You and Me," Frank Sinatra speaks on the universality of love in human relationships. He talks about how every individual walks on the same streets, goes through the same life events and experiences, and feels the same emotions as everyone else. He highlights that love is as powerful and meaningful for every human being and how it exists to bring us together, irrespective of the situations or difficulties we face.
As we journey through life with our partners, each passing day brings new challenges, doubts, and fears. However, with each other's support, it is easier to overcome the obstacles and face the world. We must stand together and believe in each other, taking bold steps to move ahead in life, hand in hand. The beauty of this song is the idea that love is the unifying force that "boys and girls like you and me" depend on as we carry on with our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
We walk on every city street
We traverse through different paths in life, experiencing different situations.
We walk in lanes where branches meet
We take on the different paths that are available to us, but sometimes we find ourselves at a crossroads and have to choose which path to take.
And stars send down their blessings from the blue
We have divine providence that watches over us throughout our life journey bringing good luck or good fortune.
We go through storms of doubt and fear
There are times where we face situations that may make us uncertain or afraid of how they will turn out.
And so we walk from year to year
We move from one year to the next continually growing and learning through various life experiences.
Believing in each other as we do
We have faith and trust in those around us just as much as they have in us.
Bravely marching forward two by two
We move forward bravely with someone else by our side, as two heads are better than one.
Boys and girls like you and me
Everyone, despite age or gender, goes through the same experiences in life.
Walk beneath the skies
We all inhabit this earth and are bound by the same sky.
They love just as we love
All creatures have the ability to love, not only humans.
With the same dream in their eyes
We share the same aspirations and goals in life as every other being.
Songs and kings and many things
Throughout history, various things have come and gone, but the experiences of the everyday person remains much the same.
Have their day and are gone
Everything in life has a limited amount of time and eventually come to an end.
We go on and on
However, life still goes on, and we must continue with our journey even though certain things may have ended.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MarkBlackburnWPG
Boys and Girls Like You and Me
39. Boys And Girls Like You And Me (FS – Film Studio Outtake)
40. Girl Talk (Frank Sinatra Jr. & Steve Tyrell)
41. For Me And My Gal (Harry Nilsson)
Loved this segment, perhaps especially for including a pretty song I'd not heard before. Turns out the melody was written by my favorite composer, Richard Rodgers! Who knew? Chuck and Nancy, obviously. I was tempted to turn this into a trivia test:
Quick quiz: Could you name a Richard Rodgers song, 'cut' from a hit Broadway show as well as TWO movie musicals?
----
Google for the song title, “Boys and Girls Like You and Me” and you're taken to a page called 'Wiki Sinatra.' (The song itself has no Wikipedia entry of its own.) It says,
"Boys and Girls Like You and Me" is a song Frank Sinatra recorded for Columbia Records in 1948. Sinatra performed this song as an outtake from the film Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and it was not featured in the final production of the film.
The Wiki Sinatra' page doesn't name the composers – Rodgers & Hammerstein, or that it was “withdrawn” from their first Broadway hit, 'Oklahoma!' before the show opened.
The song isn't mentioned in Richard Rodgers' autobiography, while Oscar Hammerstein's own book -- “LYRICS” – has just a single-word reference: “Withdrawn” -- as in cut from Oklahoma!.
Search YouTube and there's a Judy Garland rendition – cut from 'Meet Me in St. Louis' – before Sinatra's version was cut from Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
Just checked the liner notes by “Charles L. Granata” written for the 6-CD “Hollywood” box set, where Chuck recalled that,
Betty Garret Parks remembers the 1948 recording sessions for “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” and Frank “had a song that he was to sing to me, a lovely Rodgers & Hammerstein tune called 'Boys and Girls Like You And Me.'
He was making take after take of this wonderful recording and they kept bugging him to 'speed it up'. They felt it was too slow, and Frank got very angry about it. He insisted on doing it the way he wanted to do it.
It was beautiful and I thought to myself, 'They are telling Frank Sinatra how to sing a ballad? What is the matter with them?' Ultimately the song was cut from the picture, but I can tell you that he was right and they were wrong!”
Love Hammerstein's simple, poignant lyric (with Frank substituting “lots of things” for “many”):
“Songs, and kings, and many things, have their day and are gone / but boys and girls like you and me – we go on and on . . . ”
Judy makes it a girl song, to a lovely orchestral arrangement (wonder who?). There were too many other good songs written especially for Meet Me in St. Louis: Besides the title track, the ones that made the cut were 'The Trolley Song' and 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.'
Thanks for sharing, Night Owl TV. Celebrated this night at Sinatra Family - Forum - "Siriusly Sinatra" - NFF - Week of March 7, 2021 https://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php/51281-NFF-Week-of-March-7-2021-nbsp?p=1305481#post1305481
@roblewis3565
Sinatra on the cusp of greatness as a singer. Displaying his famous breath control across bridges. Betty Garrett confessed later she had a crush on Frank making this movie.
@lrn_news9171
Huh? Sinatra was phenomenal in the early 1940s and around this time he had issues with his voice from all the smoking, drinking and lack of sleep. He made a comeback anyway by changing his image and working with what he had.
@champabay3621
In retrospect; never ever should a Sinatra performance ever been cut in any movie!!!
@retrosiren824
I wish this didn’t get taken out of the movie. When they’re together you don’t see him truly falling for her she’s just bugging him until he gives in but I feel like there’s no genuine moment where he’s like huh she’s actually not so bad, I like her kind of moment or song.
@MarkBlackburnWPG
Boys and Girls Like You and Me
39. Boys And Girls Like You And Me (FS – Film Studio Outtake)
40. Girl Talk (Frank Sinatra Jr. & Steve Tyrell)
41. For Me And My Gal (Harry Nilsson)
Loved this segment, perhaps especially for including a pretty song I'd not heard before. Turns out the melody was written by my favorite composer, Richard Rodgers! Who knew? Chuck and Nancy, obviously. I was tempted to turn this into a trivia test:
Quick quiz: Could you name a Richard Rodgers song, 'cut' from a hit Broadway show as well as TWO movie musicals?
----
Google for the song title, “Boys and Girls Like You and Me” and you're taken to a page called 'Wiki Sinatra.' (The song itself has no Wikipedia entry of its own.) It says,
"Boys and Girls Like You and Me" is a song Frank Sinatra recorded for Columbia Records in 1948. Sinatra performed this song as an outtake from the film Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and it was not featured in the final production of the film.
The Wiki Sinatra' page doesn't name the composers – Rodgers & Hammerstein, or that it was “withdrawn” from their first Broadway hit, 'Oklahoma!' before the show opened.
The song isn't mentioned in Richard Rodgers' autobiography, while Oscar Hammerstein's own book -- “LYRICS” – has just a single-word reference: “Withdrawn” -- as in cut from Oklahoma!.
Search YouTube and there's a Judy Garland rendition – cut from 'Meet Me in St. Louis' – before Sinatra's version was cut from Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
Just checked the liner notes by “Charles L. Granata” written for the 6-CD “Hollywood” box set, where Chuck recalled that,
Betty Garret Parks remembers the 1948 recording sessions for “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” and Frank “had a song that he was to sing to me, a lovely Rodgers & Hammerstein tune called 'Boys and Girls Like You And Me.'
He was making take after take of this wonderful recording and they kept bugging him to 'speed it up'. They felt it was too slow, and Frank got very angry about it. He insisted on doing it the way he wanted to do it.
It was beautiful and I thought to myself, 'They are telling Frank Sinatra how to sing a ballad? What is the matter with them?' Ultimately the song was cut from the picture, but I can tell you that he was right and they were wrong!”
Love Hammerstein's simple, poignant lyric (with Frank substituting “lots of things” for “many”):
“Songs, and kings, and many things, have their day and are gone / but boys and girls like you and me – we go on and on . . . ”
Judy makes it a girl song, to a lovely orchestral arrangement (wonder who?). There were too many other good songs written especially for Meet Me in St. Louis: Besides the title track, the ones that made the cut were 'The Trolley Song' and 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.'
Thanks for sharing, Night Owl TV. Celebrated this night at Sinatra Family - Forum - "Siriusly Sinatra" - NFF - Week of March 7, 2021 https://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php/51281-NFF-Week-of-March-7-2021-nbsp?p=1305481#post1305481
@juancarlosreyesliz141
Hello, can you tell me the title of the instrumental songs of this 1949 film, the ones that are heard in the background?? Greetings from Santiago, Dominican Republic
@colinyork2215
I wish this number made the movie. It really coulda helped the Garret Sinatra romance storyline.
@tiarailic4086
Aww so cute🥰🥰
@GoddessNeith
they're not miked during the speaking parts. just lipsyncing. but it's wonderful.
@davidorganes8545
Evidently the soundtrack of the dialogue was not preserved since the scene was not used in the final cut of the movie.