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.
Close To You
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Close to you, though you're far away.
You'll always be near as though you were here by my side.
No matter where - in my dreams I'll find you there
Close to me, sharing you're caress.
Can't you see you're my happiness?
What can I do?
It only wants to be close to you.
Wherever you go, my heart will go, too.
What can I do?
It only wants to be close to you.
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra's song "Close to You" reflect the deep connection the singer feels with his lover even when they are physically apart. The song opens with a vow to always stay close to the lover, regardless of the physical distance between them. The singer believes that the lover is never far away and will always be near, as though they were by his side. Even in his dreams, the lover remains close to the singer, allowing him to share the caress and find happiness.
The chorus of the song further reinforces the singer's devotion to the lover. He promises to follow wherever the lover goes and that his heart will always be with the person he loves. It is evident that the singer is deeply in love and cannot imagine a life where he is not close to his lover. Perhaps the distance between them serves only to strengthen their connection and the love they share.
In conclusion, Frank Sinatra's "Close to You" is a timeless declaration of love that is still relevant today. The lyrics remind us that love transcends distance and that even when physically apart, our hearts can remain close to those we love.
Line by Line Meaning
Close to you, I will always stay.
I will always be by your side, showing my affection towards you.
Close to you, though you're far away.
Even though we are physically distant, my feelings for you will remain close and strong.
You'll always be near as though you were here by my side.
You are always with me in spirit, making me feel like we are together.
No matter where - in my dreams I'll find you there
Even if we are separated by distance, I will dream of you and feel your presence.
Close to me, sharing you're caress.
Being near you and feeling your touch brings me immense joy and contentment.
Can't you see you're my happiness?
You are the source of my happiness, and I hope you can see how much you mean to me.
Wherever you go, my heart will go, too.
No matter where life takes you, my heart will always be with you.
What can I do?
There is nothing I can do to change the way I feel about you. My love for you is unwavering and unconditional.
It only wants to be close to you.
All my heart wants is to be close to you and to feel your love in return.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, THE MUSIC GOES ROUND
Written by: Al Hoffman, Carl G. Lampl, Jerry Livingston
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Steve Silverman
Among the many outstanding recordings of his, this album still stands out. While not a huge hit with the public, it's always been a favorite among musicians as well as with the man himself. Superbly arranged by Riddle, flawlessly executed by The Hollywood String Quartet and their guests and perfectly sung by Mr. Sinatra.
Steve Silverman
@Jade Zee What led you to choose Jade Zee as a sobriquet, your lack of an imagination? Further, what are you attempting to say here, that Sinatra didn't have a "nice voice" and that I'm somehow "stupid" for suggesting otherwise? I'm curious to know what could have been going on in your attic when you concluded that I didn't "deserve a reply" whilst you were in the throes of typing one. Going forward (assuming that's your intended direction), see if you can remember to close a sentence with some form of punctuation and do likewise with your kimono prior to critiquing anyone for any reason.
Steve Silverman
@Classic Yeah It's been said "he could sing the phone book and it would be a hit." I'm not talking about "hits," I'm talking about vocal artistry. There's a reason he revisited so many tunes - he was older, wiser and had more to bring to them in that second or third reading. Night & Day and The Song is You are two he recorded four times - not counting live recordings. I think there's one other in that group but I can't remember what it was.
Classic Yeah
The one he did originally was a hit for him in 1943.
Karl Hungus
@Steve Silverman - Really great comments, Mr. Silverman. Though I'm not a musician, I very much agree on all points. Frank is my favorite singer and I wish I could go back in time and become one, too.
tony salvatore
Sinatra can still bring tears to a 90 yr old's eyes. R.I.P.
The Archive
tony salvatore much love to you
Clubbercode
Amazing song
Jade Zee
this is the album some music historians/critics/artists consider to be Franks best ever singing....
Trond Alfs Vestrheim
Ive listened to this song so many times and shared it with my love living 3000 km away from me - - think you all know the reason why