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.
Dancing On the Ceiling
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Because a miracle
Has brought my lover to me
Though she's some other place, her face I see
At night I creep in bed
And never sleep in bed
But look above in the air
And to my greatest joy, my love is there
She dances overhead
On the ceiling near my bed
In my sight
All through the night
I try to hide in vain
Underneath my counterpane
But there's my love
Up there above
I whisper, "Go away, my lover
It's not fair"
But I'm so grateful to discover
That she's still there
I love my ceiling more
Since it is a dancing floor
Just for my love
In Frank Sinatra's "Dancing On the Ceiling," the singer expresses his love for a woman who is not physically present with him. He considers it a miracle that she is in his life and finds solace in the fact that she is always with him, even if only in his mind. The singer confesses that he is unable to sleep at night without thinking of her, and that he sees her face in the air above him.
The song's central metaphor is the image of the woman dancing on the ceiling. The singer imagines her as a kind of angelic presence, hovering above him and providing him with comfort and love. He admits that he tries to hide from her, but that he is unable to resist her presence. In the end, he concludes that he loves his ceiling more than ever because it has become a place where he can dance with his imaginary lover.
The lyrics of "Dancing On the Ceiling" are often interpreted as an expression of the power of the imagination and the ways in which we can create our own realities. The song also speaks to the enduring nature of love and the human desire to connect with others, even when they are not physically present. The image of the woman dancing on the ceiling has become an enduring symbol of romantic longing and the power of the human imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
The world is lyrical
The universe feels poetic and beautiful
Because a miracle
Due to a miraculous event
Has brought my lover to me
My lover has entered my life
Though she's some other place, her face I see
Even though my lover is physically absent, I can envision her face
At night I creep in bed
I lay down in bed quietly
And never sleep in bed
But I never fall asleep
But look above in the air
I gaze upwards towards the ceiling
And to my greatest joy, my love is there
To my utmost pleasure, I find my lover there
She dances overhead
She is dancing above me
On the ceiling near my bed
On the ceiling right beside my bed
In my sight
I can see her clearly
All through the night
All night long
I try to hide in vain
I attempt to conceal myself without success
Underneath my counterpane
Under the sheets covering me
But there's my love
But my lover is still there
Up there above
Up above me on the ceiling
I whisper, "Go away, my lover
I plead with my lover to leave me alone
It's not fair"
Because it's not fair that I cannot touch her or be with her
But I'm so grateful to discover
But I am thankful to see
That she's still there
That my lover is still on the ceiling
I love my ceiling more
I have grown fond of my ceiling
Since it is a dancing floor
Because it serves as a dance floor
Just for my love
Because my love is able to dance there
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Spirit Music Group
Written by: Lionel B. Jr. Richie, Michael Henry Jr. Frenchik, Carlos Manuel Rios
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Glenn Rickelton
Wonderful voice and a great performer
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The Art of X3N0
Sadness brought me here…