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.
Didn
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Didn't we?
This time we almost made some sense of it
Didn't we?
This time I had the answer, right here in my hand
Then I touched it and it had turned to sand
This time we almost sang our song in tune
This time we almost made it, made it to the moon
Didn't we, love?
This time we almost made our poem rhyme
This time we almost made that long hard climb
Didn't we almost make it?
Didn't we almost make it?
Didn't we almost make it this time?
The song "Didn't We" by Frank Sinatra is a powerful reflection on the bittersweet realization of almost obtaining something great and losing it. The lyrics describe a relationship, where the singer and his lover almost made everything work, but they never quite did. The wistful tone of the song is set right from the opening line where Sinatra sings, "This time we almost made the pieces fit, didn't we?". This line sounds like the singer has been struggling to fit the puzzle of his life together and then attempting to do so with his lover. However, despite their best efforts, they are left unfulfilled. The next line, "This time we almost made sense of it, didn't we?" reinforces the idea that the relationship was almost meaningful, but not quite.
The refrain of "Didn't we almost make it" encapsulates the disappointment felt by the singer that their efforts fell short. The lyrics "This time I had the answer right here in my hand, then I touched it and it turned to sand" is a metaphor for losing something significant. It seems like something the singer had been working towards and had finally obtained, but then it dissipated and was lost in an instant. The second verse of the song follows the same pattern as the first, where the singers almost did things, but they didn't come to fruition. However, the stakes were higher this time. They almost made it to the moon, but they didn't.
In conclusion, the song "Didn't We" by Frank Sinatra is a poignant reminder of missed opportunities and unfulfilled promises. The lyrics capture the feeling of almost having everything you ever wanted and then watching it slip through your fingers. The song is a beautiful representation of the human experience of failure, longing, and regret.
Line by Line Meaning
This time we almost made the pieces fit
That time we almost managed to fit together the different parts of our lives or relationship, didn't we?
Didn't we?
Asking for agreement or confirmation from the listener.
This time we almost made some sense of it
We almost found some meaning in what we were doing or in our relationship, right?
This time I had the answer, right here in my hand
During that time, it seemed like I had the solution or the right thing to do in my possession
Then I touched it and it had turned to sand
But when I actually tried to execute my plan or idea, everything crumbled and turned to nothing, just like sand.
This time we almost sang our song in tune
Last time we tried, our song was almost in perfect harmony or synchronization, wasn't it?
Didn't we, love?
Again, seeking assurance from the listener.
This time we almost made it, made it to the moon
We almost achieved something that was seemingly impossible or far-fetched before, isn't that right?
This time we almost made our poem rhyme
We almost came up with something that was creatively satisfying or a work of art, right?
This time we almost made that long hard climb
We almost accomplished a difficult and arduous task
Didn't we almost make it?
Asking again for confirmation or agreement from the listener.
Didn't we almost make it?
Repeating the question for emphasis or to convey the sense of disappointment or sadness.
Didn't we almost make it this time?
Once again, asking if we almost succeeded this time.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jimmy L Webb
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Baz6711
Frank Sinatra was a massive influence on me, both musically and in other ways.
I saw him live three times in London. One of those times at the Royal Albert Hall,
after the show, I was walking out of one door and Frank was walking out of the parallel door at the same time.
A few people were standing by his limo and he was signing autographs for them.
He would usually stay at the Savoy Hotel, not that far away in fact.
I just stood there with my friend Maureen, maybe 15 feet away from him and froze like the iceberg that Titanic hit!
( These days I would have had a word or two).
Years later , having made my mark in music, I was a member of the " Sinatra Forum" for ten years.
I met Nancy backstage at the Royal Festiva;l Hall in London and had quite a bit of correspondence with her.
The top guys in the world are always " different" I'd say. They create their own reality. RIP Frank. xxx
@TheDoorn
Lyrics
This time, we nearly made the pieces fit
Didn't we girl?
This time, we nearly made the goal of it
Didn't we girl?
This time, I held the answer right here in my hand
Then I touched it, and it had turned to sand
This time, we almost sang our song in tune
Didn't we girl?
This time, we nearly made it to the moon
Didn't we girl?
This time, we almost, almost made a poem rhyme
And this time we almost made that long hard climb
Didn't we almost make it
This time
This time
@alexmm1902
Esta vez casi logramos encajar las piezas
This time we almost made the pieces fit
¿No es así?
Didn't we?
Esta vez casi le damos sentido
This time we almost made some sense of it
¿No es así?
Didn't we?
Esta vez tuve la respuesta, aquí mismo en mi mano
This time I had the answer, right here in my hand
Luego lo toqué y se convirtió en arena
Then I touched it and it had turned to sand
Esta vez casi cantamos nuestra canción afinada
This time we almost sang our song in tune
¿No es así, amor?
Didn't we, love?
Esta vez casi lo logramos, llegamos a la luna
This time we almost made it, made it to the moon
¿No es así, amor?
Didn't we, love?
Esta vez casi hicimos que nuestro poema rima
This time we almost made our poem rhyme
Esta vez casi hicimos esa larga y dura subida
This time we almost made that long hard climb
¿No lo logramos casi?
Didn't we almost make it?
¿No lo logramos casi?
Didn't we almost make it?
¿No casi lo logramos esta vez?
Didn't we almost make it this time?
@mjlejer3241
Very simply, THE MASTER! NO one before, during or since Sinatra's reign can compare, he is simply the very best, a born perfectionist who took that trait into his music, so that his phrasing, enunciation of words, pitch, breath control and vocal emotion are just incomparable! Perfection personified.
@janwintz89
So touching. as only Sinatra could evoke.....
@siliconesal
Not without the writers ... he always gave them the credit - you didn’t
@williamholden7573
A master of all that is singing.
@marilynschneider7691
There will NEVER be another Sinatra!!!
@alfching2499
As a Lifelong Frank Sinatra admirer,There will only ever be One.
@andresrtorres6895
No gimmickry. No spectacles. He just sang. Pure. Clear.. Silky smooth. Emotions running so naturally like innocent, genuine confessions. Didn't We sounds fresh as this morning. Doesn't it?
@suelilevi
Frank loved to do shows in London Eva Gardener was always in the Orleans, he wants her to be there.
@fido652
Yes. Fresh as now.
@randalcolucci6833
Frank had a way of making you think he was singing in your living room when he performed his "saloon songs". I like to listen to FAS w a glass of JD on the rocks, especially if I am melancholy. He was, to me, the best.