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.
Dig Down Deep
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The land that you love the best, is asking you to invest,
With a personal request from mr. morgenthau.
Dig down deep, to buy the bonds that buy the tanks,
Palmers for our fighting yanks, dig down deep.
Dig down deep to buy the bonds that keep us free, supply the sky, the land and sea,
Dig down deep. put your hand on your gismo, citizen, everybody must do his part,
It's the easiest piece that the citizen to show the world we finish what we start,
Is dig down deep.
The song “Dig Down Deep” by Frank Sinatra is a wartime propaganda song that was intended to motivate Americans to support the war effort through buying bonds that supported the equipment and supplies necessary to win the war. The lyrics show a sense of obligation to the soldiers fighting the war to do what is necessary to support them. The song opens with an urgent call to action, urging people to “get up and do it now.” The “personal request” from Mr. Morgenthau refers to the then-secretary of the treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., who was responsible for the sale of war bonds.
The chorus of the song, “Dig down deep, to buy the bonds that buy the tanks, Palmers for our fighting yanks,” is a catchy and memorable call to action to encourage people to invest in war bonds. “Palmers” is a reference to Palmers Shipbuilding, which was contracted during the war for the creation of liberty ships. The song stresses the importance of everyone contributing and doing their part in supporting the war effort. Sinatra sings, “Everybody must do his part, it’s the easiest piece that the citizen can show, to the world we finish what we start.”
Overall, “Dig Down Deep” is a rousing song that effectively conveys the urgency and importance of supporting the war effort through buying bonds. The lyrics are simple but effective in the way they encourage people to feel like they are part of something larger than themselves and to take action to support their country during a time of crisis.
Line by Line Meaning
You better get up and do it now, you better get up, my friend, and how,
You need to take action immediately, my friend, do not delay.
The land that you love the best, is asking you to invest,
Your country needs you to invest in it, especially during times of war or crisis.
With a personal request from mr. morgenthau.
Even the Treasury Secretary is asking for your help, so you know it must be important.
Dig down deep, to buy the bonds that buy the tanks,
It is imperative that you buy war bonds to finance the tanks and other equipment needed for victory.
Palmers for our fighting yanks, dig down deep.
Your investment in war bonds will supply parachutes for our troops, making you an essential part of their success.
Dig down deep to buy the bonds that keep us free, supply the sky, the land and sea,
Your investment in war bonds is critical for keeping our country and its freedoms safe, whether in the air, on land, or at sea.
Dig down deep. put your hand on your gismo, citizen, everybody must do his part,
It is your duty as a citizen to contribute to the war effort by buying war bonds, and it is easier than ever to do so with modern technology.
It's the easiest piece that the citizen to show the world we finish what we start,
Buying war bonds is a simple yet crucial way to demonstrate to the world that we are committed to seeing this war through to the end.
Dig down deep, the boys are giving all for you, so the least that you can do,
Our soldiers are sacrificing everything for our country, so the least we can do is buy war bonds to support them.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GERALD MARKS, MORTON MILMAN, SANO MARCO, WALTER HIRSH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Trombonology Erstwhile
The great Sy Oliver arranged this jumpin' plea to buy war bonds; apart from this one and "Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond," it seems that there were few wartime-themed sides, among the overall many, dealing with this particular part of "the fight." Frank and the Pipers are most persuasive!