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.
Dolores
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Aye aye aye Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Only my Dolores
From a balcony above me
She whispers love me and throws a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye aye aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moon rise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye aye aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moon rise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
The lyrics to "Dolores" by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers express the singer's infatuation with a woman named Dolores. He loves everything about her, from her kisses to her unique name that he repeats throughout the tune. He deems her as more beautiful than any other woman, and her balcony still taunts him with her love every time she throws a rose down to him. The lyrics detail how he would do anything to be with her and how he was meant to serenade her. He then goes on to paint a picture of Dolores with "eyes like moon rise" and "lips like wine" and imagines how fortunate he would be if he could call Dolores his own.
The song's lyrics show how a musician can become smitten by a lovely woman, and the mere thought of her is enough to inspire him to write a song. With its catchy melody and simple yet evocative lyrics, "Dolores" became a tribute to the love that Sinatra and his fellow musicians had for women. The tune, with its sentimental lyrics and easy-to-sing-along melody, became a hit almost immediately, and it remains popular to this day. The song's lyrics evoke a sense of longing and unfulfilled yearning, which is likely why the tune resonated with so many listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
How I love the kisses of Dolores
Expressing affection for the kisses received from Dolores
Aye aye aye Dolores
An exclamation expressing excitement towards Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Excluding other women's names and affirming Dolores' uniqueness
Only my Dolores
Emphasizing the ownership and love towards Dolores
From a balcony above me
Referring to Dolores' location in relation to the singer
She whispers love me and throws a rose
Dolores expresses affection towards the singer by throwing a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
Comparing Dolores' beauty to the rose she threw
As the rose she throws
Continuing the comparison between Dolores' beauty and the rose
I would die to be with my Dolores
Expressing the importance of being with Dolores to the singer to the point of sacrificing themselves
I was made to serenade Dolores
Emphasizing the singer's purpose to make music for Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Repeatedly singing for Dolores
Just imagine eyes like moon rise
Describing Dolores' eyes using poetic language
A voice like music, lips like wine
Describing Dolores' voice and lips using poetic language
What a break if I could make Dolores
Reflecting on the possibility of winning Dolores' heart
Mine all mine
Expressing ownership and love towards Dolores
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: WAYNE SHORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Frank Schneider
How I love the kisses of Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Only my Dolores
>From a balcony above me
She whispers Love me and throws a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
As the rose she throws
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine.
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
miranda
Lyrics:
How I love the kisses of Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Only my Dolores
From a balcony above me
She whispers Love me and throws a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
As the rose she throws
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine.
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
charles brown
One of the greats from the Big Band Era! I was born in 1957, but started hearing this in the 80's. Thank you to those who guided in this direction musically!!
Josephine Pflug
I used to sing this song as a kid & the tune still pops up in my head. My late brother married his Dolores.
Frank Schneider
How I love the kisses of Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Only my Dolores
>From a balcony above me
She whispers Love me and throws a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
As the rose she throws
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine.
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
Dolores Suyama
Thank you for the lyrics!!🌹
maddy kaye
This was a special song in our home growing up.
My Mom's name is Dolores.
Sadly she passed in Jan 2017 and Oh how I miss the kisses and everything else of Dolores...
Dolores Bright
It's my name too
miranda
Lyrics:
How I love the kisses of Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
Not Marie or Emily or Doris
Only my Dolores
From a balcony above me
She whispers Love me and throws a rose
Ah but she is twice as lovely
As the rose she throws
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine.
I would die to be with my Dolores
Aye-aye-aye Dolores
I was made to serenade Dolores
Chorus after chorus
Just imagine eyes like moonrise
A voice like music, lips like wine
What a break if I could make Dolores
Mine all mine
Dee Florence
I remember my mom singing it, it's also my name ! That's why he would sing it to me, funny how time flys.
Dolores LaPrade
This is how I got my name, my parents loved this song
Dolores Warren
My mom used to sing this to me