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.
Dry Your Eyes
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you can't recall the singer, you can still recall the tune.
Dry your eyes and play it slowly, like you're marching off to war,
Sing it like you know he'd want it, like we sang it once before.
From the center of the circle to the midst of the waving crowd.
If it ever be forgotten, sing it long and sing it loud.
Come, dry your eyes.
But we came to find the secret and we never let it go.
And it was more than being holy, though it was less than being free,
And if you can't recall the reason, can you hear the people sing,
Through the lightning and the thunder, to the dark side of the moon,
To that distant calling angel who descended much too soon.
And come, dry your eyes.
Come, dry your eyes.
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra's song Dry Your Eyes convey a feeling of loss, but also suggest hope and resilience in the face of that loss. The opening lines urge the listener to get up and keep moving, despite the pain they may be feeling. The use of music here implies that the act of creation can help one heal, and that the power of song can be transformative.
The imagery in the second stanza evokes a communal experience, of being in a circle with others and singing together. There is a sense of urgency, as the lyrics acknowledge the possibility that this shared moment may be forgotten, and urge the listener to hold onto it and keep it alive. The reference to "the midst of the waving crowd" conjures up an image of a concert or performance, but also suggests a feeling of unity and fellowship.
The final stanza of the song reflects on the teachings of a figure who is never explicitly named, but is implied to be someone important to the singer. The idea that this person "taught us more about giving than we ever cared to know" speaks to an experience of profound learning and growth. The lyrics suggest that this learning was transformative but also painful and difficult, with lines like "it was more than being holy, though it was less than being free." Despite the struggles they have faced, the singer urges the listener to keep holding on, to listen to the voices calling out across the night, to "dry your eyes" and keep going.
Line by Line Meaning
Dry your eyes, and take your song out, it's a newborn afternoon.
Cheer up and sing your song on this bright and promising new day.
If you can't recall the singer, you can still recall the tune.
Even if you don't remember who originally sang it, you can still remember the melody.
Dry your eyes and play it slowly, like you're marching off to war,
Sing the song with feeling, as if you're going into battle.
Sing it like you know he'd want it, like we sang it once before.
Sing the song as if the original artist were listening and would want to hear it sung that way again.
From the center of the circle to the midst of the waving crowd.
From the performer to the audience, the song unites everyone in the crowd.
If it ever be forgotten, sing it long and sing it loud.
If this song ever starts to fade away, keep it alive by singing it boldly and with pride.
Come, dry your eyes.
Cheer up and stop crying, all will be okay.
And he taught us more about giving than we ever cared to know.
The original singer of this song taught us all about generosity more than we realized.
But we came to find the secret and we never let it go.
We discovered the essence of the song and will always keep it with us.
And it was more than being holy, though it was less than being free,
The meaning behind the song was more than just being righteous, but not completely unrestrained either.
And if you can't recall the reason, can you hear the people sing,
If you can't remember why this song is special, listen to the voices of the crowd.
Through the lightning and the thunder, to the dark side of the moon,
Through turmoil and darkness, this song remains a beacon of hope.
To that distant calling angel who descended much too soon.
This song is a tribute to someone who passed away too early and is now watching over us.
And come, dry your eyes.
End by repeating the opening line, inviting the listener to stop crying and keep singing.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jamie Robertson, Neil Diamond
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Safa Alkan
🎧🎧
Art Cass
love his version of this song. but I really don't understand the meaning of this song? can somebody expalin it to me? it just seems to be a series of sentences - each one very poingant (spelled wrong?) but not really related to each other? or is it just me?
Tom Versluijs
It's written for Martin Luther King, just after he was assassinated
ARTnVegas
@Tom VersluijsTHANK YOU Tom now it makes sense to me. WOW now I like it more than ever
Heidrun Häußler
Neil Diamond ist um Alles besser bei diesem Song...
wraithkin
corona sapientium divitiae eorum fatuitas stultorum inprudentia
wraithkin
Innocentius I
wraithkin
et timens abii et abscondi talentum tuum in terra ecce habes quod tuum est
Purisima Carcamo
Sic Luceat Lux