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.
From the Bottom of My Heart
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the bottom of my heart I need you
You're part of my day
My inspiration is you alone
To call my own
I love you, I love you
It's you I adore
Ev'ry moment we're apart I miss you
And, darling, what's more
I'd be on my way to heaven
If you'd say "I love you from the bottom of my heart"
From the bottom of my heart I want you
It's you I adore
Ev'ry moment we're apart how I miss you
And, darling, what's more
I'd be on my way to heaven
If you'd say "I love you from the bottom of my heart"
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra's From the Bottom of My Heart convey the depth of love and affection the singer has for his beloved. The singer confesses that he needs his partner and cannot live without them as they are an essential part of his life. The lyrics highlight the inspiration his partner brings to his life, and he mentions that his beloved is the only one he can call his own. The singer speaks of how he loves his partner from the bottom of his heart, which is a metaphor for a deep and profound love that stems from the very core of his being.
The lyrics express the pain of separation and how agonizing it is to be away from someone who is so integral to one's life. The singer speaks of how much he misses his partner when they are apart, and his love for them grows stronger with every passing moment. The song also expresses the deep desire of the singer to be loved in return by his partner, and he mentions that if his partner were to declare their love for him from the bottom of their heart, it would be akin to him being on his way to heaven, as it would fulfill his deepest desire.
Overall, the lyrics of From the Bottom of My Heart are an ode to the power of love and how it can transform a person's life and bring immense joy and happiness. The song expresses the beauty of a love that is pure, deep, and true, and how it can make life worth living.
Line by Line Meaning
What more can I say?
I have expressed my love for you in every way possible.
From the bottom of my heart I need you
I cannot survive without you, you are my everything.
You're part of my day
You are a crucial part of my daily life and happiness.
My inspiration is you alone
You are the only person who inspires me to be a better person every day.
To call my own
I long for the day when you will be mine forever.
I love you, I love you
My love for you knows no bounds.
It's you I adore
You are the only person I truly adore and cherish.
Ev'ry moment we're apart I miss you
Every second that we are not together feels like an eternity.
And, darling, what's more
I cannot express how much I love you, it is beyond words.
I'd be on my way to heaven
Hearing you say that you love me would bring me ultimate happiness and joy.
If you'd say "I love you from the bottom of my heart"
Your love for me is the most important thing in the world to me, and hearing you say those words would mean everything to me.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RAY RIVERA, MURRAY SHAKTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Patalcant
This is a priceless and rare find. Whatever the rumors or facts about his personal life, Sinatra's subtlety, style, voice and overall musical genius were unsurpassed by any other popular male vocalist of his generation. Thanks for sharing!
Gina Sue Macconi
Well said
Not just of his generation but ever!!
Kennedy Lacerda
7/13/1939! 80 years today! 👏👏💚
Sinatra's first record as a professional singer.
Gina Sue Macconi
84 now 7/16/2023
BluesCruisin
Love the old recordings....Frank 'S wonderful!!
Ivo Ponduša
On July13,1939 - Frank Sinatra made his recording debut with the Harry James band with the songs "Melancholy Mood" and "From the Bottom of My Heart."
tryarunm
Jeff, I am sure you've heard the story of Frank meeting the Pope. Well, Frank's unofficial biography relates that at the meeting the exchange went something like this: His Holiness: You look very familiar, son. FS: Thank you, your Holiness, I am an actor and a singer as well. In fact, I began my career in show business as a singer. His Holiness: Oh, that's nice. Are you a tenor? FS: No, Father, I am a baritone. His Holiness: A baritone? Are you Mr. Bing Crosby?
Mark Thompson
I'm lucky enough to have a 78 copy of this, but its an English Columbia pressing, so not quite a first-edition gem. Nonetheless, I was chuffed to bits finding it!
Gina Sue Macconi
May I have it in your will please?
tryarunm
Nice baritone with a clean, sweet head voice, and crystal-clear diction (as always)! A pity he didn't use that head voice more, like Billy Eckstine did his. But then, it's Frank Sinatra, so to paraphrase Simon Cowell, I might as well criticize him for not wearing a tie clip.