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.
Head on My Pillow
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Head on my pillow
So lonesome and blue,
I wonder where you are tonight
And if you miss me, dear
My heart tells me you can't deny
My arms know you left near
Head on my pillow
Head on my pillow
Like heaven it seems
I see a vision build a home of happiness divine
My head on my pillow
With yours close to mine
In the song “Head on My Pillow,” Frank Sinatra laments his loneliness and pines for a lost love. The opening verse finds him lying in bed with his head on his pillow, consumed by thoughts of his former partner. Sinatra wonders where she might be on this very night and whether or not she misses him in the same way he misses her. Despite any negative feelings that may exist between them, the singer is confident that she harbors some degree of affection for him, which is echoed by his heart.
As the tune progresses, Sinatra continues to drift between a state of lucidity and dreamscape, longing for the warmth and comfort of human connection that he once had. In his mind’s eye, he sees a vivid dream of a happy home where he and his loved one are able to be together once again. Some solace can be taken in the fact that he’s able to share a space with her, even if it’s only in his subconscious.
The power of “Head on My Pillow” lies in its simplicity. The song’s lyrics are straightforward and relatable, as almost everyone has experienced the sharp pain that comes with loneliness and heartbreak. The melody and arrangement are similarly uncomplicated, placing Sinatra’s emotive vocals front and center. Despite the song’s surface-level melancholy, there is a glimmer of hope in the idea that two estranged lovers might one day find their way back to each other.
Line by Line Meaning
Head on my pillow just thinking of you
I am lying in bed with my head on the pillow, and my thoughts revolve around the memory of you
Head on my pillow
So lonesome and blue,
As I rest my head on the pillow, I am overcome with loneliness and sadness
I wonder where you are tonight
And if you miss me, dear
My mind wanders, wondering where you might be at this very moment, and if you have thoughts of me like I do of you
My heart tells me you can't deny
My arms know you left near
I feel deep in my being that you cannot deny our connection, although my arms long to feel your presence beside me
My thoughts turn to dreams
Like heaven it seems
As I drift off to sleep, my thoughts turn to dreams, which feel like a slice of paradise
I see a vision build a home of happiness divine
In my mind's eye, I visualize us building a beautiful life of pure joy and contentment together
My head on my pillow
With yours close to mine
As I imagine our life together, I see us embracing, with our heads resting on the same pillow, in complete peace and harmony
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BISSEL B. PALMER, PIERE CONNOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Neil Cassner
🎵Head on my pillow, just thinking of you
Head on my pillow, so lonesome and blue
I wonder where you are tonight and if you miss me, dear
My heart tells me you can't be far, my arms know you're not near
Head on my pillow, my thoughts turn to dreams
Head on my pillow, like heaven it seems
I see a vision build of hope, of happiness divine
My head on my pillow, with yours close to mine 🎵😩
Safa Alkan
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Sinatra 50
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