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.
I Cried For You
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over things you said to me; I couldn't even sleep
You forgot your promises, every single vow
All you did was laugh at me, but things are different now
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
Every road has a turning
That's one thing you're learning
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
How can I forget the hours that I worried through
Wondering the live long day just what next thing to do?
In those days you never thought anything of me
But the slave that was all yours and now at last is free
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
Every road has a turning
That's one thing you're learning
I cried for you; what a fool I used to be
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
In "I Cried For You," Frank Sinatra sings about a failed relationship that once caused him great pain. He remembers the days when he used to cry himself to sleep over the hurtful things his partner said and how she broke every single promise and vow she made to him. She laughed at his pain and he felt like a fool. However, things have changed since then, and now it's her turn to cry over him. Every road has a turning, and he learned his lesson. He found someone new with eyes that are a little bluer and a heart that is a little bit truer. Sinatra's interpretation of this song is about finding strength and rising above the past to move forward.
The lyrics of "I Cried For You" capture the pain of heartbreak and the resilience that comes with moving on. The song's message resonates with people who have gone through similar situations, where they've been hurt by someone they've loved and thought they would spend the rest of their lives with. However, they were left heartbroken, but time and healing enabled them to find someone new, and the hurtful memories are now a thing of the past.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember other days how I used to weep
I reminisce about past times where I would cry incessantly
Over things you said to me; I couldn't even sleep
Your words caused me so much emotional turmoil, I couldn't even rest
You forgot your promises, every single vow
You went back on all of your commitments, neglecting every promise made
All you did was laugh at me, but things are different now
You made fun of me then, but situations have since changed
I cried for you; now it's your turn to cry over me
Once I wept for your demise, but now it's your turn to be in grief
Every road has a turning
Life is deeply unpredictable, and sometimes fortune changes
That's one thing you're learning
Perhaps you will gain this knowledge through our current situation
I cried for you; what a fool I used to be
I foolishly shed tears for you, knowing now it was a mistake
Now I found two eyes just a little bit bluer
I have discovered someone with striking, beautiful blue eyes
I found a heart just a little bit truer
I have found someone with a much more genuine heart
How can I forget the hours that I worried through
I cannot rid myself of the memories of the time I spent anxiously worrying
Wondering the live long day just what next thing to do?
Grappling with the decision of what action to take consumed my every moment
In those days you never thought anything of me
At that point in time, you held no regard or respect for me
But the slave that was all yours and now at last is free
I was once your possession, but now I am no longer bound to your control
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Gus Arnheim, Arthur Freed, Abe Lyman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Robert Umeck
In my opinion, Frank's singing in this film and in Pal Joey represents him at absolute peak in terms of the resonance of Frank's voice and control in sustaining notes. The year is around 1957. Wish the
recordings made in the film, The Joker Is Wild were readily available.
MarielleStowe
I completely agree Robert.
jazzalex22
This movie was just an amazing movie. It made me cry in some parts. Frank of course nailed it. Sinatra was the best artist in music next to Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. They sure don't make drama's like this anymore and unfortunately for music it's the same crap over and over: Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Eminem, One Direction, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Adele, and Maroon 5. It's time to trade in those "artists" for Frank, Bird, Dizzy, Dino, Sammy, Bing, Miles, Satchmo, and Prima.
Cristian Mojica
all of the modern "artists" hardly have lasted a decade too, most of them are already on there decrescendo.
Miguel Antonio González San Martín, de Chile.
¡Bravo! Por fin alguien sube esta canción de la película cuyo nombre había olvidado yo, no así las magistrales interpretaciones que en ella hace nuestro Frank Sinatra. Amigo: ojalá subas también las otras canciones de la misma película; recuerdo que canta "Chicago", "Todo el camino", y no recuerdo qué más.
Profesión : argentino
La historia real del cantante y comediante Joe E. Lewis , interpretada magistralmente por Sinatra .
Ron James Music
Wow! I really love this one. Thanks for sharing it.
Sunburst
This is Fantastic. Im only 13 but researching these stuff is good entertainment for me ♡
Tha Unseen
Sad that this song doesn't have a studio version with him.
bettieakkumaoi
Great song!