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.
If You Are But A Dream
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hope I never waken
It's more than I could bear
To find that I'm forsaken
If you're a fantasy
Then I'm content to be
In love with lovely you
I long to kiss you
But I would not dare
I'm so afraid that
You may vanish in the air
So darling
If our romance would break up
I hope I never wake up
If you are but a dream
I long to kiss you
But I would not dare
I'm so afraid that
You may vanish in the air
So darling
If our romance would break up
I hope I never wake up
If you are but a dream
The song "If You Are But A Dream" by Frank Sinatra, arranged and conducted by Axel Stordahl, is a romantic and dreamy song about the fear of losing the one you love. The lyrics express the hope of never waking up from a dream where the singer is in love with his significant other. The song's message is that the love that the singer feels is so intense and meaningful that he cannot bear the thought of it being just a dream. The lyrics convey the idea that the love between two people is an ethereal and fragile concept, and the singer is afraid that it will disappear at any moment.
The song is beautifully written and beautifully sung by Sinatra, who was known for his ability to convey emotions through his music. His voice adds depth and sincerity to the lyrics, making the song a timeless classic. The song also has a haunting quality to it, with its slow and melodic tune, which matches the dreamy and romantic lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
If you are but a dream
If the love I feel for you is only a figment of my imagination
I hope I never waken
I hope to never discover the truth and continue living in this blissful fantasy
It's more than I could bear
The thought of losing you is a pain I cannot sustain
To find that I'm forsaken
To realize that the love I feel is not reciprocated would break me
If you're a fantasy
If my love for you exists only in my mind
Then I'm content to be
I am happy to live in this dream world and cherish you
In love with lovely you
Despite the possibility that this love may not be real, I am still deeply in love with you
And pray my dream comes true
I hope that my wish for this love to be true becomes a reality
I long to kiss you
I yearn for the touch of your lips on mine
But I would not dare
I fear that if I were to try, you may disappear and my dream would end
I'm so afraid that
My fear keeps me from taking any risks
You may vanish in the air
You may disappear into thin air, leaving me alone and heartbroken
So darling
My beloved
If our romance would break up
If our love were to end
I hope I never wake up
I hope to never face the reality of our love ending
If you are but a dream
If my love for you is only a fantasy
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, THE MUSIC GOES ROUND
Written by: Jack Fulton, Moe Jaffe, Nat Bonx
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Kshitij Gour
If you are but a dream
I hope I never waken,
It's more than I could bear
To find that I'm forsaken.
If youre a fantasy
Then I'm content to be
In love with lovely you,
And pray my dream comes true.
I long to kiss you
But I would not dare,
I'm so afraid that
You may vanish in the air,
So darling,
If our romance would break up,
I hope I never wake up,
If you are but a dream.
hound dawg
Never actually realized how beautiful this song was until I saw Woody Allen's "Radio Days". This truly is one of the greatest songs of the Golden Era. Bar none!
ddkoda
We can't forget Axel Stordahl's gorgeous orchestration as a critical part of this effort. His masterful use of strings helps this song soar to the reaches of the outer universe.
moggs
A masterpiece. One of my desert island recordings. Never tire of hearing it. FS is so vulnerable as he sings the beautiful lyrics.
Dylan McGaharn
great arranger arranged all the songs for the essential frank sinatra and the tommy dorsey orchestra
charles pope
amen and thank you Before all else Axel Stordahl was a icon and copied by many thereafter but not on Colombia Records
Vincent Edmondson
If I could sing, this is the song that I would have sung to my beautiful wife!!!
Olive Albers
Me to to my late husband
Ted Hoeborn
One of the best uses of a song in a movie (in my opinion!) was this song in Woody Allen's "Radio Days." To me the song and scene were perfect together. I'm not a critic so I don't know how else to say it. But if nothing else, the film led me to this song.
Dedra Kaye DeHart
just watched this scene and the music and the walk around Radio City Music Hall is utterly sublime. I think it's a perfect pairing.
moggs
I'd not heard this song until watching Radio Days,and thankfully Woody played the entire song,not just a snippet.It soon became one of my very favourite Sinatra tracks. His vulnerability is so captivating in this beautiful rendition of a terrific song.