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.
It's the Same Old Dream
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh how real it all starts to seem
Just as the choir is singing - my alarm starts ringing
It's the same old dream
And then my thoughts inspire - a scene by a fire
In a cottage close by a stream
I know it all by heart now - we're about to part now
It's the same old dream
How many times I pretend - that I'm with you
I'm sure your heart would unbend - you'd see me through
Until my dream had a happy ending
And I can picture clearly - the things I love dearly
In the center you reign supreme
We kiss and I discover - I'm a lonesome lover
It's the same old dream
The song "It's the Same Old Dream" by Frank Sinatra is about a recurring dream that the singer has where he imagines being with someone he loves but cannot have in reality. In the first verse, he talks about seeing a steeple surrounded by people, and how it all feels so real to him. He then goes on to describe how just as the choir begins to sing in this dream, his alarm goes off, and he realizes that it was all just a dream. In the second verse, he describes a scene where he is by a fire in a cottage close to a stream and how he knows it all by heart because he has had this dream so many times before. He then mentions how he and the other person are about to part ways, which again indicates that this is a recurring dream. The singer then goes on to explain how if this person knew how many times he has dreamt of being with them, their heart would unbend, and they would see him through until his dream had a happy ending. In the last verse, the singer talks about how he can picture the person he loves so clearly, and how they reign supreme in the center of his dream. They kiss, and he realizes that he is a lonesome lover, and it's the same old dream again.
This song can be interpreted in different ways. It may be about a long-lost love or a person who is unavailable to the singer. Alternatively, it could be about the singer's unfulfilled desires or their struggle to make their dreams a reality. The song's melancholic tone suggests that the singer is aware of the futility of their dream, and that they are resigned to living in a world of make-believe.
Line by Line Meaning
I can see a steeple - surrounded by people
I imagine myself surrounded by people in a place of worship.
Oh how real it all starts to seem
The dream feels so vivid and lifelike.
Just as the choir is singing - my alarm starts ringing
I wake up abruptly as the choir is singing in my dream and my alarm goes off.
It's the same old dream
This recurring dream is always the same.
And then my thoughts inspire - a scene by a fire
I am inspired to imagine a cozy scene by the fireplace.
In a cottage close by a stream
This scene takes place in a quaint cottage near a stream.
I know it all by heart now - we're about to part now
I know this dream so well, and I know that the time for parting is approaching.
It's the same old dream
This recurring dream is always the same.
If you but knew
If only you knew.
How many times I pretend - that I'm with you
I imagine being with you in my dreams countless times.
I'm sure your heart would unbend - you'd see me through
If you knew, your heart would soften, and you would help me get through this.
Until my dream had a happy ending
Until my recurring dream has a happy resolution.
And I can picture clearly - the things I love dearly
I can clearly visualize the things that are most important to me.
In the center you reign supreme
You are at the center of it all, and your presence is dominant.
We kiss and I discover - I'm a lonesome lover
When we kiss, I realize that I am a lonely lover, and this recurring dream offers me solace.
It's the same old dream
This recurring dream is always the same.
Lyrics © THE MUSIC GOES ROUND, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GEORGE GERSHWIN, IRA GERSHWIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stevesilverman5296
The next time someone tells you "nothing's perfect," pour them a drink, sit them comfortably between two good speakers and play this. If it doesn't change their tune, call an EMT.
@karlhungus5554
haha. Funny...and, very true.
@stevesilverman5296
@@karlhungus5554 Usually I do go for laughs but on this occasion, accuracy was my goal. Nobody does solitude, melancholy, downhearted or whatever else you want to call it like this fella. Most singers are consumed with showing off their voices. Frank was laser focused on mining a lyric's emotional content. On matters of the heart, words have been known to fall short. Frank knew precisely how to pick up their slack. Whether written by Sammy Cahn as they were here, Johnny Mercer or anyone else. He may not have had the best set of pipes in the business but he inadvertently wound up with the best vocal coach: Ava. Too bad none of those bullfighters could sing. Imagine how many other recordings of this quality might have been available had she focused on vocalists only.
@JosephineManieri
my all time favorite
@terriflanagan2350
Amazing...Frank's voice flawless Nelson Riddle on point as always
@baldinifan
One of the best Sinatra/Riddle ever did!
@davidingram8734
That’s right Don. It’s so beautiful
@philiphalpenny9761
'...& with each beam...the same old dream'!
@user-dk5yg2gy2t
Frank, gracias por estar ahí, me gusta tu, tus canciones, tu voz, tus ojos, tu ilusión, tu melodía, tu melancolía, tu, solo tú , eres mi mejor y mayor ilusión, te quiero, espero verte pronto.!?❤😂🎉
@attiliomalambri
This isn't on Spotify, so thank you!! I love this version, I've discovered it in the lp. He recorded the same song during his career in Columbia Records. I love Nelson's style in arranging music. He's the best arranger in my opion. Fantastic version