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 Was A Very Good Year
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights
We'd hide from the lights
On the village green
When I was seventeen
When I was twenty-one, it was a very good year
Who lived up the stairs
With all that perfumed hair
And it came undone
When I was twenty-one
When I was thirty-five, it was a very good year
It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls
Of independent means
We'd ride in limousines
Their chauffeurs would drive
When I was thirty-five
But now the days are short, I'm in the autumn of my years
And I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs
From the brim to the dregs
It poured sweet and clear
It was a very good year
Frank Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year" is a nostalgic and melancholic reflection on life and the passage of time. The song is divided into three distinct verses, each reflecting a different stage of the singer's life. The first verse, when the singer was seventeen, reminisces about small town life, and the simple pleasures of youth such as soft summer nights and hiding on the village green. The second verse, when the singer was twenty-one, moves to the city and focuses on the allure and excitement of young women. The third verse, when the singer was thirty-five, represents a peak in life, with the description of wealthy and socialite women who ride in limousines with chauffeurs.
The chorus then contrasts these earlier years with the singer's current life in the autumn of his years. He speaks of his past with a sense of reverence and wistfulness, describing it as vintage wine from fine old kegs, poured sweet and clear. The final line of the chorus, "It was a very good year," is repeated, emphasizing the endearing memory of life's earlier stages.
The song uses a powerful metaphor of wine to represent the beauty and complexity of life. The lyrics suggest that each season of life is like a different kind of wine, with its unique color, flavor, fragrance, and aging process. The metaphor reinforces the idea that life is precious, and we need to savor each moment, as we ripen and mellow over time, just like wine.
Overall, "It Was a Very Good Year" is a poignant and introspective song that captures the universal nostalgia and longing for the past that we all experience.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was seventeen, it was a very good year
At seventeen, life was simpler and filled with fun and excitement, making it a memorable year
It was a very good year for small town girls
The small town life was rife with opportunity for fun and adventure
And soft summer nights
Summer nights provided the perfect backdrop for making life-long memories
We'd hide from the lights
Avoiding the spotlight was a way to enjoy the freedom of youth without worrying about being judged
On the village green
Sitting on the village green was an escape from everyday life
When I was twenty-one, it was a very good year
At twenty-one, life was full of opportunity and adventure
It was a very good year for city girls
City girls were the epitome of sophistication and glamour
Who lived up the stairs
Women who lived above the main floor of their building were considered elite in society
With all that perfumed hair
Perfumed hair added to the allure and grace of the women back then
And it came undone
Despite the great times, some things were bound to go wrong at times
When I was thirty-five, it was a very good year
At thirty-five, life was more settled and comfortable, with greater financial mobility and social standing
It was a very good year for blue-blooded girls
Women of privilege were made to feel special and doted on in those times
Of independent means
Having personal wealth and status was something today's generation can rarely comprehend
We'd ride in limousines
Luxury limousines were the transportation mode of the wealthy and privileged in olden times
Their chauffeurs would drive
People of status and power had their own drivers assigned to run errands and drive
But now the days are short, I'm in the autumn of my years
As age progresses, life becomes more fleeting and limited with less to look forward to
And I think of my life as vintage wine
As life progresses, we can cherish our memories and liken them to fine old wine
From fine old kegs
Our life is made up of innumerable experiences unique to every keg of wine, every barrel of liquor, a new chapter and new memories
From the brim to the dregs
Our life can be likened to a full glass of wine; overflowing with memories of all sorts that we share with those who listen
It poured sweet and clear
Life experiences may have been sweet, sour, bitter, or salty, but in retrospect they were clear, coherent and part of our fondest memories
It was a very good year
Life overall was a joyful, memorable ride, full of good times, no matter the ups and downs
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Ervin Drake
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mike
on The Lady Is A Champ
She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
She can't eat late and stay up all night, because unlike society types, she has to get up in the morning.
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She cares more about seeing the play than being seen making an entrance.
She never bothers with people she'd hate
Her friends are friends, not social trophies.
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
While barrns and earls probably don't play craps, she associates with friends, not people to be seen with.
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
She doesn't "slum", the practice of the rich in the 30's, when the song was written, of touring poor neighborhoods dressed in rich clothes to "tut, tut" about the deplorable conditions, and congratulate each other for "caring about the poor"
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
Doesn't trade gossip for acceptance among an in-crowd
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
She cares more about how her hair feels than conforming with current hair fashions
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
Since most of California is noticeably warmer and / or drier than New York, where the play the song was written for is set, this is probably a facetious excuse to like what she likes.
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincoln's or Ford's
Another reference to slumming, but facetious, since Lincolns and Fords were middle-class, not luxury brands when the lyric was written
Anonymous
on Try a Little Tenderness
Here are the correct lyrics
Try A Little Tenderness - Frank Sinatra - Lyrics
Oh she may be weary
Women do get wearied
Wearing that same old shabby dress
And when she’s weary
You try a little tenderness
You know she’s waiting
Just anticipating things she’ll may never possess
While she is without them
Try just a little bit of tenderness
It’s not just sentimental
She has her grieve and her care
And the words that soft and gentle
Makes it easier to bear
You wont regret it
Women don't forget it
Love is their whole happiness
And it’s all so easy
Try a little tenderness
Musical Interlude
And, it’s all so easy
Try a little tenderness
Daniel
on The Way You Look Tonight
I met Frank Jr. in Las Vegas, a real gentleman. RIP you both.
Giorgi Khutashvili
on Theme from New York, New York
)))