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.
Little Girl Blue
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As merry as a carousel
The circus tent was strung with ever star in the sky
Above the ring you loved so well
Now the young world has grown old, gone are the silver and gold
Sit there and count your fingers, what can you do
Old girl, you're through
Just sit there and count your little fingers
Unhappy little girl blue
Sit there and count the raindrops falling on you
It's time you knew
All you can count on are the raindrops
That fall on little girl blue
No use, old girl, you might as well surrender
Your hopes are getting slender, why won't somebody send a tender
Blue boy to cheer up little girl blue
The song Little Girl Blue by Frank Sinatra is a poignant ballad about the passage of time and the inevitable fact of growing old. The lyrics describe the memory of a time when the world was new and full of wonder, seen through the eyes of a young girl who loved the magic of the circus. The imagery of the "merry carousel" and the "circus tent strung with every star in the sky" paint a vivid picture of a child's sense of awe and excitement.
However, the second verse brings the harsh reality of life crashing down. The once-young world has grown old, and the girl is left with nothing but her little fingers to count. The repetition of "sit there and count" emphasizes the girl's powerlessness and lack of agency. "Unhappy little girl blue" is a heartbreaking image of a child who has lost her innocence and optimism.
In the final verse, the lyrics offer a glimmer of hope, suggesting that perhaps someone will come to cheer up the little girl. However, the use of the phrase "old girl" and the dismissive reference to her "slender hopes" underscore the sense of futility and sadness that pervades the entire song. Overall, Little Girl Blue is a powerful meditation on the fleeting nature of youth and the bittersweet experience of growing old.
Line by Line Meaning
When you were very young, the world was younger than you
When you were a child, the world was still innocent
As merry as a carousel
It was full of joy - like a spinning ride
The circus tent was strung with every star in the sky
You were starry-eyed and fascinated by everything around you, like you were at the circus under the night sky.
Above the ring you loved so well
You cherished being the center of attention, and the circus ring was your favorite spot to perform in.
Now the young world has grown old, gone are the silver and gold
But now that you're grown up, the world is not as beautiful and doesn't hold the same allure.
Sit there and count your fingers, what can you do
You're feeling helpless and don't know what to do with your life.
Old girl, you're through
You feel like you've lost all the hope and optimism you used to have as a child.
Just sit there and count your little fingers
You're stagnant and feel like you're not making any progress.
Unhappy little girl blue
You're feeling sad and low.
Sit there and count the raindrops falling on you
You're resigned to your sorrows and believe that nothing good will come to you.
It's time you knew
It's important for you to realize
All you can count on are the raindrops
There's nothing certain in your life except for sadness and disappointment.
That fall on little girl blue
You are the little girl who can't seem to catch a break.
No use, old girl, you might as well surrender
You've given up; there's no point in trying anymore.
Your hopes are getting slender, why won't somebody send a tender
You're losing hope, and you'd like someone kind and caring to cheer you up.
Blue boy to cheer up little girl blue
Someone to make you happy, to give you hope, and to help you move forward.
Lyrics © DistroKid, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joseph Luciano Sr.
Music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, published in 1935.[1] The song was introduced by Gloria Grafton in the Broadway musical "Jumbo" (Wikipedia) The plot is a Romeo and Juliet-style romance in which the son and daughter of feuding circus families fall in love. It features songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart that would endure: "My Romance," "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and "Little Girl Blue."
César Damián Sobre Casas
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Mark Daniele
Thanks for posting this.I miss him terribly.
Alberto CPMLPGC
Great performance by The Voice
shane brooks
Good song :]
Joan Walkenspaw
NO ONE SINGS THIS LIKE SINATRA...........
Angie Rodriguez
Lovely <3
Cjguinness
The best version! Sound quality is off though but the best, never the less!
M.J. Leger
I don't know when he recorded this version, but it was later than the other one on another site, I like this one much better!
Jiceboo
On "songs for young lovers"(1953) actually. With the Hollywood string quartet. Not "In the wee small hours"