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.
Meditation
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you're gone and I'm all by myself
And I need your caress
I just think of you
And the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear
Though you're far away
I just close my eyes
And the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Yes, I love you so
And that for me is all I need to know
I will wait for you
Till the sun falls from out of the sky
For what else can I do
I will wait for you
Meditating how sweet life will be
When you come back to me
In the song "Meditation," Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim explore the feeling of loneliness that arises when someone is away from their loved one. The lyrics express the idea that simply thinking of the person they love can help ease their loneliness. Even though the person is physically far away, they are present in the singer's thoughts, allowing them to feel as though the person is still near. The song also touches on the theme of waiting patiently for the loved one to return, regardless of how long it may take. The singer meditates on their love and the idea that life will be sweet when they are reunited.
Overall, "Meditation" is a powerful ode to love and the way it can help one overcome loneliness. The song is a reminder that the thought of someone special can bring immense comfort even when they aren't physically present.
Line by Line Meaning
In my loneliness
During the times when I am all by myself and feeling lonely
When you're gone and I'm all by myself
When you are away and not with me, and I am left alone
And I need your caress
When I long for your touch and affection
I just think of you
At such moments, I only think of you
And the thought of you holding me near
The thought of being close to you and feeling your embrace
Makes my loneliness soon disappear
Helps to get rid of my feelings of loneliness
Though you're far away
Even though you may be distanced from me
I have only to close my eyes and you are back to stay
I can imagine you so vividly that it feels as though you are right here with me
I just close my eyes
By simply shutting my eyes
And the sadness that missing you brings
The sorrow and grief that comes with your absence
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Quickly disappears, and my heart feels uplifted and joyful
Yes, I love you so
My love for you is immense and boundless
And that for me is all I need to know
Your love and presence is sufficient and everything to me
I will wait for you
I will patiently wait for your return
Till the sun falls from out of the sky
Even if it takes forever, I will wait for you
For what else can I do
Since I am so devoted to you, there isn't anything else I can do but wait
Meditating how sweet life will be
Thinking and pondering on how much happier life will be
When you come back to me
When you return to my side.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Norman Gimbel, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonca
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@straightawayproject
In my loneliness, when you're gone and I'm all by myself and I need your caress
I just think of you, and the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear.
Though you're far away, I have only to close my eyes and you are back to stay
I just close my eyes and the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Yes I love you so, and that for me is all I need to know
I will wait for you till the sun falls from out of the sky, for what else can I do
I will wait for you, meditating how sweet life will be when you come back to me
@bixsingsthemusicoflife2047
Brazil's best songwriter, America's best male jazz vocalist combine. Fantastic.
@kurikokaleidoscope
Precisely..
@normanmckay9105
There will NEVER B
Re another SINATRA..U can BET PN.THAT
@Gordonsmusic911
There will never be another Frank.
@sparkster65
Frank at his otherworldly finest and Jobim’s brilliant composition , perfection!!!!!!!!
@tuxguys
Pete Hamill wrote, "(Sinatra) ""perfected the role of the Tender Tough Guy.... Before him, that archetype did not exist in American popular culture."
He also wrote (paraphrasing), "Sinatra started out singing TO women, and then began singing On BEHALF OF men, saying the things to women that men would like to say."
This gorgeous performance of this achingly beautiful Jobim tune (and equally aching English lyrics by Norman Gimbel) exemplifies this latter perspective.
(I believe the ethereal, sensual arrangement is by Claus Ogerman.)
@straightawayproject
In my loneliness, when you're gone and I'm all by myself and I need your caress
I just think of you, and the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear.
Though you're far away, I have only to close my eyes and you are back to stay
I just close my eyes and the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone and this heart of mine sings
Yes I love you so, and that for me is all I need to know
I will wait for you till the sun falls from out of the sky, for what else can I do
I will wait for you, meditating how sweet life will be when you come back to me
@masalachigirl
...gorgeous silky voice
@Dawitos0
comeback 2019-feb2020 miss u also yes no other frank, hope to see him in heaven!!!
@pablotorres7436
Frank canta; Jobim toca guitarra... Son años brindando una serenata a la gente que necesita un apoyo ❤