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.
River Stay 'Way from My Door
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
River, stay 'way from the door
I just got (me) a cabin - you don't need my (you'll never need that) cabin
River, stay 'way from the door
Don't (you) come up any higher - I'm so all alone
Leave the bed and the fire - that is all I own (- and you can have that phone)
I ain't breakin' your heart - don't (you) start breakin' my heart
(Stay 'way, get 'way, roll 'way, stay 'way)
(You dirty, old, muddy river, you)
(River, stay 'way from the door)
In Frank Sinatra's song "River Stay 'way from My Door", the lyrics speak to a desire for independence and solitude. The singer is telling the river to stay away from their door because they have just gained a cabin and want to be left alone. The repetition of "you keep goin' your way - I'll keep goin' my way" emphasizes this desire for separation and independence. The singer wants to live their own life without interference, as they feel they don't need anyone else's help or company. The plea for the river to stay away from the door and not come any higher suggests a need for privacy and perhaps even a fear of being flooded out of their cabin. The line "I ain't breakin' your heart - don't start breakin' my heart" further emphasizes the singer's desire for peace and independence.
Overall, the song speaks to the human desire for autonomy and privacy, as well as a fear of losing control over one's life. It highlights the tension between a desire for independence and a need for human connection and companionship.
Line by Line Meaning
You keep goin' your way - I'll keep goin' my way
I will continue to live my life according to my own beliefs and values, and you should continue to do the same.
River, stay 'way from the door
I do not want any disturbances or disruptions in my life, so I am asking the river to stay away from my cabin.
I just got (me) a cabin - you don't need my (you'll never need that) cabin
River, stay 'way from the door
I have recently acquired this new home for myself. I do not want the river to come near my cabin, as it is unnecessary and unwanted.
Don't (you) come up any higher - I'm so all alone
Leave the bed and the fire - that is all I own (- and you can have that phone)
I am feeling very lonely and vulnerable at the moment, and I do not want the river to come any closer to my cabin. The only possessions I have are my bed and fire, and I am even willing to give up my phone if it means the river stays away.
I ain't breakin' your heart - don't (you) start breakin' my heart
River, stay 'way from the door
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings or cause any harm, so I am asking the river to respect my wishes and stay away from my cabin.
(Stay 'way, get 'way, roll 'way, stay 'way)
(You dirty, old, muddy river, you)
(River, stay 'way from the door)
I am telling the river to go away and stay away, using various expressions and insults to emphasize my point. I want the river to stay far away from my cabin and not cause any trouble or disruptions in my life.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harry Woods, Mort Dixon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jamesmmahoney
Perhaps a music expert can advise what note Frank hits at the 1:51 mark. I believe that's the highest recorded note he sang during his Capital Records period.
@harrodsongs
It's a G above middle C, but I think this track has been sped up a half step so Frank actually sang an F#. He hits a higher note briefly at 1:58. "Ri" in "River." That would be a G, which he also hits on "Day by Day." Wiki says that G is the top of his range.
@jamesmmahoney
@Jason Harrod Thank you Jason for the information. Yes, in listening to it again the version posted here is a little faster speed than the original release. The "remastered" version posted by the Sinatra group seems more accurate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di92EHtJd6k
@frankiesatin6512
@Jason Harrod https://youtu.be/JF7rDVPHVHU
Frank is my inspiration
@josephpaul4548
I can think of Sinatra going pretty high in:
Last note of All The Things You Are (Columbia) and All Or Nothing at All(Sinatra and Strings, 1962).
Also, when he sings the word "high" (on a windy hill) over halfway through Love is a Many Splendored Thing.(Reprise - Academy Award Winners - 1964)