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.
Say It
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's wonderful, so they say
And, with a moon up above, it's wonderful
It's wonderful, so they tell me
I can't recall who said it
I know I never read it
And
The thing that's known as romance is wonderful, wonderful
In every way, so they say
To leave your house some morning
And, without any warning
You're stopping people, shouting that love is grand
And
To hold a girl in your arms is wonderful, wonderful
In every way
So they say
Frank Sinatra's song "They Say It's Wonderful" is a romantic ballad that speaks to the idea of love being grand, but the singer is slightly skeptical of its grandeur. Throughout the song, the singer acknowledges that people say that falling in love is wonderful, but he is unsure if this is true. He questions where this idea of love being grand comes from and admits that he has never read about it. However, he recognizes that society tells us that love is wonderful and encourages us to embrace it wholeheartedly.
The song expresses that romance is a beautiful thing that should be embraced because it brings joy to our lives. Additionally, the singer suggests that love has an unexpected way of impacting people's lives, which is both exciting and scary. The climax of the song is when the singer embraces the idea of love being wonderful and believes it, expressing that holding a girl in your arms is wonderful in every way.
"They Say It's Wonderful" is a song that speaks to the universal feeling of falling in love and the joy and uncertainty it brings. It encourages us to embrace love and all that it brings to our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
They say that falling in love is wonderful
People claim that the act of falling in love is magnificent
It's wonderful, so they say
According to what people say, falling in love is indeed magical
And, with a moon up above, it's wonderful
It is beautiful and delightful to be in love, especially when there is a beautiful moon above
It's wonderful, so they tell me
People often tell me that being in love is an amazing feeling
I can't recall who said it
I don't remember who claimed that falling in love is great
I know I never read it
I am not sure if I ever read or heard it from anywhere
I only know they tell me that love is grand
All I can remember is that people have told me countless times that love is wonderful
And
The thing that's known as romance is wonderful, wonderful
In every way, so they say
Commonly, people perceive love as an exceptional, enchanting experience in every aspect, which is why it's fantastic
To leave your house some morning
Imagine waking up in the morning and leaving your home
And, without any warning
Suddenly, without any prior notice
You're stopping people, shouting that love is grand
You find yourself stopping passersby and enthusiastically announcing that love is grand
And
To hold a girl in your arms is wonderful, wonderful
In every way
So they say
Furthermore, people believe that holding a person you love close to you is a delightful experience in every sense
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Irving Berlin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
cosmogirl007
Could you imagine something better than Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey Band singing together?... God, this makes me feel so so good everytime... Thanks a lot for posting all of these oldies!
Corrie121
Frank's rendition of this wonderful song has got to be one of the best. I just adore it. Thank you so much for sharing this gem with us.
Barbara O Bach
It is dreamy,I could listen to Frank Sinatra all day ,every day ,he's everything that a musician should be ,I love him..thankyiou for posting this
Daniel Adams
Me too, Barbara. Listening to Sinatra is almost therapeutic to me. It's soothing and relaxing. I'll give you a thumbs up, Barbara. 👍
Robert Giaimo
A beautiful song and a beautiful voice.
EarthaKit2
So beautiful! The music, dance, Romance is still valid today. We all seek it, yearn for it!
EarthaKit2
GOD! THe ultimate of love songs! Such sweet sounds. Beautious music! I just discovered this song a few weeks back. What have I been missing! I like the early Sinatra best.
Charles Carson
His best for me were his Dorsey days.
Daniel Adams
My favorite Sinatra years is when he worked with Nelson Riddle...pure magic!
However, I also loved the Dorsey years as well, Charles. I thought I was the only person that truly appreciated Sinatra's work.
TaxiSlim
One of his best.