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.
Song of the Sabia
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That my place is there
And there it will always be
There where I can hear the song of the Sabia
I'll go back
I know now that I'll go back
I will lie in the shadow of
A palm that's no longer there
And maybe someone's love will speak the nigh
The lonely unwanted light
That may bring me through the new day
I'll go back
I know now that I'll go back
They won't be in vain
All the plans I made to deceive myself
All the rose I made just to lose myself
All the love I made to forget myself
Those mistakes I made just to find myself
I'll go back
I know now that I'll go back
That my place is there
And there it will always be
There where I can hear the song of the Sabia
Of the Sabia
The Song of the Sabia is a melancholic and introspective ballad that speaks of the deep yearning to return to a place of comfort and familiarity. The singer expresses a newfound clarity, realizing that their true place is not where they currently reside but rather where they can hear the song of the Sabia, a bird commonly found in Latin America. They long to lie in the shade of a palm tree that is no longer there and recapture a sense of nostalgia by picking a flower that doesn't grow. The lyrics poetically convey the bittersweet realization that the mistakes made in the past were all part of the journey to finding oneself and that the longing to return to their roots is not in vain. The song ends with a hopeful note, as the singer believes that the light of someone's love may bring them through a new day.
In essence, The Song of the Sabia is about the journey of self-discovery and the desire to find a sense of belonging. The lyrics are simple yet profound, with each line carrying a deep sense of yearning and nostalgia. The music complements the lyrics perfectly, with a mellow and soothing melody that evokes a sense of longing and wistfulness. The Song of the Sabia is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with listeners of all ages.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll go back, I know now that I'll go back
After leaving, I now realize that I must return
That my place is there
My true home is where I belong
And there it will always be
My home will never change, no matter how long I'm away
There where I can hear the song of the Sabia
In my home, I can hear the beautiful melody of the Sabia bird
I will lie in the shadow of
I will rest peacefully under
A palm that's no longer there
An absent tree that was once there
And pick a flower that doesn't grow
Choose a flower that isn't blooming
And maybe someone's love will speak the nigh
Perhaps I will hear a loved one's whispers in the night
The lonely unwanted light
The abandoned light no one desires
That may bring me through the new day
That may guide me towards a new beginning
They won't be in vain
My past mistakes were not futile
All the plans I made to deceive myself
All the schemes I concocted to mislead myself
All the rose I made just to lose myself
All the lies I told to escape reality
All the love I made to forget myself
All the romance I pursued to ignore my problems
Those mistakes I made just to find myself
The errors I committed were necessary to discover who I truly am
Of the Sabia
The Sabia bird's song
Lyrics © CORCOVADO MUSIC CORPORATION, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM, CHICO BUARQUE DE HOLANDA, ENG. NORMAN GIMBEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
saintcruzin
One of the best cuts yet left off the LP. Glad it was finally released...GREAT...
John Dettra
Frank and Jobim, the greatest combo.
Terence Connell
I was blown away when I first heard this and, to think, that Frank thought it was a bit “off”. The Sabia is the national bird of Brazil - a songbird. The song has a gentle melancholy…..remembrance of things past. Classic Sinatra.
Claudio Nascimento
what precious song
Chris Vegas
I love the boss nova music
Rob Scheps
Great , rarely played Jobim tune.
Safa Alkan
Nice song
David O
Too Deep baby. ..
Viewing Wiz
What is a Sabiá? A plant?
Naomi Parfitt
Thrush I think