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.
Speak Low
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our summer day withers away too soon, too soon
Speak low when you speak, love
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift, we're swept apart, too soon
Speak low, darling, speak low
Love is a spark, lost in the dark too soon, too soon
I feel wherever I go that tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here and always too soon
Time is so old and love so brief
We're late, darling, we're late
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends too soon, too soon
I wait, darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon
In Frank Sinatra's song "Speak Low," he sings about the fleeting nature of love and the passing of time. The song urges his love interest to speak softly and hold onto the moment while it lasts before it slips away too soon. The first verse sets the stage, describing how the summer day withers away too quickly – much like their romance. The second verse reinforces the message, describing how love is a spark lost in the dark, and time snatches everything away swiftly. The bridge suggests that the future is always near and tomorrow soon becomes today, emphasizing the fleeting nature of moments. The final verse is a plea to cherish the moment and hold tight to it, with the hope that the lover will whisper sweetly to him as they ride off into the sunset.
Line by Line Meaning
Speak low when you speak, love
Be cautious with your passion and don't rush into things
Our summer day withers away too soon, too soon
Our time together is finite and short-lived
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift, we're swept apart, too soon
Our love is tumultuous and easily pushed away by external forces
Love is a spark, lost in the dark too soon, too soon
Love is fragile and fleeting, easily extinguished in the face of obstacles
I feel wherever I go that tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here and always too soon
The inevitability of time passing and love fading hangs over everything
Time is so old and love so brief
Even though time seems infinite, love is fleeting and rare
Love is pure gold and time a thief
Love is precious and valuable, but time is always taking it away
We're late, darling, we're late
Our chance for love is slipping away, and we need to act quickly to seize it
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends too soon, too soon
Life and love both come to an end abruptly and unexpectedly
I wait, darling, I wait
I am willing to be patient and wait for love, but time is always working against us
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon
Will you be cautious and patient with our love, and express it soon before time takes it away?
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KURT WEILL, OGDEN NASH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Doug Voice
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Speak low, darling speak low,
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, everything ends
Too soon, too soon,
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.
Peter Black
He sounded so different through each era of his career.....a stunning example.
Pisteuomusic
He certainly worked at his craft and honed it over the years. Quite different from the 1970’s Frank, but all good in my opinion. Great stuff!
LRN_News
Damn I've never heard this. He sounds so amazing here. Young Sinatra is unbeatable
Pisteuomusic
A very haunting melody that runs around and around in my head since hearing it just today for the first time. All versions equally mysterious. There’s just something there that defies description. Great song writing back then. Love it. Thanks Kurt!
francis xavier
To all the folks lamenting not living in the era of swing I say what about the miracle of YouTube when you can listen to all the different versions .Please don`t change it it is perfect as it is.
Who Dat Superbowl Queen
AMEN! You are so right!
caponsacchi
@Who Dat Superbowl Queen Except for having to start out with graphic illustrations of constipation and its cure before we get to the music.
paz Dylan
Don't forget the genius writers Kurt Weil and Ogden Nash.
Sebastian-Benedict Flore
Interesting, I always knew the lyrics were by Ira Gershwin. A different version, perhaps?
Doug Voice
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our summer day withers away
Too soon, too soon.
Speak low when you speak, love,
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift,
We're swept apart too soon.
Speak low, darling speak low,
Love is a spark lost in the dark,
Too soon, too soon,
I feel wherever I go
That tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here
And always too soon.
Time is so old and love so brief,
Love is pure gold and time a thief.
We're late darling, we're late,
The curtain descends, everything ends
Too soon, too soon,
I wait darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me,
Speak love to me and soon.