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.
Strictly Usa
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Look away, look away,
It's a lovely day today in the USA.
Like a great big strawberry short-cake,
Or a turkey on Thanksgiving Day
Like the Fourth of July or apple pie,
It's strictly USA.
Like a hotdog covered with mustard,
Like a circus parade or lemonade,
It's strictly USA.
Go to a picnic, go to clambake,
Go to a bar tent, or county fair,
You'll be the happy resident,
Maybe get to be the future president,
Take a man like Abraham Lincoln,
Take a state like I-O-Way
Take a sugar-cured ham, a candied yam,
Or take your favorite Uncle Sam,
And shout a big hooray, it's strictly USA.
You never can know a country
Till you know the folks, see them
In their own native locales.
If you wanna see young acorns
Growing into oaks, you gotta
See the fellas and gals.
And inspecting extra special,
A bunch of merchandise,
The all-American Cow wins the prize.
Your All-American man is nice young man,
He is a handy man in a pinch,
Maybe he can't make love
Like a clam who can,
Till he gets his gal in a clinch.
All-American Man may not get what he wants,
For the All-American Girl wears the pants.
Like the flag on the little red schoolhouse
Like the ball on election day,
Like a brass spittoon, and Daniel Boone,
It's strictly USA.
That is to say Bud! Down South it's hi-all,
Cowboys say Howdy, Indians say How
No matter where you're meeting folks.
It's the real American way of greeting folks.
Bring your gal to the rodeo in Reno
Or to the beach in Chesapeake Bay
Like the ice cream cones, or Casey Jones,
Like Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones
They're really here to stay, but strictly USA.
The song "Strictly U.S.A." is a patriotic, upbeat finale to the 1946 film "On the Town." In this song, Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett sing about the joys of being in the United States of America. They exclaim that it's a beautiful day and liken it to a great big strawberry shortcake or turkey on Thanksgiving Day. The chorus repeats the phrase "It's strictly USA" while listing a number of American icons such as apple pie, the Fourth of July, hot dogs, and lemonade. The song speaks to the American way of life and the happiness that can be found in attending picnics, county fairs, and parades.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh look away, look away, look away!
Please look away as this song is about to end.
Look away, look away,
Please look away from us.
It's a lovely day today in the USA.
Today is a beautiful day in America.
Like a great big strawberry short-cake,
America is as sweet as a giant strawberry shortcake.
Or a turkey on Thanksgiving Day
America is like a big feast on Thanksgiving Day.
Like the Fourth of July or apple pie,
America is like the celebration of Independence Day or the comfort of apple pie.
It's strictly USA.
All of these things are completely and unmistakably American.
Like a hotdog covered with mustard,
America is like a hotdog coverd in mustard.
Or an amateur hometown maid,
America is like an inexperienced and friendly hometown girl.
Like a circus parade or lemonade,
America is like a festive circus parade or refreshing lemonade.
It's strictly USA.
All of these things are completely and unmistakably American.
Go to a picnic, go to clambake,
Visit a picnic, go to enjoy the coastal cuisine,
Go to a bar tent, or county fair,
Or visit a local pub tent or fair.
You'll be the happy resident,
You will be a citizen who is happy.
Maybe get to be the future president,
You might even become the next President of the United States.
Take a man like Abraham Lincoln,
Look at someone like Abraham Lincoln,
Take a state like I-O-Way
Take a state like Iowa.
Take a sugar-cured ham, a candied yam,
Or take some sugar-cured ham and candied yams.
Or take your favorite Uncle Sam,
Or even take your favorite fictional character Uncle Sam.
And shout a big hooray, it's strictly USA.
And celebrate loudly that these things make America what it is.
You never can know a country
You can never truly know a country
Till you know the folks, see them
Until you get to know the locals
In their own native locales.
In their own places of origin.
If you wanna see young acorns
If you want to see the future of America
Growing into oaks, you gotta
Growing into oak trees, you have to
See the fellas and gals.
You have to see and understand the people of America.
And inspecting extra special,
If you look carefully and excessively
A bunch of merchandise,
At all of the products for sale,
The all-American Cow wins the prize.
The all-American cow is the best of the best.
Your All-American man is nice young man,
The All-American man is always a nice young man
He is a handy man in a pinch,
He is resourceful when he needs to be.
Maybe he can't make love
Perhaps he isn't experienced with love,
Like a clam who can,
Like somebody who is.
Till he gets his gal in a clinch.
Until he's caught his girl, that is.
All-American Man may not get what he wants,
But the All-American Man might not always get what he wants,
For the All-American Girl wears the pants.
As the All-American Girl is the one who makes important decisions.
Like the flag on the little red schoolhouse
Just like the flag on the small, iconic school buildings
Like the ball on election day,
Like the ball used to vote on election day
Like a brass spittoon, and Daniel Boone,
Like an old-fashion brass spittoon, and famous frontiersman Daniel Boone
It's strictly USA.
All of these things are completely and unmistakably American.
That is to say Bud! Down South it's hi-all,
That's what I'm saying, friend! Down South it greeting is Hi-all.
Cowboys say Howdy, Indians say How
Cowboys will say Howdy, and indigenous people usually say 'How'.
No matter where you're meeting folks.
Regardless of where you meet people.
It's the real American way of greeting folks.
This method of greeting is the genuine American way.
Bring your gal to the rodeo in Reno
Take your sweetheart to the rodeo in Reno,
Or to the beach in Chesapeake Bay
Or relax on the beach in Chesapeake Bay.
Like the ice cream cones, or Casey Jones,
Like ice cream in a cone, or the famous railroad engineer Casey Jones
Like Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones
Similar to characters in a vaudeville act.
They're really here to stay, but strictly USA.
These figures are deeply ingrained in American culture and display what America is all about.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ROGER EDENS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@byronfelton3244
Thank you for posting this I love these movies
@florkelly4276
Thank you so much for posting again the video!!! I love this number!!!
@NightOwlTVOG
Thank you Flor for bringing the flaw to my attention! All Good Things, Larry
@benjaminragg2864
Amazing.
@leobrussel9471
I think Betty Garret was pretty thrilled to be kissing Frank Sinatra.
@colesmith1256
0:56
@colesmith1256
1:10
@colesmith1256
1:27
@colesmith1256
1:56