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 membersโcherry-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 carriedโnext 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.
Tea For Two
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She: Darling this place is a lover's oasis where lights where we chase is unknown,
He: Far from the cry of the city where flowers pretty caress the stream,
Both: Cozy to hide in, to live side by side in, don't let it abide in my dream.
He: Picture you upon my knee, just tea for two, and two for tea.
Just me for you, and you for me alone.
She: Nobody near us, to see and to hear us, no friends or relations
He: They will brake (?) and you'll awake, and start to bake a sugar cake
For me to take for all the boys to see.
Both: We will raise a family, a boy for you and a girl for me,
Can't you see how happy we will be.
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra & Dinah Shore's song "Tea for Two" describe a couple yearning to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and make their own romantic haven. The male singer expresses his discontentment with renting homes and instead heโs made up his mind to invent one of his own. He describes his dream home to be located far away from the chaotic city limits, where beautiful flowers gently caress the stream. He wants a cozy retreat where they can live together without any disturbances. They both agree that their love nest is a perfect lover's oasis.
In the following lines of the song, the couple imagines sharing the perfect moment together. The male singer picturizes their happiness as just the two of them having tea together. He envisions sitting with his lover upon his knees and sharing a cup of tea as they cuddle together. He romantically sings "just me for you and you for me alone". They imagine a home that is just for them, secluded from the outside world. They donโt want any friends, family or outsider to invade their privacy. They dream of spending weekends together and not owning a telephone as it would just disturb their togetherness. In the end, they dream of starting a family with a boy and a girl, and raising them in their own cozy retreat.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm discontented with homes that are rented so I have invented my own
I'm unhappy with living in homes that are not my own, so I came up with my own
Darling this place is a lover's oasis where lights where we chase is unknown
This place is like a romantic paradise where there's no distractions that can lower our spirits
Far from the cry of the city where flowers pretty caress the stream
This place is a serene and peaceful location away from the noisy city where we can admire the beauty of nature
Cozy to hide in, to live side by side in, don't let it abide in my dream
This place is so comfortable and intimate that I want to live in it permanently and not just dream about it
Picture you upon my knee, just tea for two, and two for tea
I imagine you sitting on my lap while we have a cup of tea together
Just me for you, and you for me alone
It's only you and me in this moment, with no one else intervening
Nobody near us, to see and to hear us, no friends or relations
There's no one else around us to observe or overhear us, and we don't have any family or friends staying with us
On weekend vacations, we won't have it known, dear, that we own a telephone, dear
Even when we go on vacations, we will ensure that nobody knows that we have a telephone with us, my dear
They will brake (?) and you'll awake, and start to bake a sugar cake
The morning alarm will go off and you'll wake up to bake a cake for me to take to show off to my friends
For me to take for all the boys to see
I'll show it off to all my male friends to flaunt my happy domestic life
We will raise a family, a boy for you and a girl for me
We will have kids - a boy for you and a girl for me
Can't you see how happy we will be
Just imagine how joyful our life will be with a loving family in this perfect home
Lyrics ยฉ Budde Music Publishing GmbH, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Varance Landuziรจre
It is so beautiful, I want just a tea ...
Grahame Charles Gould
Wow, I know Frank was talented, but I didn't realise he could imitate a female so well, AND while he was singing as a male!
nsr
true. I wondered myself but it seems to be in the realms of possibility. There are more wonders in the world than we acknowledge.
maureen1938
GORGEOUS Mr. Blue Eyes......LOVE this. THANK YOU for posting this gem.
Mark Herron
Happy Birthday to the Late Frank Sinatra his Birth Card is Six ๐ of Clubs Rest in Peace โ๏ธ๐๏ธ Merry Christmas โ๏ธ๐ Blessings and Hugs ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!
Kyra Kaylor
Im doing this song in my choir class
Karl Lieck
Would you like a cup of tea? Why yes, thank you. Who's preparing it? Graham Young......oh, I'm going to pass on the tea.
Bud Lehn
First time I've heard this. Thank you.
nsr
no, thank you, dear!
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