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.
That Lucky Old Sun
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day.
Fuss with my woman, toil for my kids, sweat till I'm wrinkled and gray
While that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day.
Dear Lord above, can't you know I'm pining, tears all in my eyes
Send down that cloud with a silver lining, lift me to Paradise.
Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day
Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day
The song That Lucky Old Sun is about a working-class man who is exhausted from his daily routine of working hard to support his family. He wakes up early in the morning, goes to work, and works tirelessly to earn his pay. While he is struggling to make ends meet, the sun, on the other hand, has nothing to do but roll around heaven all day. The man envies the sun's carefree life and wishes that he too could have nothing to do but enjoy life.
The song also touches on the man's personal life, where he fusses with his woman and toils for his children, all while sweat covers his body and wrinkles form on his skin. His exhaustion is evident as he longs for a break from his daily struggles. He prays to the Lord above, asking for relief and a chance to escape his troubles. He hopes that the clouds will bring a silver lining, lifting him to paradise and taking him across the river to wash off all his troubles.
Line by Line Meaning
Up in the mornin', Out on the job, work like the devil for my pay
I wake up early, go to work, and work very hard all day to earn my money.
But that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day.
The sun doesn't have to work or worry about anything. It just exists and moves across the sky all day.
Fuss with my woman, toil for my kids, sweat till I'm wrinkled and gray
I argue with my partner, work hard to take care of my children, and work so hard that I age prematurely.
While that lucky old sun got nothin' to do, but roll around heaven all day.
Meanwhile, the sun doesn't do anything but move through the sky peacefully.
Dear Lord above, can't you know I'm pining, tears all in my eyes
God, can't you see that I'm yearning for something more? I feel sad and frustrated.
Send down that cloud with a silver lining, lift me to Paradise.
Please help me feel better by sending something good my way.
Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away
Take me to a better place where my problems can disappear like a river washing them away.
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day
I want to feel as carefree as the sun and have no worries or responsibilities.
Send down that cloud with a silver lining, lift me to Paradise
Again, please bring me happiness and a good change in my circumstances.
Show me that river, take me across, wash all my troubles away
Take me away to a peaceful place where I can forget all of my problems.
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do, but roll around heaven all day
Once again, I long to be carefree and not have to worry about anything, like the sun in the sky.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: Beasley Smith, Haven Gillespie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ponderosa1850
A masterful recording. He is more serious in this song. His voice seems bigger and more mature, as well. 34 years old, and the innocent years were going to give way to his bolder style with Capitol Records. Although, there were still plenty of tender, sincere songs in the '50s. I like this "best master" most of all. Thanks!
@JGxDATA
i appreciate the job you are doing putting all these songs here on yt...........i am downloading my favourite ones and creating new cds
frank Sinatra is the best
ever
@COBYKOEHL2
Incredible
@tenorman2764
Wonderful
@saintcruzin
I love late Columbia recordings!! Just great!!
@RINGOFE
This is such a nice song. I have the vinyl. Thank you for loading this. And it was also nice to see that you use a greek word, "pathos", to describe Sinatra's performance.
@jamesviice4217
born to roll past the sun.
@kepnjem
My dad had an amazing voice, especially singing this. Aww. 😅
@Dodl1
Very very true, you can be proud of him! ❤️
@karlgillies
Frank Sinatra, has a nice tone in his voice, very mellow, but for me, a bit like someone reading a book, then you listen to Frankie Laine singing this song, and it's like Frankie was sent to earth, to give us mere peasants a treat. That mans tones in his voice, is not of this world. I have never heard a human being, sing that song, as good as Frankie Laine.