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.
The Gal That Got Away
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The winds grow colder, suddenly you're a lot older
And all because of a gal who got away
No more her eager call, the writing is on the wall
All those dreams you dreamed, they have all gone astray
The gal who won you, she's run off and undone you
That great beginning has seen the final inning
No more - no more that all time thrill because you have been put though the mill
And never a new love will ever be the same
Good riddance, good-bye
Every trick of hers you are on to
But fools will be fools and where's she gone?
Where has she gone?
The road gets rougher, it's lonelier and it's tougher
With hope ya burn up, tomorrow maybe she'll turn up
There ain't no let up, live-long night, night and day
Ever since, since this world began
There ain't nothin' sadder than
A long-lost loser
Lookin' for his gal who got away
Please come back
Won't ya come back?
Mm, mm, mm
Mm mmmm
The Gal That Got Away is a song that is about lost love and heartbreak. The lyrics open up with a bitter tone and depict the stars losing their glitter, the winds growing colder, and the singer feeling a lot older. This is all because of the gal who got away. He can no longer hear her eager call, and all his dreams have gone astray. The gal who won him has run off and undone him. The relationship's great beginning has seen the final inning, and he feels that he has been put through the mill. There is no more thrill of love because it will never be the same.
The songwriter is trying to show that heartbreak is a real phenomenon, and it can leave people feeling incredibly bitter and lost. The singer here is feeling lonely, and he realizes that there is no let-up in his grief, and he will spend countless nights, night, and day thinking about the gal that got away. Despite all this, the singer is still hopeful, and he yearns for his gal to come back to him. But things are different now, and he knows that nothing will ever be the same, and the road ahead will be tough and lonely.
Line by Line Meaning
The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter
The darkness is bitter and cold, and even the stars have lost their shine. Everything appears dull and lifeless.
The winds grow colder, suddenly you're a lot older
With the chill of the night, you feel as though the winds have aged you. The misery you feel has taken its toll on you.
And all because of a gal who got away
All of this sorrow has been caused by a girl who chose to leave. You're filled with regret and mourning for what was lost.
No more her eager call, the writing is on the wall
You can't hear her sweet calls anymore, and it's clear that she won't be returning. The signs are apparent that it's over.
All those dreams you dreamed, they have all gone astray
All the hopes and expectations you had for the future have been shattered by her sudden departure. Everything has fallen apart.
The gal who won you, she's run off and undone you
The girl who took hold of your heart and captured your mind has left and left you feeling ruined. She's taken everything from you that you cherished.
That great beginning has seen the final inning
What started off as a promising new relationship has come to a sorrowful conclusion. The relationship, like a baseball game, has come to an end.
I don't know what happened, its all a crazy game
There's no explanation for why she left, it's just a game of love that has caused great chaos and confusion.
No more - no more that all time thrill because you have been put though the mill
You no longer feel the excitement and delight you once did because you have been through a great deal of emotional suffering.
And never a new love will ever be the same
You feel that you will never be able to love someone as much as you did the girl who got away. Any new relationship won't be the same as the one that was lost.
Good riddance, good-bye
You're relieved that she's gone and that it's over. It's a final farewell to the pain and suffering she caused.
Every trick of hers you are on to
You've seen through all of her lies and manipulations. You're not fooled by her anymore.
But fools will be fools and where's she gone? Where has she gone?
Even though you see how foolish you were to believe in her, you still wonder where she's gone and what she's doing now.
The road gets rougher, it's lonelier and it's tougher
The path you must walk without her is much harder and much lonelier. The pain has increased since she left.
With hope ya burn up, tomorrow maybe she'll turn up
Despite the hardship, you still hope that she'll return the following day. You still have feelings for her.
There ain't no let up, live-long night, night and day
There's no reprieve from the heartache you feel. It continues both day and night, without any rest or relief.
Ever since, since this world began
From the beginning of time, this has been a common occurrence. Love and loss are a constant part of life.
There ain't nothin' sadder than
The saddest feeling in the world is
A long-lost loser
Someone who's lost the one they love and can't get them back.
Lookin' for his gal who got away
Continuing to search for the girl who left and trying to find answers to what happened.
Please come back Won't ya come back?
Still wanting her to come back and to fix things.
Mm, mm, mm
A sound of sadness or contemplation.
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Kanjian Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ImMuzikmaven
Frank Sinatra pointed out to Ira Gershwin that, aside from switching a few pronouns, all that was needed was a modification to the ending:
Ever since this world began
There is nothing sadder than
A one-man woman looking for
The Man That Got Away...
The lyricist considered the matter and, with Frank hanging on the telephone line, Ira improvised:
Ever since this world began
There is nothing sadder than
A lost, lost loser looking for
The Gal That Got Away...
Frank liked the line and wrote it down. "His excellent recording resulted, and 'The Gal That Got Away' got away with it," wrote Ira, while primly noting that "a sex transilience of this sort is unusual".
Ira Gershwin's right: Sinatra's record, to a great Nelson Riddle arrangement, is indeed "excellent". I'm not sure one can say the same about that "lost, lost loser" modification. But "The Gal That Got Away" entered the Billboard charts in July 1954.
Judy Garland released her version at the same time.
Sinatra respected her professionally and, perhaps out of deference to her claim on the song, he didn't return to "The Gal That Got Away" as often he might have. However, he did sing it live with the COUNT BASIE band on the "Hollywood Palace" TV show in 1966, and it's a magnificent performance.
The gal that won you
She's run off and undone you
That great beginning
Has seen the final inning
I don't know what happened
It's all a crazy game...
He's slowed down the Riddle arrangement, and it's on its way to becoming a saloon song:
No more that all-time thrill
'Cause you've been through the mill
And never a new love will be the same...
The next passage - around "But fools will be fools" can be especially tough for a singer, as the vocal line and the harmony seem to part company, and it's very easy to find yourself adrift while almost atonal chords are flying all around you. Frank and the Basie band get through it, and he's so on top of all the drama, all the storytelling. Sinatra could be very tentative on TV, especially in ballads, because there are so many technical considerations and he hated having to do retakes. But on live TV he was often more relaxed. And on this broadcast he got just a wee bit too relaxed and made one mistake - but it's a doozy. In an otherwise peerless rendition, he botched Ira Gershwin's ending and reverted to the female original:
Ever since this world began
There ain't nothing sadder than
A one-man woman...
Uh-oh. You can hear a little something in his voice - he knows he's gone astray - but there's nowhere to go, so he concludes Sapphically:
...a one-man woman looking for
The Gal That Got Away...
And he takes a pause before starting the leisurely out-vocal and you can see on his face that he knows he's blown it. But it's still a great performance, and it shows that even, after the arrangement and the recording and the chart hit, Sinatra didn't stop thinking about ways to improve the song, to serve it better.
________
The above excerpted from http://www.steynonline.com/7077/the-gal-that-got-away
@marisalombardi385
Frank, could turn any song into a masterpiece ❤
@davidgleason3379
You can never go wrong with anything Sinatra sings .this was what true music is
@songster56
As usual with Sinatra, what brings this performance to an exalted level is the phrasing. This is a "story" song, definitely the kind of song that Frank favors because he can bring his own life experiences and personal emotional state to bear on the lyrics. As for John Robinson's distaste for the way Frank sings "away' at the end of the song, I think he needs to appreciate phrasing a little more. He hears a-way-ee, which is three syllables; I hear a-way, with the second syllable extended for emotional effect. Phrasing it this way also gives Frank an opportunity to show off both his exceptional breath control and his ability to sing a long note. It leaves me in awe every time I hear it.
@richardcondon3797
Talk about that breath control some more. He learned it from horn players and seemed to hold notes almost too long but to effect. Each time he did a song he did it differently. A great artist could never do an exact copy of a masterpiece and rarely do it as well. Sinatra could and did.
@nadiagaribaldi7870
El señor Sinatra Inolvidable.⭐🌹❤️🇺🇸
🧡💋
LA VOZ: 🎤🎼
Mee eencanta❤️
@paeng46
"Only Sinatra can sing like Frank Sinatra" (Tony Bennett). Amazing rendition of the song and powerful expression of the notes...
@rblock5916
His voice here is so clear and powerful, and his stage presence haunting.
@tonydevincenzo6717
Absolutely one of the best recorded jazz vocal performance!
@julz24669
Sinatra in great form, love the way he holds that last note.
@frankhendricks5918
Simple music can make you sing simple hug can make you feel better simple things can make you happy, i hope my simple Hello brings smile to your face ,,,