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 / It Never Entered My Mind
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The stars have lost their glitter
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
The gal who 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
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, goodbye
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, mm
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra's song "The Gal That Got Away / It Never Entered My Mind" convey a sense of bitterness, regret, and longing for a lost love. The opening lines set a melancholic tone, describing a cold and bitter night with faded stars. The singer realizes that he has aged quickly and feels the weight of his lost love. The "gal" who got away represents the woman who captured his heart and, through her departure, has left him feeling empty and disillusioned.
The lyrics suggest that the singer's dreams have been shattered and his life has taken a different path than he had envisioned. The chorus speaks to the pain of losing someone who once brought immense joy and excitement into his life. The singer laments that no new love will ever replace the intensity and significance of the love he lost. Despite recognizing the tricks and flaws of this woman, the singer still longs for her return, hoping she might come back and relieve his loneliness.
Overall, the lyrics of the song reflect on the universal experience of heartbreak and the deep longing for a lost love. Sinatra's emotive delivery adds to the sense of melancholy and yearning portrayed in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
The night is bitter
The darkness of the situation is overwhelming
The stars have lost their glitter
The once bright and hopeful future seems dim and dull
The winds grow colder
The atmosphere has become harsh and unforgiving
Suddenly you're a lot older
The emotional toll has aged you beyond your years
And all because of a gal who got away
The heartbreak and disappointment are a result of losing the love of your life
No more her eager call
Her enthusiastic voice is no longer heard
The writing is on the wall
The signs of the relationship's end are evident
All those dreams you dreamed
The aspirations and hopes you had have been shattered
They have all gone astray
They have all gone off course and are unattainable
The gal who won you
The woman who captured your heart
She's run off and undone you
She has left you and caused your downfall
That great beginning
The promising start of the relationship
Has seen the final inning
It has come to an end
I don't know what happened
I can't understand what went wrong
It's all a crazy game
Love and relationships can be unpredictable and confusing
No more, no more that all-time thrill
The excitement and joy experienced in the past is gone
Because you have been put through the mill
You have been through a difficult and trying experience
And never a new love will ever be the same
No future love will compare to the one that got away
Good riddance, goodbye
I'm glad you're gone, farewell
Every trick of hers you are on to
You have become aware of all her deceiving tactics
But fools will be fools and where's she gone?
Even though you know better now, you still wonder where she has disappeared to
Where has she gone? The road gets rougher
As her absence prolongs, life becomes even more challenging
It's lonelier and it's tougher
The feeling of isolation and hardship intensifies
With hope ya burn up
You constantly yearn and hope for her return
Tomorrow maybe she'll turn up
Perhaps tomorrow she will come back
There ain't no let up
There is no respite or relief
Live long night, night and day
The pain and longing are constant, day and night
Ever since, since this world began
Throughout history, since the beginning of time
There ain't nothin' sadder than
There is nothing more heartbreaking than
A long lost loser
Someone who has lost their love and is now defeated
Lookin' for his gal who got away
Searching desperately for the woman who slipped through his fingers
Please come back won't ya come back?
Please return, won't you?
Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm
Vocalization expressing longing and yearning
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, TWENTY TEN MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Charlie Peacock, John White, Joy Elizabeth Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sacha Kudli
The night is bitter
The stars have lost their glitter
The winds grow colder
Suddenly youre a lot older
And all because of The Gal That 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
Shes run off and undone you
That great beginning
Has seen its final inning
I dont know what happened
Its all a crazy game
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 wheres she gone? - where has she gone?
The road gets rougher
Its lonelier and its tougher
With hope you burn up
Tomorrow maybe shell turn up
There aint no let up
Live long night, night and day
Ever since, (since) this world began
There aint nothin sadder than
A long lost loser
Lookin for his gal who got away
Please come back
Wont you come back
Nadia Garibaldi
Maestro Inolvidable.⭐🌹❤️🇺🇸
🧡💋
LA VOZ: 🎤🎼
Magnifico cantor.🌹❤️
Jack Valentine “A Man And His Music”
Magnificent performance of this great song. The master has the last word. He’s been there, and he knows all about heartbreak. My great mentor and friend. Thank you for teaching me how to sing these songs Maestro x
TuesdayWells27
A Timeless Legend.
Thankyou.
Aerohead317
Absolutely beautiful thank you
Sacha Kudli
The night is bitter
The stars have lost their glitter
The winds grow colder
Suddenly youre a lot older
And all because of The Gal That 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
Shes run off and undone you
That great beginning
Has seen its final inning
I dont know what happened
Its all a crazy game
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 wheres she gone? - where has she gone?
The road gets rougher
Its lonelier and its tougher
With hope you burn up
Tomorrow maybe shell turn up
There aint no let up
Live long night, night and day
Ever since, (since) this world began
There aint nothin sadder than
A long lost loser
Lookin for his gal who got away
Please come back
Wont you come back
Rafa M. Ganem
The greatest male singer of all time.
Eddie eddie
Just fantastic
José Luis Hernández C.
Excelente interpretación del gran Frank Sinatra. Desade Caracas - Venezuela. 09-10-23
Otto Huanez
Genio...!!! Bravissimo..!!🇵🇪
Golf in New England
Only one man could stamp out a cigarette on the stage of Carnegie Hall... Frank Sinatra...