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 Gypsy
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She can look at the future and drive away all your fears,
Everything will come out right if you only believe The Gypsy,
She can tell at a glance that my heart was full of tears.
She looked at my hand and told me my lover was always true,
But deep in my heart I knew dear, somebody else was kissing you.
I will go there again 'cause I want to believe The Gypsy,
That my lover is true and she'll come back to me someday.
The song "The Gypsy" by Frank Sinatra tells the story of a man who seeks solace in a gypsy woman, who possesses the ability to read his future and alleviate his fears. Through her powers, she tells him that his lover is always true, but he knows deep in his heart that it isn't the case, as somebody else is kissing her. Despite this, the man still believes in the gypsy's words and hopes that his lover will return to him someday.
The lyrics of the song are full of metaphors and symbols that make it a great example of storytelling through music. The gypsy woman represents hope and faith, and her ability to see the future symbolizes the man's desire to know what's going to happen in his life. The use of the caravan as the setting for the story also adds to the romantic and mysterious atmosphere of the song.
Overall, "The Gypsy" speaks to our human need for hope and the belief in the possibility of a brighter future. Even when faced with the harsh reality of a broken heart, the man in the song chooses to have faith in the gypsy's words and hopes for the return of his lover.
Line by Line Meaning
In a quaint caravan there's a lady they call The Gypsy,
There is a mysterious woman named The Gypsy who lives in a charming caravan.
She can look at the future and drive away all your fears,
The Gypsy possesses the ability to see what is to come and can help alleviate apprehension.
Everything will come out right if you only believe The Gypsy,
If you place trust in The Gypsy, she can ensure that everything will work out positively.
She can tell at a glance that my heart was full of tears.
With one look, The Gypsy knew that the artist was deeply saddened and melancholic.
She looked at my hand and told me my lover was always true,
The Gypsy observed the artist's hand and claimed that their partner is trustworthy and loyal.
But deep in my heart I knew dear, somebody else was kissing you.
Despite The Gypsy's words, the singer comprehended that their lover was being intimate with another.
I will go there again 'cause I want to believe The Gypsy,
Because the singer longs for assurance that their lover will return, they will revisit The Gypsy and trust in her once more.
That my lover is true and she'll come back to me someday.
They hope that their significant other is indeed faithful and will reunite with them in the future, thanks to The Gypsy's guidance.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Billy Reid
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Olga Silva
HERMOSA Y ROMANTICA CANCION, ME ENCANTA.
Vanda T
"My lover was always true".... I love this song! Thanks for posting this!
knarfartanis
The Voice, when Sinatra sings magic fills the air,,
jimmy page
Heard this song for the first time yesterday, it's great.
jimmy page
+mamatibbors cassady cool
mamatibbors cassady
+jimmy page This has always been a special song for me, you should lookup some of the many versions of it.......Ink Spots, Dinah Shore, others, it's reallya great song.
richard Gullison
A classic! Check out Russell DeCarle`s arrangement & recent version of this great song on his new CD "Live from Loud Mouse Studio"
Safa Alkan
When song is starting , how can I say .. Melody makes me eargasm ! That intro is unusual !
David Walsh
Simply beautiful.
Aser
David Walsh I think the ink spots did it better