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.
This Love of Miney
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Though life is empty since you have gone
You're always on my mind, though out of sight
It's lonesome through the day
But oh, the night
I cry my heart out, it's bound to break
Since nothing matters, let it break
I ask the sun and the moon
What's to become of it
This love of mine
I ask the sun and the moon
The stars that shine
What's to become of it
This love of mine
This love of mine goes on and on
The lyrics of Frank Sinatra and The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra's song "This Love of Mine" convey the lingering feeling of heartbreak after a relationship has ended. The singer describes their love as something that continues despite the emptiness they feel since their partner left. The lyrics evoke a sense of nostalgia and longing for what was lost. The phrase "you're always on my mind, though out of sight" suggests that even though the person is not physically present, they remain emotionally present. The singer describes how the days are "lonesome," but the nights are even worse - they cry their heart out and feel like it will break. The lyrics convey the sense that the singer feels helpless and unable to do anything about their situation.
The repeated refrain of "I ask the sun and the moon, the stars that shine, what's to become of it, this love of mine" suggests that the singer is seeking answers from the universe about the fate of their love. The phrase "what's to become of it" implies that the singer is unsure of what will happen next and feels powerless to control their destiny. The fact that they are addressing celestial bodies like the sun and the moon emphasizes their feeling of insignificance and helplessness in the face of a larger force.
Overall, the lyrics of "This Love of Mine" convey a sense of despair and heartbreak, but also hint at the resilience of love and the persistence of emotions even after a relationship has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
This love of mine goes on and on
My love is never-ending and continuous
Though life is empty since you have gone
My life has been left void because you are no longer around
You're always on my mind, though out of sight
Even though you're not here, you're always in my thoughts
It's lonesome through the day
The day is lonely without you here
But oh, the night
But the night is even worse
I cry my heart out, it's bound to break
I cry so much that my heart is ready to shatter
Since nothing matters, let it break
Since nothing seems important anymore, let my heart break
I ask the sun and the moon
I look to the heavens for answers
The stars that shine
Even the stars cannot explain my love
What's to become of it
What will happen to my love?
This love of mine
My deep emotional love that I can't control
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, BARTON MUSIC CORPORATION
Written by: SOL PARKER, HENRY W. SANICOLA, FRANK SINATRA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Deutschlieber
So beautiful. Can't stop loving ol' Blue Eyes.
@barryparker1949
My father, Sol Parker wrote this song with Frank and I think that this original recording is spectacular
@Dobie_Gillis
What a wonderful song. The GI's went off to war and left their gals behind with it playing in their heads.
@barryparker1949
Dobie Gillis I'm glad you like it. I was a fan of Dobie Gillis too.
@TheDonimic
What a joke, my father wrote this and entered it into a contest run by Tommy Dorsey and Sinatra. My father originally called it, This Love of Ours. Dorsey and Sinatra changed it around enough so it would be hard to make a legal case, but don't pretend Sinatra co-wrote it-- he didn't write many songs. R.I.P. dad.
@barryparker1949
TheDonimic Hey Dominic - I guess you are one of the millions of whackos that now grace the streets of the USA - unless you are Frank Sinatra Jr., Henry Sanicola, Jr. or me Barry Parker - your father did not write "This Love Of Mine"
@barryparker1949
barryparker1949 the song was originally entitled "For Whom The Bell Tolls"
after the novel and Frank suggested the change.
@hachinohehorse
The Bobby-Soxer years????? What a voice!!!!
@robertglade-wright1764
This is Frank at his peak - just listen to him!
@meredith218461
Pure magic! Sinatra made subsequent recordings of this sad romantic ballad, however I feel these do not compare with this original recording. Here his musical phrasing and story telling are absolutely superb.