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.
Too romantic
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Moonlight and stars can make such a fool of me
You know you're much too near, and I am too romantic
Wouldn't I be a sight on a bended knee
I'm startled when you whisper
I'll run if you should sigh
I must be so careful
You shouldn't let me dream 'cause I'm too romantic
Don't make me fall unless it could all come true
The song Too Romantic by Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey speaks about a person who is afraid of letting themselves be swept away by the beauty and romance of the night. The dreamer talks about how the moonlight and stars have the potential to make a fool out of them, and they are wary of falling victim to their own romanticism. They express their fear of being too close to their lover and imagines what they would look like if they were to get down on a bended knee. The dreamer is even startled by gentle whispers and is constantly reminded to be careful, lest they lose their heart completely.
The tone of the song is light and airy, as is befitting of a love song. However, the lyrics themselves speak about the more cautious side of love. The dreamer has been hurt before and is now more guarded against the possibility of heartbreak. They are trying to protect themselves against falling too deeply in love and are wary of the power that love has over them. The theme of the song may relate to those who have been in tumultuous relationships or maybe afraid to let their heart feel again after being so thoroughly broken.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm so afraid of night 'cause I'm too romantic
I fear the night because I have a tendency to romanticize everything.
Moonlight and stars can make such a fool of me
The beauty of the night sky has the power to overwhelm me and make me act foolishly.
You know you're much too near, and I am too romantic
Your proximity to me only heightens my romantic tendencies, which is not always a good thing.
Wouldn't I be a sight on a bended knee
If I were to give in to my romantic impulses, I would likely end up proposing to you on one knee.
I'm startled when you whisper
Even the slightest sound or gesture from you can set me off and make me feel overwhelmed with romantic feelings.
I'll run if you should sigh
Your sighs or other signs of emotion make me feel like I need to distance myself from you in order to keep my own romantic impulses in check.
I must be so careful
I am aware of my own tendency to be too romantic, and I must be constantly vigilant in order to avoid letting it get out of control.
Or I'll kiss my heart goodbye
If I give in to my romantic impulses too much, I run the risk of being hurt or disappointed, so I need to be careful not to 'lose my heart' in that way.
You shouldn't let me dream 'cause I'm too romantic
I need to be grounded in reality, because my tendency to romanticize everything can lead me down a dangerous path of unrealistic expectations and disappointment.
Don't make me fall unless it could all come true
If I am going to allow myself to fall in love, it must be with someone who has the potential to make all of my dreams come true, otherwise I risk getting hurt.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAMES MONACO, JOHNNY BURKE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Neil Cassner
🌹 Beautiful song. ✨
Mr. Wartorn
Thank you for updating this YouTube channel and the 80’s YouTube channel in 2019!!
Sinatra 50
You're welcome.