Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was a native of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey, Sr. and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. The Dorsey brothers' two younger siblings were Mary and Edward (who died young).
At age 15, Jimmy recommended Tommy as the replacement for Russ Morgan in the seminal 1920s territory band "The Scranton Sirens." Tommy and Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Tal Henry, Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, and especially Paul Whiteman, before forming the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934. Glenn Miller was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934 and 1935, composing "Annie's Cousin Fanny" and "Dese Dem Dose" for the band. Ongoing acrimony between the brothers, however, led to Tommy Dorsey's walking out to form his own band in 1935, just as the Orchestra was having a hit with "Every Little Moment."
The Dorsey brothers themselves later reconciled – Jimmy Dorsey had had to break up his own highly successful big band in 1953, and brother Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction – but before long Tommy renamed the band the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on Jackie Gleason's CBS television show, which was preserved on kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1954 to 1956, on which they introduced Elvis Presley to national television audiences, among others.
Tommy Dorsey had seventeen number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s: "On Treasure Island", "The Music Goes 'Round and Around", "Alone", "You", "Marie", "Satan Takes a Holiday", "The Big Apple", "Once in a While", "The Dipsy Doodle", "Music, Maestro, Please", "Our Love", "All the Things You Are", "Indian Summer", "I'll Never Smile Again", "There Are Such Things", "In the Blue of Evening", and "Dolores". He had two more number one hits in 1935 when he was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway", number one for two weeks, and "Chasing Shadows", number one for three weeks. His biggest hit was "I'll Never Smile Again", featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was number one for twelve weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940.
Tommy Dorsey composed several popular songs of the swing era, including "To You" and "This is No Dream", co-written with Benny Davis and Ted Shapiro in 1939; "You Taught Me To Love Again" in 1939, with music by Tommy Dorsey and Henri Woode and lyrics by Charles Carpenter, recorded by Gene Krupa and Sarah Vaughan; "In the Middle of a Dream" in 1939 with Al Stillman and Einar Aaron Swan, recorded by Glenn Miller and Red Norvo; "Three Moods"; "Night in Sudan" (1939); "The Morning After" in 1937 with Moe Jaffe and Clay Boland, also recorded by Red Norvo; "Peckin' with the Penguins", co-written with Deane Kincaide from the 1938 short movie feature Porky's Spring Planting; "You Can't Cheat a Cheater" with Frank Signorelli and Phil Napoleon; and, "Trombonology", which was recorded in 1947. Based on the collection of sheet music of the U.S. Library of Congress, Tommy Dorsey co-wrote "Chris and His Gang" in 1938 with Fletcher and Horace Henderson and "Nip and Tuck" with Fred Norman in 1946. "To You" was recorded in 1939 by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, and by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. "This is No Dream" was recorded by Harry James and his Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals and by Charlie Barnet and his Orchestra with vocals by Judy Ellington.
In 1956, Tommy Dorsey died at age 51 in his Greenwich, Connecticut home, choking in his sleep after a heavy meal following which he had taken sleeping pills. Jimmy Dorsey (out of whose band Tommy had walked two decades earlier) led his brother's band until his own death of throat cancer the following year. At that point, trombonist Warren Covington assumed leadership of the band with, presumably, Jane Dorsey's blessing (she owned the rights to her late husband's band and name) and it produced, ironically enough, the biggest selling hit record ever released under the Dorsey name. Billed as the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington, they topped the charts in 1958 with Tea For Two Cha-Cha. Covington led the Dorsey band through 1970 (he also led and recorded with his own organisation), after which Jane Dorsey renamed it, simply, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, which is conducted today by Buddy Morrow, featuring vocalist Rob Zappulla. Jane Dorsey died of natural causes at the age of 80 in 2003.
This Love Of Mine
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra 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.
The lyrics of Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra Feat. Frank Sinatra's song This Love Of Mine are reminiscent of a person who is struggling to come to terms with a lost love. The artist sings about how their love for someone has been ongoing, even after their significant other has departed. The emptiness they feel is pervasive throughout their day, and they cannot help but think about their lover despite their absence. The weight of this absence is unbearable, and they express their misery in lines such as "It's lonesome through the day, But oh! the night." It is evident that part of their grief is rooted in the realization that their love continues to endure despite the separation, making it difficult to move on, as expressed in the lines, "What's to become of it, This love of mine."
The chorus of the song, "I cry my heart out, it's bound to break, Since nothing matters, let it break," reflects the pain that the singer is going through. Additionally, the direct addresses to the sun, moon, and stars suggest that they are seeking answers from the universe about their love's fate. Overall, the lyrics suggest that the singer is reliving the pain of lost love and is searching for closure.
Line by Line Meaning
This love of mine goes on and on,
My love for you persists without end.
Though life is empty since you have gone.
My life is a barren wasteland without you.
You're always on my mind, though out of sight,
Your presence lingers in my thoughts, even if physically absent.
It's lonesome through the day,
The daylight hours only magnify my solitude.
But oh! the night.
The darkness is a welcome distraction, but also a source of agony.
I cry my heart out, it's bound to break,
My emotions overwhelm me to the point of physical pain, and my heart may give way to its distress.
Since nothing matters, let it break.
In the grand scheme of things, there is little worth preserving if my heart cannot hold together under the weight of my love for you.
I ask the sun and the moon,
I demand answers to my plight from the cosmic entities that govern our world.
The stars that shine,
Even celestial bodies bear witness to my suffering.
What's to become of it,
What fate shall befall my love?
This love of mine.
This love that consumes me, that defines me, that ultimately may destroy me.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
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.