Born Francis Albert Sinatra to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, the Voice, Ol’ Blue Eyes, or the Chairman of the Board, casts a long shadow over twentieth century music- and the man didn’t even write music. He was just a singer- and an okay actor- but Sinatra’s musical interpretations connected with listeners all over the world and he possessed what is among singers that rarest of gifts: he could make people feel what he felt- or whatever he wanted them to feel.
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| Sinatra’s cameo in Around the World in 80 Days |
I enjoy listening to Sinatra’s ‘60s re-recordings of his ‘50s Capitol era songs as much as the next fan (his 1956 version of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” is good, but the way Sinatra in the 1963 Reprise version just turns the song inside out and chops it up is amazing). For me, comparing Sinatra’s Capitol and Reprise years is like comparing two different men: the skinny, sensitive, and wounded lover in his late thirties and early forties searching for meaning versus the brash, bitter, and carefree rake in his late forties and early fifties just looking for a good time. I started my Sinatra appreciation with the former but the older I’ve become I’ve also learned to appreciate the latter. Both are hopeless romantics.
Frank Sinatra was hugely popular in a century when most Americans still wanted to appear smart and sophisticated and men not only sang Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart songs but other men enjoyed listening to them. I’ve heard it said about Sinatra that women wanted him and men wanted to be him but based on Sinatra’s four marriages, I have my doubts. As his fellow Rat Packer, Dean Martin, humorously said, “When Sinatra dies, they’re giving his zipper to the Smithsonian” and “It’s Frank’s world, we just live in it.” Perhaps if women desired Sinatra then it was not only for his smooth voice and good looks but also for his combination of sensitivity and masculinity; and if men wanted to be him then it was not only to get women but also for Sinatra’s combination of culture, masculinity, and ordinary Joe appeal.
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| Sinatra with Ronald and Nancy Reagan |
Whether you’re riding high or down on your luck, there exists a Sinatra song to enhance every mood and event in your life- and to even offer you the occasional nugget of wisdom, such as this memorable yet questionable bit of philosophical advice:
Your castles may tumble, that’s fate after all
Life’s really funny that way
No use to grumble, smile as they fall
Weren’t you king for a day?
Perhaps to suit my own Christian view, I would translate the above lyrics as:
You will encounter suffering, that’s life after all
Adam and Eve disobeyed
No use to grumble, a savior has come
Jesus Christ is the way!
Here are some more of my favorite Frank Sinatra songs. Enjoy!
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| Sinatra and his fourth wife, Barbara |
01. Frank Sinatra – “The Lady Is a Tramp” (1957)
03. Frank Sinatra – “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (1954)
04. Frank Sinatra – “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” (1963)
05. Frank Sinatra feat. Antônio Carlos Jobim – “Wave” (1969)
06. Frank Sinatra – “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1963)
07. Frank Sinatra – “My Funny Valentine” (1954)
08. Frank Sinatra – “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” (1955)
09. Frank Sinatra – “My Way” (1969)
10. Frank Sinatra – “Anything Goes” (1956)
Listen to the playlist on Spotify...
... or check out the playlist on YouTube
(To open music in separate window, click title bar at top of video box)
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