I missed how great Frank Sinatra was.
Growing up in the Bronx, in the 60s, I was a rock n’ roller. The Beatles. Stones. Zeppelin. Pink Floyd. I didn’t know about In the Wee Small Hours or I’ll Be Around or Lady is a Tramp. Where were the guitars? Where was the sound?
Recently, after seeing Alex Gibney’s remarkable HBO doc on Sinatra, I downloaded the greatest hits. The voice. The phrasing. The power. And I think finally listened, truly listened, to the lyrics. Here’s one from That’s Life:
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king
I’ve been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race
No, Sinatra didn’t write it. Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon did. But The Chairman of the Board owned it. That lyric, about getting knocked down and jumping back to your feet, couldn’t be sung by any voice. It had to come from a voice that understood how much of life is getting off the mat, shaking off the hard times and moving on. Sinatra did.
Then there’s the killer lyric. Written by Paul Anka. From My Way:
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way
How many of us can say we did it our way? How many of us can say we lived life or are living life the way we want? My guess is very few. But it’s never too late. Frank Sinatra recorded My Way in 1969 and it took a kid from Selwyn Avenue 47 years and lifetime of living to finally get it.
Frank Sinatra called us to arms. Don’t kneel. Get off the mat. Live life for yourself and the world around you will be a better place for it.
Art Gurwitz
Founder, Areena
Author
