Frank Sinatra Lyrics

Frank Sinatra lyrics are difficult to summarize as the singer's career spanned over 70 years and is considered an icon in musical and television culture. A star of radio, television, movies and the recording industry, Frank Sinatra is one of a handful of artists to ever win both a Grammy and an Academy Award.

Frank Sinatra lyrics involve several signature songs for which Sinatra is famous including "My Way," "New York, New York" and "Strangers in the Night". The song "My Way" is an English version of the French song, "Comme d'habitud", in which Paul Anka wrote all new lyrics to the melody, which remained closed to the original.

When Sinatra recorded "My Way" he wasn't particularly impressed with the lyrics and didn't think it would become a big hit and had no idea it would become his signature song. The song is an account of a man near death, reviewing his life and reminiscing about the positive life he has made happen.

Fred Ebb wrote the lyrics to "New York, New York", which was the theme song to a 1977 Martin Scorsese movie by the same name. Originally performed in the film by Liza Minnelli, "New York, New York" was recorded two years later by Sinatra and became more closely associated with him than her. Sinatra changed the lyrics slightly from their original version inserting the phrase "A-number-one" twice in the climax of the song.

"Strangers in the Night" was recorded in 1966 and represents Sinatra's title song from his most popular album by the same name. The song was originally composed by Ivo Robi? for a music festival in Croatia. Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder wrote the English lyrics for the song. One of the most recognized lyrics to the song is the line, "doo-be-doo-be-doo", which has been parodied by the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and inspired the cartoon canine Scooby Doo.

What most people don't know about Frank Sinatra is that for his entire career he has been a champion to racial tolerance. Sinatra starred in a short film called "The House I Live In", which was about racial equality and tolerance and earned him a special Academy Award. In 1947, Sinatra also received the Thomas Jefferson Award for Fighting Against Intolerance in New York.

Sinatra also played a crucial role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s, refusing to perform in establishments where friend Sammy Davis, Jr. was prohibited. In 1961, Sinatra also played a benefit for Martin Luther King, Jr. at Carnegie Hall.