3. In The Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra
The cover of the album says it all. The artist definitely nailed this one. The distant look on Frank's face as his cigarette burns between his fingers speaks volumes, the street lights are obscured by mist or indifference. The man is somewhere else. He is pining for his girl.
Frank had been slipping a little on the charts, but his career got a boost from an Oscar win in "From Here to Eternity". Allegedly, Ava Gardner had used her Hollywood influence to help him land this role. They were married, after Frank abruptly left his wife for Ava. I assume this was the subject of much controversy... today we wouldn't be able to buy groceries without seeing "FrAva" splashed across all the covers on the magazine stand. Sadly, their lifestyles led to the deterioration of the marriage. That's show biz, I guess. The rumour is that this relationship ending is the basis for the concept of the album. While Frank didn't write the lyrics for the songs, but they obviously hit home with him. His voice is unmistakable, and the feeling you get as he sings is that he is gonna put on a front, and you won't know that he is hurting bad. This concept album has nicely captured the inner dialogue and rationalizations of someone who has just been dumped. In fact, most of the songs had been around for years; so it is a bit of a "mixed tape" written for his lost love, and since this was before tape decks were in every household, arranging and recording the songs was the way to get it made. Picture Frank out in the rain like John Cusack in "Say Anything".
I was anticipating some of that confident, swaggering, Chairman of the Board style of delivery. I was ready to tap my toes and snap my fingers, but none of that was necessary. The album is mostly down tempo, and Frank's voice, combined with the sentimental lyrics, comes off as very sincere. There is no need for show stopping, blockbuster finishes like at the end of New York, New York, because that's not the vibe here at all. When you are dumped, the pain is just there all the time, until it gradually dissipates, and slowly moves into the fabric of your past that makes up who you are. This album wanders through the stages of the breakup, the periods of bravado, then self doubt, like a sine wave of despair, that we all go through in these situations. I am reminded of the scene in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" where Jason Segal is in the darkest depths of his recent breakup and explains to his brother that Sarah had bought him a container to keep his cereal in, and now he has the freshest cereal. The guy is obviously a wreck. It's the same situation on the album, Frank tries to convince himself he's OK, but not so much.
The next time I find myself single and aching, this will be my go to album; the mood, and the lyrics hit that particular nail right on the head. Wallowing aside, they are good songs, and Frank is the master in that genre in my opinion. Some say it is one of Sinatra's best albums, Our friends at Rolling Stone gave it five stars, and ranked the album at 100 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
I personally like the track "I get Along Without You Very Well". It is the breakup delusion at its finest, tempered with a dose of reality. Man, getting dumped sucks.
Frank had been slipping a little on the charts, but his career got a boost from an Oscar win in "From Here to Eternity". Allegedly, Ava Gardner had used her Hollywood influence to help him land this role. They were married, after Frank abruptly left his wife for Ava. I assume this was the subject of much controversy... today we wouldn't be able to buy groceries without seeing "FrAva" splashed across all the covers on the magazine stand. Sadly, their lifestyles led to the deterioration of the marriage. That's show biz, I guess. The rumour is that this relationship ending is the basis for the concept of the album. While Frank didn't write the lyrics for the songs, but they obviously hit home with him. His voice is unmistakable, and the feeling you get as he sings is that he is gonna put on a front, and you won't know that he is hurting bad. This concept album has nicely captured the inner dialogue and rationalizations of someone who has just been dumped. In fact, most of the songs had been around for years; so it is a bit of a "mixed tape" written for his lost love, and since this was before tape decks were in every household, arranging and recording the songs was the way to get it made. Picture Frank out in the rain like John Cusack in "Say Anything".
I was anticipating some of that confident, swaggering, Chairman of the Board style of delivery. I was ready to tap my toes and snap my fingers, but none of that was necessary. The album is mostly down tempo, and Frank's voice, combined with the sentimental lyrics, comes off as very sincere. There is no need for show stopping, blockbuster finishes like at the end of New York, New York, because that's not the vibe here at all. When you are dumped, the pain is just there all the time, until it gradually dissipates, and slowly moves into the fabric of your past that makes up who you are. This album wanders through the stages of the breakup, the periods of bravado, then self doubt, like a sine wave of despair, that we all go through in these situations. I am reminded of the scene in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" where Jason Segal is in the darkest depths of his recent breakup and explains to his brother that Sarah had bought him a container to keep his cereal in, and now he has the freshest cereal. The guy is obviously a wreck. It's the same situation on the album, Frank tries to convince himself he's OK, but not so much.
The next time I find myself single and aching, this will be my go to album; the mood, and the lyrics hit that particular nail right on the head. Wallowing aside, they are good songs, and Frank is the master in that genre in my opinion. Some say it is one of Sinatra's best albums, Our friends at Rolling Stone gave it five stars, and ranked the album at 100 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
I personally like the track "I get Along Without You Very Well". It is the breakup delusion at its finest, tempered with a dose of reality. Man, getting dumped sucks.
Buy it here.
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