We all know what Frank is singing about here - we’ve all been there. I’m not a huge fan of his music, but the whole In The Wee Small Hours album is a great listen, up there with other classics of the genre - Blood on the Tracks, Sea Change, Tunnel of Love and so on. Right so, I’ll spell it out - the break-up album.

In my mind, Frank sits in his apartment, immaculately suited, drinking whiskey, watching the smoke from his cigarette swirl, and crooning morosely after Ava Gardner. No time for ol’ Dino and Sammy tonight, Frank’s got a broken heart and only time can mend it. Time and whiskey. And cigarettes.

Although Frank wrote neither the lyrics nor the music to this, he sings it with all his heart. The backing music is very soft strings, with no percussion at all, and Sinatra’s voice is gravelly, worn, almost resigned. There’s little in the way of lyrics, but what Sinatra does say pretty much covers all bases. He’s loved, lost, and is now weary. But there is hope, you can tell that much from his voice. I like to think that he’s having just one more whiskey, one more sorrowful croon of this great song, and then he’s going out to tear up the town. Here’s the studio version of the song. Swingin’.

Last 5 posts by Dave

• 'Sunflower' - Paul Weller, 1993 - December 18th, 2008
• 'Brilliant Mistake' - Elvis Costello, 1986 - December 16th, 2008
• 'Icky Thump' - The White Stripes, 2007 - December 11th, 2008
• 'Careering' - Public Image Limited, 1979 - December 10th, 2008
• 'We'll Meet Again' - Vera Lynn, 1939 - December 5th, 2008

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Retro Classics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.