Remembering Frank Sinatra at 100, and why "New York, New York" doesn’t make my Sinatra Top 5

So today is the 100th birthday of Francis Albert Sinatra, my favorite singer of all time. He was a great vocalist, and a pretty good actor, too (check out The Manchurian Candidate to see one example of what I’m talking about.)  Part of me wishes I were alive in the era of Sinatra’s prime. You know, back when they called women “dames.” Heck, I would have made a great sassy dame back in the day! (Squawker Jon just chimed in to say that I am a sassy dame right now! He wouldn’t say “great,” though. Heh.)

Anyhow, what I like about Sinatra, besides his voice, is that he hit rock bottom, and then had arguably the greatest comeback in show business history. Such an epic comeback, only a horse’s head in a bed would seem to explain it. Although that Godfather story didn’t really happen, we don’t know how much Sinatra’s, um, connections, played in him getting the Oscar-winning role as Maggio in From Here to Eternity. Heck of the movie, by the way – watching it will put what you thought your parents’ or grandparents’ generation was about in a whole new light! (For one thing, Donna Reed, George Bailey’s wife Mary in It’s a Wonderful Life, is a prostitute in this film. But I digress.)

Anyhow, Sinatra didn’t live a golden life. He had emotional scars. He had lots of downs, and romantic misery, and the like. He spent sleepless nights longing over lost loves, most notably Ava Gardner. All of this gave an edge to his singing, and is much of the reason his legend endures.

The way Sinatra didn’t just sing but live his songs is part of the reason I still listen to him so often. I dig Sinatra’s musing amid misery. Sorry, but I just can’t relate to people who have lived perfect, easy lives. Give me the Sinatras or A-Rods of the world over the Jeters of the world any day. I want to read and learn about the people who’ve made mistakes, and lived to tell the tale. Speaking of which, I just started reading Ben Bradlee Jr.’s biography of Ted Williams, a very flawed (well, he was a Boston Red Sox!) but interesting individual. Good book so far!

I also have to admit finding it amusing to read recently about how Sinatra detested “My Way,” finding its egomaniacal lyrics way too much. As the Wall Street Journal explained his thinking, “It would have seemed like the tackiest thing imaginable to stand in the middle of Madison Square Garden and shout out to the world how great he was.” Somebody ought to have reminded team player Jeter about that, when he had that infamous Nike “My Way” commercial as part of his endless retirement tour!

Anyhow, I am such a Sinatra fan, I even liked one of the songs Frank’s kids did. His daughter Nancy’s “These Boots Are Made for Walking” is my top go-to karaoke song, because her lack of vocal range matches mine. Plus she’s good friends with Morrissey, one of my heroes.

So, in honor of Frank Sinatra’s b-day, I’m going to list my five favorite Sinatra songs, in reverse order, from 5 to 1. And no, “New York, New York” does not make this current list. It’s a little overplayed at this point for me! Sorry.

5. “The Lady Is a Tramp”: I still don’t know what the heck the lyrics in this song mean. Why is the lady a tramp because she doesn’t show up late to the theater, and because she won’t dish the dirt with the rest of the girls? Even if it’s meant facetiously, it still doesn’t make much sense to me. Nonetheless, I still love this song!

4. “It Had to Be You”: One of my favorite movies of all time is When Harry Met Sally. And Sinatra’s version of this song highlights the most pivotal scene in the film. One of the movie scenes where I can recite every word of dialogue, for whatever that’s worth! Harry Connick, Jr. also sings the song in the film, which is an okay song. But Sinatra’s version kills.

3. “Luck Be a Lady Tonight”: Longtime Subway Squawkers readers may know that Guys and Dolls is one of my favorite musicals ever. I know all the songs by heart. I am also a big believer in “yeah, chemistry,” as Marlon Brando’s Sky Masterson puts it in the film. But as sexy as Brando was in that role, he couldn’t sing a lick. Sinatra, who plays Nathan Detroit in the film, was peeved he didn’t get the part, which has the best songs, with “Luck Be a Lady Tonight.” Looking back on it, Sinatra sang the heck out that song on his own, years later. But Brando sold it with his looks and charisma. Click the links and see for yourself.

2. “The Way You Look Tonight”: Some of the best lyrics of any Sinatra song. Phrases like “keep that breathless charm” and “that laugh that wrinkles your nose, it touches my foolish heart” are so memorable. What woman wouldn’t want a man to sing this song about her? A classic. Even the instrumental part of this song is terrific.

1. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”:  Many people consider this Sinatra’s greatest song. So do I. The great Nelson Riddle worked with Sinatra on the arrangement of this song, but the instrumental crescendo in the middle of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” was Sinatra’s idea.  Someday, I will dance with someone to that part of the song; it’s just so perfect! I also loved this Vanity Fair description of Sinatra regarding this song, which talks about his “terrible impatience—with the incompetence and stupidity that were so rife in the world, with things he needed to happen instantaneously, and so rarely did. The realization that he was like nobody else, and therefore destined to be alone. His terrors: of aloneness itself; of sleep, the cousin to death. And always, always, the vast and ravening appetites.” That sums up Sinatra in a nutshell.

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Honorable mention: “That’s Life,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Summer Wind,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “All or Nothing at All,” and “It Was a Very Good Year.” In closing, check out Sinatra, with Count Basie, performing “Fly Me to the Moon” to some prisoners. Good stuff!

Do you have a favorite Frank Sinatra song? Tell us about it!

I had such an epic adventure at Summer Streets Saturday that I even had a corporate sponsor for my day!

Ever see one of those apocalyptic movies or TV shows (Stephen King’s “The Stand” comes to mind) in which New York City has been abandoned, and people are able to roam freely at will, committing all sorts of shenanigans and mayhem? That’s what I felt like yesterday, as I ran and walked the entire length of Summer Streets — and back! What a rush!

For three Saturdays in August, the city closes down close to seven miles of streets, from Park Avenue at East 72nd Street to Duane and Centre Streets, close to the Brooklyn Bridge. There are rest stops along the way featuring food, water, and entertainment. Oh, and the whole thing is free!

So I got up early Saturday morning so that I could frolic and cavort along the route. (And really, the fact that I would do so is a huge change for me, given that I spent most of my life as a couch potato!) Just goes to show one of my adages: never say never, whether it’s A-Rod completely changing his reputation or me completely changing my fitness level.(Although there is no word yet as to whether   Squawker Jon will hold a special day for yours truly, the way Alex is getting!)

All of that is a very long intro (and I can hear Squawker Jon tapping his toe, imploring me to get to the point already!) about my adventure at Summer Streets yesterday. I have included pictures below. Sorry, I’m not exactly Margaret Bourke-White when it comes to photography (or even my running club cohort and fellow writer Josh, who does a much better job than I could ever hope to do when it comes to illustrating a story with pictures!)

Anyhow, I took the express bus into Manhattan and started traversing the route at Duane Street and Centre Street. I even had a corporate sponsor for my day! Earlier this summer, the sunscreen brand Bullfrog sent me a press release about something baseball-related with their product. I responded to the email. Long story short, they ended up sending me a bottle of Bullfrog Water Armor Sport Quik Gel Sunscreen, a tube of their Sport Quik Stik, and their lip balm, and they asked me to write about using their products. I used them for my day, and they all worked great. Even though I spent over four hours in the sun, the sunscreen worked well without having to reapply it! Good stuff!

Foley Square’s beach scene

The first thing I saw was the Foley Square rest stop. It had a whole beach theme, with sand, beach chairs, and palm trees. Vita Coco sponsored the area and gave out tons of their coconut water drinks, which was very refreshing. There was also a massive slide at the rest area, but you had to make reservations ahead of time for that.

The Slide the City attraction.

I then started my run. The whole thing was a huge adrenaline rush. Sure, I have been on city streets before in road races, like Central Park West for the Oakley 10K and the streets of Harlem for the Percy Sutton Run. But running Lafayette Street and Park Avenue was way cooler! Not only did we get to see a variety of neighborhoods and sights, but you really feel like you’re getting away with something by participating! Bicyclists hewed to the left on the streets, and runners to the right. Combine that with great music on my iPod Classic, from the Grateful Dead to N.W.A. to Katy Perry, and I felt on top of the world.

The Summer Streets scene in lower Manhattan

I ran much of the route, with some walk breaks, and I took a break about halfway through the route and visited the rest area at Park Avenue and 25th Street. They had more coconut drinks, Applegate Hot Dogs (long line, but they were no great shakes), and two cheese stands — Cabot and Daiya. Cheese is one of my all-time favorite foods, so I had to indulge. Who’da thunk it: Cabot Cheese is world’s better than the Daiya non-dairy cheese! Shocking, I know!

After this, we got to my very favorite part of City Streets — Grand Central Terminal. We got to run where cars normally go, and we couldn’t help but feel like we were conquering heroes or something! This photo doesn’t really do the scene justice, but it was such a head rush!

Running around the upper level of Grand Central  Terminal was awesome!

Last year, Squawker Jon and I walked Summer Streets last year from 14th to 46th Street, and Grand Central was one of our favorite things. The other fave thing was walking through the Park Avenue Tunnel, which seemed spooky and otherworldly. Unfortunately, the tunnel wasn’t included this year as part of Summer Streets. I hope they bring it back next year!

After passing Grand Central, I ran fairly hard (for me, that is!) from there to 72nd Street.  Getting to run up Park Avenue and passing the many luxury apartment buildings was such a head rush, and pushed me past my limits. I am training for a half-marathon, and was supposed to do either a three-mile fun run or an easy five-mile run. on Saturday. Somehow, I ended up running much more than I should have (not sure of the exact number of miles, due to walk breaks, but it was a lot!)

I turned around at the end of the route and headed back. The big challenge was to see if I could complete traveling on it by 1 p.m., when the roads would again be open to traffic. So I really pushed myself to get through.

One thing I noticed was this: when I ran my first half-marathon this April, I was so tired after mile 9 that I basically walked/staggered for the last few miles. Yesterday, I was still tired for the last few miles, but I was able to run or jog it instead of walking. Progress!

On the way back, I stopped for water several times at stands the city set up for filling water bottles, but I otherwise kept on moving until I got back to Foley Square right at 1 p.m., grabbed a peach and mango Vita Coco, and lounged in one of the beach chairs set up. After relaxing a little, I headed back home to Staten Island and was very pleased with myself for traversing the entire length of City Streets — and back!