Only the Lonely

By Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
1958

Although often remembered as the greatest vocal interpreter of popular song, Frank Sinatra also had a number of memorable songs written specifically for him, and this may have been the very most memorable. As he often did, the Chairman turned to close friends Van Heusen and Cahn to write for him a title song for his new ballad album in 1958, an album that would otherwise be filled with long-popular old chestnuts like "One for My Baby", "Willow Weep for Me" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry". This stark and wistful number was the perfect title track for what many consider Sinatra's greatest album--and one that has recently gotten a stellar new 60th anniversary re-release.

Lyrics: 

Each place I go only the lonely go
Some little small cafè
The songs I know only the lonely know
Each melody recalls a love that used to be

The dreams I dream only the lonely dream
Of lips as warm as may
That hopeless scheme only the lonely scheme
That soon somewhere you'll find the one that used to care

And you recall each fun time
Those picnics at the beach when love was new
It well could be the one time
A hopeless little dream like that comes true

If you find love hang on to each caress
And never let love go
For when it's gone you'll know the loneliness
The heartbreak only the lonely know

Recorded By:

Aretha Franklin
Shirley Horn
Iggy Pop
Tierney Sutton
Diana Krall

The Christmas Waltz

By Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne
1957

"And this song of mine, in three-quarter time..."
This sweet modern Christmas carol was originally written for Sinatra's Capitol Records Christmas album, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra, by his dear friends and accomplished songwriters Cahn & Styne--who also wrote "Mistletoe & Holly" for the same album. Since Frank introduced, it has become a cherished holiday standard.

Lyrics:

Frosted windowpanes,
Candles gleaming inside,
Painted candy-canes on the tree.
Santa's on his way,
He's filled his sleigh with things,
Things for you, and for me.

It's that time of year
When the world falls in love,
Every song you hear
Seems to say,
Merry Christmas,
May your New Year's dream come true.

And this song of mine,
In three-quarter time,
Wishes you and yours,
The same thing, too.

Recorded By:

Nancy Wilson
Peggy Lee
Harry Connick Jr.
Jane Monheit
Doris Day

Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1945

A melodic, romantic favorite by Styne & Cahn, it was introduced at the end of World War II by the Harry James orchestra, and later became a favorite of adult pop singers in the 1950s and beyond. Of particular note is Frank Sinatra's breathtaking rendition on his landmark 1958 album Only the Lonely.

Lyrics:

The torch I carry is handsome.
It's worth its heartache in ransom.
Now when that twilight steals,
I know how the lady in the harbor feels.

When I want rain, I get sunny weather.
I'm just as blue, blue as the sky.
Since love has gone, I can't get myself together.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

My friends ask me out, but I tell them I'm busy.
I've got to get a new alibi.
I hang around at home, and ask myself: "Where is she?"
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

Dry little tear drops, my little tear drops,
Moving on a stream of dreams.
My little memories, those precious memories
Remind me of our crazy schemes.

Then somebody says, just forget about her.
But I gave that treatment a try.
Strangely enough, I got along without her,
Then one day she passed me right by - oh well,
I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry.

Recorded By:

Dexter Gordon
Sarah Vaughan
Jack Jones
Ray Charles
Mel Torme

It's Magic

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1947

The lovely Doris Day introduced this tune, written for her to perform in her debut motion picture, Romance on the High Seas. Ms. Day was one of five people to subsequently record the song the following year, and her version was the most successful, rising to #2 on the Billboard charts.

Lyrics:

You sigh, the song begins,
You speak and I hear violins.
It's magic.

The stars desert the skies,
And rush to nestle in your eyes.
It's magic.

Without a golden wand or mystic charms.
Fantastic things begin when I am in your arms.

When we walk hand-in-hand,
The world becomes a wonderland.
It's magic.

How else can I explain
Those rainbows when there isn't rain?
It's magic.

Why do I tell me myself
These things that happen are all really true,
When in my heart I know
The magic is my love for you?

Recorded By:

Jerry Vale
Tony Martin
Dick Haymes
Sarah Vaughan
Keeley Smith

I Should Care

By Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston & Sammy Cahn
1944

Written for the glossy, sentimental World War II movie Thrill of a Romance, this song, written primarily by longtime Sinatra arranger Stordahl (pictured) plays lyrically off a popular slang expression--most likely courtesy of Cahn. It was introduced in the movie by Bob Allen and the Tommy Dorsey orchestra, and charted four times in the top 20 by four different artists in its first year alone.

Lyrics:

I should care,
I should go around weeping.
I should care,
I should go without sleeping.

Strangely enough, I sleep well,
'Cept for a dream or two.
But then I count my sheep well,
Funny how sheep can lull you to sleep.

So I should care,
I should let it upset me.
I should care,
But it just doesn't get me.

Maybe I won't find someone as lovely as you.
But I should care,
And I do.

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Frank Sinatra
Bing Crosby
Jane Monheit
Amy Winehouse (below)

All My Tomorrows

By Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen
1959

The winning team of Cahn and Van Heusen, a favorite of Frank Sinatra's, composed this tune for the Chairman's Frank Capra picture A Hole in the Head. Sinatra sang the song over the credits of the film. He also recorded it as a single, but it was the release of the other Cahn/Van Heusen song from the soundtrack, "High Hopes", that became a monster hit for Frank.

Lyrics:

Today I may not have a thing at all,
Except for just a dream or two.
But I've got lots of plans for tomorrow,
And all my tomorrows belong to you.

Right now it may not seem like spring at all.
We're drifting and the laughs are few.
But I've got rainbows planned for tomorrow,
And all my tomorrows belong to you.

No one knows better than I
That luck keeps passing me by... that's fate.
But with you there at my side,
I'll soon be turrning the tide... just wait.

As long as I've got arms that cling at all,
It's you that I'll be clinging to.
And all the dreams I dream, beg, or borrow
On some bright tomorrow, they'll all come true.
And all my bright tomorrows belong to you.

Recorded By:

Nancy Wilson
Shirley Horn
Jack Jones
Crystal Gayle
Tony Bennett

Until the Real Thing Comes Along

By Mann Holiner, Alberta Nichols, Saul Chaplin, L.E. Freeman & Sammy Cahn
1936

Strangely, this song was initially published in two versions which were identical, only one listed different three composers, while the other listed five. Today, ASCAP credits all five. The song was introduced by bandleader Andy Kirk (pictured). Kirk actually made two different 1936 recordings of the tune, one in March and one in April, using two different vocalists--Ben Thigpen and Pha Terrell.

Lyrics:

I'd work for you,
I'd slave for you,
I'd be a beggar or a knave for you.
If that isn't love, it will have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

I'd gladly move
The earth for you
To prove my love, dear,
And it's worth for you.
If that isn't love, it'll have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

With all the words, dear, at my command,
I just can't make you understand.
I'll always love you, darling,
Come what may.
My heart is yours
What more can I say?

I'd lie for you,
I'd sigh for you,
I'd tear the stars down
From the sky for you.
If that isn't love, it will have to do,
Until the real thing comes along.

Recorded By:

Billie Holiday
Fats Waller
Frank Sinatra
Ella Fitzgerald
Dexter Gordon

Dedicated to You

By Saul Chaplin, Hy Zaret & Sammy Cahn
1936

Composer Chaplin (pictured) and lyricist Cahn had previously met while members of the same orchestra, and this tune was in fact one of Chaplin's first efforts as an official member of ASCAP. It was introduced by Andy Kirk & His Twelve Clouds of Joy, but a young Ella Fitzgerald would get the big hit some months later. Chaplin was also responsible for songs like "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", "If Its the Last Thing I Do" and "Please Be Kind". He later gained acclaim in Hollywood as a producer/arranger for musicals like An American in Paris, High Society and West Side Story.

Lyrics:

If I should write a book for you,
That brought me fame and fortune, too,
That book would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

And, if I should paint a picture, too,
That showed the loveliness of you,
My art would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

To you,
Because your love is the beacon that lights up my way.
To you,
Because with you I know one lifetime could be just one heavenly place.

If I should find a twinkling star
One half so wondrous as you are,
That star would be, like my heart and me--
Dedicated to you.

Recorded By:

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
Freddie Hubbard
Carmen McRae
Sarah Vaughan
Sammy Davis Jr.

The Second Time Around

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1960

One of Blake Edwards' early comedies, High Time starred Bing Crosby as an older man going back to college, and featured this Oscar-nominated tune. Although it didn't win ("Never on a Sunday" from the Greek film of the same name took home that honor), the song of middle-aged love--as introduced by Crosby in the film--became an instant favorite, and one of the most successful standards of the late "songbook period". An example of a time when not all songs were written for teenagers.

Lyrics:

Love is lovelier,
The second time around.
Just as wonderful,
With both feet on the ground.

It's that second time you hear your love song sung
Makes you think, perhaps, that love, like youth,
Is wasted on the young.

Love's more comfortable
The second time you fall.
Like a friendly home,
The second time you call.

Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found?
There are those who'd bet
Love comes but once--and yet,
I'm oh so glad we met
The second time around.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Tony Bennett
Nancy Wilson
Michael Bolton & Nicolette Sheridan (?!)
Mel Torme

Day by Day

By Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston & Sammy Cahn

1945

Long-time collaborators going back to their days together as arrangers in the Tommy Dorsey orchestra, Stordahl and Weston wrote this song for Weston's wife, the late, great Jo Stafford. At the time, Stordahl was working at Columbia Records as Frank Sinatra's arranger, and the young Chairman would soon record the tune, as well. Lyricist Cahn would later write the words for many of Sinatra's later hits in the 1950s.

Lyrics:

Day by day,

I'm falling more in love with you.

And day by day,

My love seems to grow.

There isn't any end to my devotion;

It's deeper, dear, by far than any ocean.

I find that day by day,

You're making all my dreams come true.

So come what may,

I want you to know

I'm yours alone,

And I'm in love to stay,

As we go through the years,

Day by day.

Recorded By:

Ray Anthony

Bing Crosby & Mel Torme

Vic Damone

John Entwistle

Astrud Gilberto

Call Me Irresponsible

By Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn
1963

From the tail end of the "popular standards" era comes this Academy Award-winning tune from the Jackie Gleason vehicle Papa's Delicate Condition, in which it was introduced by the Great One himself. The story goes that it was originally written for Judy Garland to sing at a dinner, as a comic reference to her well-known "issues". Garland wound up later singing the song on her short-lived TV show.

Lyrics:

Call me irresponsible.
Call me unreliable.
Throw in undependable, too.

Do my foolish alibis bore you?
Well I'm not too clever, I just adore you.

Call me unpredictable.
Tell me I'm impractical.
Rainbows I'm inclined to pursue.

Call me irresponsible.
Yes, I'm unreliable.
But it's undeniably true--
I'm irresponsibly mad for you.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Michael Buble
Bobby Darin
Julie London
Jack Jones

I Fall in Love Too Easily

By Jule Styne & Sammy Cahn
1944

A heartbreaking expression of unrequited love, this song was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the classic MGM musical Anchors Aweigh, in which he sings at the piano in a deserted Hollywood Bowl. Sinatra had personally requested that Styne & Cahn write the songs for the film. The duo would team up for another big hit for the Chairman, "Time After Time". Cahn later was the lyricist for Sinatra standards like "Come Fly With Me" and "In the Wee Small Hours".

Lyrics:

I fall in love too easily,
I fall in love too fast.
I fall in love too terribly hard
For love to ever last.

My heart should be well schooled,
‘Cause I’ve been fooled in the past.
But still I fall in love so easily,
I fall in love too fast.

Recorded By:

Chet Baker
Billie Holiday
Jimmy Roselli
Miles Davis
Shirley Horn