Frank Sinatra Was a J-Man
I wish he were a friend of mine. I always understood each single word he said and he always sang some mighty fine rhyme.*
Yes, Ol' Blue Eyes kept a personal journal. In fact “KEEP A JOURNAL” was one of the first things he told his daughter Nancy when she wanted some advice for succeeding in the music business.
In preparing to perform a song, Sinatra had a personal sound system. He spent hours and hours handwriting and rewriting lyrics. No wonder when you hear him sing, you believe he experienced every word of that song's story. His next step was to take a sheet with just the lyrics. No music. At that point, he said, “I'm looking at a poem. I'm trying to understand the point of view of the person behind the words. I want to understand his emotions. Then I start speaking, not singing, the words so I can experiment and get the right inflections. ” His journaling system enabled him to record songs like “My Way” in one take!
Many of us get a song “stuck in our heads” and we drive ourselves crazy trying to get rid of it. But what if we worked through it like Sinatra? In your journal (notebook, Staples pad, whatever) write down those lyrics from that song you keep hearing. Write, write, write...following wherever your journal-writing leads you. Which of course reminds me of a song, “Where you Lead, I will Follow” by…Carole King (thank you ITunes).
How about that? I'm gonna use that as a journal entry today.
On my upcoming CD,
I write a song--"Since Forever".
*My lyrics for “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night.
Hi Mari,
Just alerting you that you've won a prize on my blog. If you've been trying to get hold of me, try the email address I supplied to leave this comment.
I didn't know that about frank Sinatra. Cool. Might have to share with my readers, too.
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I have kept a journal since I'm 6 years old. I had no idea Frank Sinatra did too (old Blue Eyes is one of my favorites) so I must be in good company!
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Great website, Mari...happy to have found you!
I didn't know Frank Sinatra journaled or that he approached songs the way you describe, but it made me smile to read it. Great lyrics resonate with me and I often to the same thing - read them aloud without music, like poetry or, more often, like conversation. It made me feel very proud that someone so adept at interpreting song had the same technique!
Write on!
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Thanks for your comments Linda. I'm writing my first song for my upcoming CD and felt I've had a special angel with me All the Way!
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