By Kiera McGuire
With every holiday comes a sense of excitement — what will you do, who will you be with, what memories will you create? Valentine’s Day is no different. In fact, it could be more exciting than others, as its sole purpose is centered around spending time with those you love. In recent media, Valentine’s Day has become a fad for extravagant spending and over the top gestures of love, when in reality most people would be content with a simplistic but lovely dinner or intimate date night. Perhaps that is why lots of people turn towards Frank Sinatra for setting the perfect mood for the holiday — his songs convey a sense of nostalgic love that lots of people adore and crave. Throughout the past couple years, Frank Sinatra has only become more popular to generations new and old, reminding everyone that love is an often unexplainable but always remarkable journey.
One of Sinatra’s most popular songs, “Somethin’ Stupid,” captures both the feeling of falling in love with someone and the feeling of dread when saying something wrong in the heat of the moment. “Somethin’ Stupid” opens with a depiction of a date night — two people going out dancing and later getting drinks in “a quiet little place.” The next line, arguably the most popular line in the song, perfectly captures the feeling of embarrassment and regret that can come with being open with someone: “And then I go and spoil it all / By saying somethin’ stupid like ‘I love you.’” Although this song is actually performed by Sinatra and his daughter Nancy, it perfectly underlines the feeling of being so in the moment with a lover that you have no choice but to express how you feel about them. The song expresses the dichotomy of emotions the two lovers feel after this statement is expressed — one lover is uncertain that the proclamation of love was actually true (“I can see it in your eyes, that you despise the same old lies / You heard the night before”), while the other is certain that the declaration is true (“And though it’s just a line to you / For me it’s true, it never seemed so right before”).
In this song, the “Somethin’ Stupid” is professing love for a partner when the relationship is fine as is. The lyrics convey a tone of danger and uncertainty that comes with speaking an unspoken thing, and how the reactions to such a relationship-altering confession can change depending on the person. However, the thing that makes this song so beautiful is that it’s not afraid to push the boundaries of describing love. One of my favorite lines in the song is purely describing the scene where one admits feelings of love to the other: “The time is right your perfume fills my head/The stars get red and oh, the night’s so blue.” “Somethin’ Stupid” not only encompasses the incredibly complex feeling that is love for someone, but also shows how love can be found anywhere, even while simply looking at the night sky in the presence of one another.
Another one of Sinatra’s songs that portrays the feeling of happy young love is “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Most people know this song from the movie “Elf,” showcased in the scene where Buddy the elf and Jovie go on a happy, stress free and Christmas-themed date. That scene actually demonstrates the overarching theme of this song perfectly: the idea that loving someone should make you feel like a brand new person, someone who can enjoy the simple things and feel content with being with that special someone no matter what it is that you’re doing. The song provides unique synonyms centered around feeling young and alive, such as “You make me feel as though spring has sprung,” “The moment that you speak / I wanna go and play hide and seek” and “Running across a meadow / Pickin’ up lots of forget-me-nots.” All of these phrases epitomize childlike wonder, furthering the idea that love should be something that is comfortable and exciting. This song is also unique in that the verses are repeated twice. This stresses Sinatra’s point that love should be something that makes you feel amazing “even when [you’re] old and gray.”
Frank Sinatra is one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, blending classic jazz with pop to create long-lasting hits. His songs are calm, endearing and capture many of the key aspects of love. Sinatra’s view of love is both refreshing and admirable, and I encourage everyone to keep his music and themes of love in mind this Valentine’s season.