By Joel Herron, Frank Sinatra & Jack Wolf1951
Another of the most personal of all standards. Sinatra co-wrote this song--one of a handful he ever penned himself--in the midst of his tempestuous relationship with gorgeous movie star Ava Gardner. Sinatra left his first wife for Ava, and married her shortly after recording this tremulous ode to self-loathing. Reportedly, he recorded it in a single take, then nearly broke down and walked out of the studio.
Lyrics:
I'm a fool to want you.
I'm a fool to want you.
To want a love that can't be true,
A love that's there for others too.
I'm a fool to hold you.
Such a fool to hold you.
To seek a kiss not mine alone,
To share a kiss that Devil has known.
Time and time again I said I'd leave you.
Time and time again I went away.
But then would come the time when I would need you,
And once again these words I had to say.
Take me back, I love you.
Pity me, I need you.
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong,
But right or wrong I can't get along
Without you.
Recorded By:
Billie Holiday
Dexter Gordon
Tierney Sutton
Chet Baker
Oscar Peterson
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4 comments:
This one is so beautiful and emotional. I never knew the story behind it!
iamemmamusic.blogspot.com
Oh yes. It's extremely moving! You can hear the pain in his voice.
He may not have been as smooth as Nat or as good as Tony,but his life was an open book.He fell for Ava and it nearly cost him everything .This song as well as albums like "In The Wee Small Hours" may be the most personal expressions of heartbreak that we will ever see by a major popular music star.His songs were and are on the jukeboxes and they have become like friends who have seen me thru good times and bad.He will always be my favorite singer.
Well put about the personal nature of Sinatra's music. It was something he brought to his art to a degree that no pop singer before him had done. He'll always be my favorite, too.
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