Frank Sinatra - Soliloquy

About "Soliloquy"

"Soliloquy" is a 1945 song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, written for their 1945 musical Carousel, where it was introduced by John Raitt. Gordon MacRae performs the song in the 1956 film version.

The now jobless carousel barker Billy Bigelow, the antihero of the musical, sings this seven-and-a-half-minute song just after he has learned he is about to become a father. In it, he happily daydreams over what it would be like to be a father to a boy, but midway through the song, he realizes that it could turn out to be a girl. The song immediately becomes more tender, as he begins to like the idea. At song's end, he considers that a girl needs the very best a father can offer, and decides to get money to provide for her. It is this idea that spurs him on to help his criminal pal Jigger Craigin in committing a robbery, an act which ultimately leads to personal disaster for Billy.

Frank Sinatra had recently become a father when he recorded "Soliloquy" for the first time on May 28, 1946. With the time limitation of about 3:30 on a 10-inch 78 rpm record, his 7:57-long recording was released on Columbia's Masterwork label (the classical division) as two sides of a 12-inch record.

The song is extremely unusual in that it requires the singer to sing solo (and occasionally speak) for a full seven and a half minutes, in the manner of an operatic aria, without the benefit of an accompanying choral group "taking up the slack", as is usually the case in long musical numbers (e.g. "Ol' Man River"). The lengthy song "Glitter and Be Gay", from Leonard Bernstein's Candide, makes a similar requirement of the soprano performing it.

Top songs by Frank Sinatra

Albums by Frank Sinatra

The Voice of Frank Sinatra (1946)
Songs by Sinatra (1947)
Christmas Songs by Sinatra (1948)
Frankly Sentimental (1949)
Dedicated to You (1950)
Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra (1950)
Songs for Young Lovers (1954)
Swing Easy! (1954)
In the Wee Small Hours (1955)
Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956)
A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra (1957)
A Swingin' Affair! (1957)
Close to You (1957)
Where Are You? (1957)
Come Fly with Me (1958)
Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958)
Come Dance with Me! (1959)
No One Cares (1959)
Nice 'n' Easy (1960)
Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (1961)
Swing Along With Me (1961)
I Remember Tommy (1961)
Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! (1961)
Come Swing with Me! (1961)
Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain (1962)
Point of No Return (1962)
Sinatra Basie: an historic music first (1962)
Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (1962)
All Alone (1962)
Sinatra and Strings (1962)
Sinatra's Sinatra (1963)
The Concert Sinatra (1963)
Softly, as I Leave You (1964)
Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners (1964)
12 Songs of Christmas (1964)
America, I Hear You Singing (1964)
It Might as Well Be Swing (1964)
A Man and His Music (1965)
September of My Years (1965)
My Kind of Broadway (1965)
That's Life (1966)
Strangers in the Night (1966)
Moonlight Sinatra (1966)
The World We Knew (1967)
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
Francis A. & Edward K. (1968)
The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas (1968)
Cycles (1968)
My Way (1969)
A Man Alone (1969)
Watertown (1970)
Sinatra & Company (1971)
Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back (1973)
Some Nice Things I've Missed (1974)
Trilogy: Past Present Future (1980)
She Shot Me Down (1981)
L.A. Is My Lady (1984)
Duets (1993)
Duets II  (1994)

More about Frank Sinatra music

INFO BIO DISCOGRAPHY

"Soliloquy" video by Frank Sinatra is property and copyright of its owners and it's embedded from Youtube.
Information about the song "Soliloquy" is automatically taken from Wikipedia. It may happen that this information does not match with "Soliloquy".
SONGSTUBE is against piracy and promotes safe and legal music downloading. Music on this site is for the sole use of educational reference and is the property of respective authors, artists and labels. If you like Frank Sinatra songs on this site, please buy them on Itunes, Amazon and other online stores. All other uses are in violation of international copyright laws. This use for educational reference, falls under the "fair use" sections of U.S. copyright law.