The Song Is You (Box Set) – CD 1

Frank Sinatra The Song Is You Box Set CD 1 Song List

The Song Is You Box Set, CD 1 Song List

1. The Sky Fell Down
2. Too Romantic
3. Shake Down the Stars
4. Moments in the Moonlight
5. I’ll Be Seeing You
6. Say It
7. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
8. Fable of the Rose
9. This Is the Beginning of the End
10. Hear My Song, Violetta
11. Fools Rush in (Where Angels Fear to Tread)
12. Devil May Care
13. April Played the Fiddle
14. I Haven’t Time to Be a Millionaire
15. Imagination
16. Yours Is My Heart Alone
17. You’re Lonely and I’m Lonely
18. East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)
19. Head on My Pillow
20. It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow
21. I’ll Never Smile Again
22. All This and Heaven Too
23. Where Do You Keep Your Heart

I’ll Be Seeing You, Fools Rush In, Imagination, I’ll Never Smile Again are the songs that draw the attention as they can be considered as the most popular songs of Frank Sinatra’s Tommy Dorsey era, but these are not all. The first CD of The Song Is You box set has many amazing songs. Following comments are on the songs that I find at least “worth” listening, in my humble opinion, for the first CD of The Song Is You Box Set.

The Sky Fell Down, a very smooth piece, is sang by Frank Sinatra very well, and always is a great alternative to his popular songs. Well performed and recommended.

Too Romantic, again a great example. Lyrics might not be the best, but performance of the orchestra and Sinatra  make up for it.

Shake Down The Stars can be considered as “different” compared to other songs in the disc due to the arrangement and tempo, which make it great! Hard to realize how fast the song plays, quite enjoyable. The song also includes good saxophone parts, simply beautiful orchestration.

Moments In The Moonlight: I find the trombone parts at the beginning and end too much and loud, but when Frank Sinatra starts to sing, his talent makes it unimportant for me. The way he phrases “Moonlight” and following parts are especially quite nice, unique to Sinatra himself.

I’ll Be Seeing You is no doubt a very important song of Sinatra. Very hard to describe the beauty of this song with words. “I’ll be looking at the moon” part at minute 2:00 is sang a bit fast in my opinion, but the rest is pure perfection. Excellent performance and orchestration. No doubt it is many people’s favorite of Dorsey era.

Say It can be considered as an unpopular song of Sinatra. Nothing interesting with the lyrics, I like the “Say it, ooover and o-ver again” part though. Arrangement of finishing section could be better.

Polka Dots And Moonbeams is definitely one of my favorites, waiting for many people to be discovered. One of the many great songs that shows characteristics of Sinatra’s voice at the beginning of 1940’s. Recommended.

This Is The Beginning Of The End: Too fast. Sinatra loves to put emphasis on lyrics a lot, but when it is this fast, song loses a lot of its meaning, if it has any potential.

Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread): Another treasure from 1940’s. Fools rush in, where wise men never go. But wise men never fall in love, so how are they to know? Just amazing, a must.

Devil May Care begins with an ordinary arrangement of big band era songs. Nothing special, but worth a try.

April Played The Fiddle: Good arrangement and orchestration, OK song.

I Haven’t Time to Be a Millionaire: Could be one of the songs of Sinatra that you listen once in a blue moon.

Imagination could use a much better arrangement as it has huge potential. Sinatra later proved that this song can be performed way more beautifully. Still, it is very nice to listen this song from the “early” Sinatra.

East Of The Sun: Here is an interestingly beautiful song. Arrangement is very well for this song, and Sinatra simply shows his amazing singing talent. If there were no vocals except Sinatra, East of The Sun could be a lot better.

I’ll Never Smile Again: Pied Pipers and Frank Sinatra at their best. Simply beautiful and charming song, could not get any better than this version. The more you listen the song, the better you realize how good it is. Perfection.

All This And Heaven Too is an unpopular song of early years of Frank Sinatra, despite its beauty. The song begins with a smooth arrangement, with an excellent combination of instruments, continuing with Sinatra’s charming performance. The song’s lyrics are also very well written by Jimmy Van Heusen.

You give me your love and your love is a melody,
Deep in my heart I will carry this song with me,
You bring a love so divine, all this is mine
And heaven too.

To sum up, the first CD of this 5 CD The Song Is You Box Set is very satisfactory and a very important piece for Frank Sinatra fans with its 23 songs. It helps us to understand Sinatra’s early years, which are quite marvelous, a lot better. In time, I will post information about other CD´s of The Song Is You box set.