Frank Sinatra - Glad To Be Unhappy Lyrics






Look at yourself, if you had a sense of humor
You would laugh to beat the band
Look at yourself, do you still believe the rumor
That romance is simply grand?

Since you took it right on the chin
You have lost that bright toothpaste grin
My mental state is all a-jumble
I sit around and sadly mumble

Fools rush in, so here I am
Very glad to be unhappy
I can't win, but here I am
More than glad to be unhappy

Unrequited love's a bore
And I've got it pretty bad
But for someone you adore
It's a pleasure to be sad

Like a straying baby lamb
With no mammy and no pappy
I'm so unhappy
But oh, so glad!





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Frank Sinatra Glad To Be Unhappy Comments
  1. M.... L....

    Sinatra called himself a "saloon singer" and that requires huge emotion when singing so many of the beautiful, but often sad, ballads he sang so well. He had been there, and could relate!

  2. A.... C....

    PRECIOSA

  3. M.... B....

    Almost my favorite song from the 'Wee Small Hours' album (some of us here still consider it the greatest theme album of all time). Whenever I hear those opening words of the song's main chorus “fools rush in” I think of the song of the same title by Johnny Mercer: And always mean to look up which “fools rush in” song reference came first – this one, by my favorite composer Dick Rodgers, lyric by Larry Hart – or the song of the same name by Johnny Mercer. Turns out it's this one – from a 1936 Rodgers & Hart Broadway show. It wasn't a hit. Whereas . . .

    Johnny Mercer composed “Fools Rush In” with Rube Bloom in 1940. I'm guessing that the unpopularity of the Rodgers & Hart song prompted Johnny to use the phrase as a hook for what turned out to be one of his biggest popular hits – from Sinatra to Ricky Nelson, everyone it seems recorded Fools Rush In. Johnny and Larry Hart borrowed the line from an 18th century English poet – “where angels fear to tread.” And included the simpler varient: “where wise men never go” (“but wise men never fall in love! so how are they to know?)

    Wiki reminds us: “The line [that] “fools rush in where angels fear to tread” was first written by Alexander Pope in his 1711 poem An Essay on Criticism. The phrase alludes to inexperienced or rash people attempting things that more experienced people avoid.

    But for Frank Sinatra in 1955, “Glad to Be Unhappy” might have disappeared without a trace. (Wiki note below)

    Wikipedia:

    "Glad to Be Unhappy" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart.[1] It was introduced in their 1936 musical On Your Toes by Doris Carson and David Morris,[2] although it was not popular at the time, as there was only one 1936 recording of the tune . . .

    The song still had to wait another decade beyond Sinatra's recording, till 'The Mamas & The Papas' made it their last major studio recording:

    The Mamas & the Papas – Glad to Be Unhappy:
    "Originally recorded for their appearance on 'Rodgers and Hart Today,' an episode of ABC Stage 67, the song was released as a single at the end of 1967, reaching #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] It was issued in an effort to keep the group in the charts, while awaiting the completion of what would be their fourth album, The Papas & The Mamas. The song does not appear on that album: it is instead used to promote the group's second Greatest Hits package, entitled Golden Era, Volume 2.

    "It is the last of the Mamas & the Papas singles produced in a professional studio, as subsequent singles were made in the studio constructed within John and Michelle Phillip's home at the time, once owned by actress Jeanette MacDonald."


    [Thanks for sharing, Fernando Andre. Celebrated this day at Sinatra Family -- Forum -- Nancy For Frank Show 484 -- https://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php/50512-NFF-SHOW-484-Week-of-October-20-2019-nbsp?p=1280471&posted=1#post1280471

  4. R.... E....

    why are you,,unhappy,,

  5. O.... C....

    I prefer with Mamas and Papas

  6. B.... O....

    Capture s the feeling ! Point!

  7. m.... p....

    ♪以下はこの曲の拙訳ですー何かのご参考になれば。。。


    いまの自分と向き合ってみなよー もし君にユーモアのセンスがありゃ大笑いしてるとこだぜ /いまの自分の状況を考えてみなよー もし君がまだ信じてるなら 「恋は素敵だ」なんていう風の噂を

    ひどいダメージを受けてからこっち 君は歯磨き粉の広告みたくニカッて笑わなくなったよな /俺の心のなかはグッチャグチャ…ボンヤリと座り込んで悲しげに呟くだけさ

    馬鹿は突進するーだから俺はここに居るんだ すごく嬉しいよ 不幸せでもね /望みなんてないーだけどこうしてるんだ むしろ嬉しいよ 幸せじゃなくってね

    報われぬ恋なんて気が滅入るだけ…でもって俺はかなりの重症さ /でも大好きなひとのためなら 悲しみですら悦びに変わるんだ

    群れからはぐれた子ヒツジみたいさーママもいなけりゃパパだっていない /俺はひどく不幸せ だけど本当に嬉しいのさ…


    ♪典型的なトーチソングでこの曲の場合には “片想い” の唄なのだが、人によっては「ウジウジしてないでコクって玉砕でもなんでもすりゃあいいのに」と思われる方も居らっしゃるかもしれない。まぁフツーに考えればそんな中途半端な状態を延々続けるよりは、一か八かアタック(死語?)してみたほうが精神衛生上も良さそうなものだが、ここでキイ・ポイントになるのが作詞のロレンツ・ハートがゲイだったという事実だ。

    ♪当然好きになる相手はストレートが多かったろうし、告白してドン引きされたり避けられるようになるよりは、片想いでいたほうが遥かにマシー的な発想になるのは想像に難くない。そういや前クールでの話題作『おっさんずラブ』でも、牧くん言うところの「最初から可能性のない恋ってあるじゃないですか」ってな台詞が印象的だったが、この歌詞はある意味そんなハートのセクシャリティの産物と言えなくもなかろう。

    ♪まぁシナトラの場合は、例えば “不倫の恋” 一歩手前の状況を想定してのインタープリテーションかとも思うが、やはり「最初から可能性のない恋」になんら変わりはないのだ…

    ♪最後に少し訳詞の説明を。ヴァースの前半部分は主語が ”You” になっているが、これは自身への語りかけと取るべきだろうーにしてもいまの自分の悲惨な状況を目の当たりにして、思わず自虐的に笑っちゃいそうになる主人公を持ってくるあたり、いかにも斜に構えた(?)ハートらしい。これがバーリンとかだと、ただ単に悲嘆に暮れるだけだからなぁ…まぁそれはそれで素直だし好感が持てるのだがーあと ”that bright toothpaste grin” の部分は、”bright grin” が「歯を見せながらの朗らかな笑い」といった意味で、その間に ”toothpaste” (歯磨き粉)が挟まっているので、少々意訳だが上述の言い回しで大筋合ってるかなと…


    《追記》むろんこの曲はミュージカル(『オン・ユア・トゥース』1936)のために書かれたナンバーなので、当初から“片想いの曲”ってな設定はあったとは思うが、ハート自身脚本に関わっていたようでもあるし、結果的に彼のゲイゆえの“切なさ”みたいなものが、歌詞全体から立ち昇ってくる気がするのだがー深読みのしすぎかなぁ…

    m.... p....

    mid-century pop Frank Sinatra you and I we wanted it all

  8. R.... A....

    Love this song

  9. D.... k....

    I love you Brianna. Always.

    D.... k....

    Dr. killpatient that awkward moment when your name is brianna😂

  10. c.... w....

    john mayer has a great live version of this song, check it out

  11. T.... G....

    Ah, the feeling. Well, at least I still have her friendship. I am truly glad to be unhappy, to have to settle for this friendship, as long as I still can see her.

    T.... G....

    I don't even have her friendship anymore. And it's been years now... ffs
    But well, noting to do about it, so good luck moving on bro, I'm still trying

    T.... G....

    I'm going through the same thing now it sucks but I'm with you atleast I get to see her. Her being happy makes me happy so

    T.... G....

    @YoungSandwich very glad to be unhappy...

  12. H.... o....

    what a wonderful recording

  13. B.... G....

    chords? anyone?? what a tune!!!!

    B.... G....

    https://www.e-chords.com/chords/frank-sinatra/glad-to-be-unhappya

  14. l.... ....

    A perfect song for how I feel right now..

    l.... ....

    Feelin better?

    l.... ....

    Hopefully after a year you're feeling better.

    I'm currently feeling this way now, and I hope it gets better.

    l.... ....

    Sinatra got me through my first ever unrequited love affair and all the others in between. I owe him a great debt of thanks. Oh yes and my singing career!!! Hope you're feeling better now honey. Jack XX

    l.... ....

    Same 😴

  15. M.... M....

    Instead of frank Sinatra under my skin this should have been the music for the jokers cremation in arkham knight

    M.... M....

    @Mr Moustache ...Why? COnsidering Joker's role in AK, Under my skin fit PERFECTLY.

    M.... M....

    Yeah true

  16. S.... D....

    Kate Davis' version really is a thing of beauty, from the Kennedy Center.

  17. k.... m....

    I was brought here by research. I love the Chris Botti and John Meyer version, and I knew it had to be a cover. I like this one too but Johns voice on the other version is just butter.

    k.... m....

    @kim moore Oh god.....if you really believe the John Meyer version is better, that is sad. Both Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra have great versions of this song. Hey, at least you knew it was a cover, a lot of people wouldn't even now that ._. I'm sorry but Holiday>Chris Botti and John Meyer...

  18. X.... ....

    Holiday blows all of them away on this particular one. I'm sorry, Mamas and papas don't do it, Sinatra doesn't, Sarah Vaughan doesn't.

    X.... ....

    you're a penis

  19. H.... ....

    This is a great song that has yet to have it's definitive interpretation. Lee Wiley comes close but does not achieve it. To be fair, Billie Holiday, Sinatra and Nina Simone don't do it either. One day...

    H.... ....

    @HFritzson As you say, music is open to interpretation. As such, to say things like "I don't know where you guys picked that up" is rather redundant; we interpreted it. Surely if you just want to disagree with someone you can do it without attempting to question and invalidate the opinions of your discussion partners. Artistic reception is purely subjective, and the discussion has thrived thus far mostly on account of like-mindedness. However, statistical data such as "most people prefer [Holiday's version] over any other" is provable and not subjective:  perhaps you should provide some evidence. 

    H.... ....

    I agree, it's yet to find the ultimate vocal version. Paul Desmond & Jim Hall do a beautiful instrumental version though.

    H.... ....

    you're a penis

    H.... ....

    I agree, I love this mostly because of how he says "so/but here I am", but this isn't necessarily a definitive version, nor are the other great ones.

    H.... ....

    John Mayer does this song with Chris Botti that is very very good

  20. R.... C....

    How much I miss my girl when i listen to that song...

    R.... C....

    I can also agree with my past experiences.

  21. l.... ....

    Old Blue Eyes singing a Rodgers & Hart tune. Can't get any better than that.

  22. R.... C....

    Bout time.. I was getting tired of hitting ‘Show Comment’.

  23. s.... ....

    Unrequited love's a bore
    And I've got it pretty bad
    But for someone you adore
    It's a pleasure to be sad
    x

  24. D.... W....

    the simply grand part kills me 0:26

  25. p.... ....

    Melancholy & melodic

  26. K.... H....

    Yeah, I wasn't saying you were wrong. I understand your opinion, I just don't share it. So yeah, let's agree to disagree.

  27. T.... V....

    I think we can end it here. We are both right and both wrong. My opinion stands here with non-artificial music and yours well, not. I am not saying its not good or not real, but not true. So lets put it at this, We will never agree on this so lets just shut up.

  28. K.... H....

    Bit of a false dilemma there, man. Sure there are songs made completely of artificial elements, but there is plenty of in-between there. Anyway, who's to say MIDI isn't an honest way of composing? You just have to be a bit more open to music. Like I said before, people thought exactly the same about rock 'n' roll when that first started, and they thought the same about blues before that, and I'm pretty sure some people got their panties in a bunch about the Romantics long before blues.

  29. b.... ....

    yeah the internet teaches you something new all the time. glad i cleared that up for you. damn good thing it only took 11 months to figure out though, right?

  30. T.... V....

    True. But now the computer makes music. Thats even worse, I mean its real, but artificial. Honest music is composed of sheet music, and voice, and instruments. Not Garage band, Auto tune, and synthesizer.

  31. K.... H....

    People said the same thing 60 years ago about the electric guitar. Now it is widely accepted as an essential instrument.

  32. T.... V....

    A synthesizer is like artificial flavoring. Yeah, it may be good, sometimes. But the best is the real flavor. Correct?

  33. K.... H....

    Oh yeah? So what constitutes as a "real instrument"? An instrument is something created to make notes. Anything is an instrument.

  34. T.... V....

    No. Real music as in, real instruments, real voice.

  35. K.... H....

    Well I'm pretty sure every other song I've heard has actually existed.

  36. r.... ....

    dat xylophone just kills man

  37. T.... V....

    Are you kidding me?

  38. i.... ....

    @candacebrooke145
    And he still is great. Even today!!!

  39. K.... H....

    @bideomanlol So all the other music I've ever heard is just my imagination? I didn't realise it was possible for music to not be real.

  40. r.... ....

    Brilliant!

  41. J.... M....

    ahh frank hd such a beautiful voice

  42. C.... H....

    true feeling from the songs.
    i can;t feel his feeling when he sings this song.
    really touching!
    i m glad to be unhappy becoz i can listen to this song when i am unhappy!

  43. C.... F....

    i am in loveeee with frank!!! i really just cant get over how he great he was!

  44. H.... ....

    Another fantastic song as Frank tells a story with a lesson. He never sang a song that wasn't well received. I have been listening to his recordings since I was little. It was hard to turn his albums off!

  45. s.... ....

    @honeybee7700 I understand lossing a lover. I listened to Frank Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours in the Morning a lot after he broke it off with me. After a whole lot of time will pass and the intensity of the hurt will not be as bad.

  46. s.... ....

    I love Frank Sinatra! First time that I've heard this song from him.

  47. b.... ....

    real music