The cover of Frank Sinatra’s 1965 single, “It Was a Very Good Year.”
One of the many strengths of the groundbreaking Jersey-set HBO series “The Sopranos” was its use of music, and one of its quintessential musical moments was the montage at the start of Season 2. After a brief scene that has to do with one of the Jersey mob’s new money-making schemes, we caught up with the characters, several months after the action of Season 1 ended, as Frank Sinatra’s “It Was a Very Good Year” played. Sinatra’s richly romantic reading is in sharp contrast to some of the tawdry things being pictured, but somehow, it all seems perfect; it’s one of Tony’s delusions, perhaps, that there’s an old-fashioned, Sinatra-esque sense of romance to his life of crime.
There is some brief nudity in the clip. Because of that, it cannot be embedded in this post, but is watchable on YouTube, HERE.
Many other artists have recorded “It Was a Very Good Year,” but Sinatra’s version is definitive. He included it on his 1965 album, September of My Years, and it won the Grammy for Best Male Vocal Performance the next year, topping, among other contenders, The Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
New Jersey celebrated its 350th birthday in 2014. And in the 350 Jersey Songs series, we marked the occasion by posting 350 songs — one a day, from September 2014 to September 2015 — that have something to do with the state, its musical history, or both. To see the entire list, click here.
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