Frank Sinatra's Come Fly with Me and Its Importance in American Culture

Frank Sinatra’s 1958 hit “Come Fly with Me”, the namesake for Sinatra’s famous record Come Fly with Me exemplifies Sinatra’s ability to connect to his audience through the use of highly developed song lyrics. The 1950s were generally regarded as a time of suburban expansion, family-focused lifestyles, and career pursuits. Further, the 1958 release of the song was just as the United States of America struggled to endure the beginnings of the War in Vietnam. Therefore, the success of Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me” be clearly explained by the way it masterfully gave the listener an escape to an exciting alternative lifestyle. “Come Fly with Me” achieves this effect through a variety of lyrical themes that uplifted the spirits of the American people during tumultuous war times.

Frank Sinatra’s 1958 release of “Come Fly with Me” coincided almost perfectly with the peak of the American baby boom. Therefore, the culture of this era is typically regarded as one in which family building was central to the typical lifestyle. According to a history.com article, “After World War II ended, many Americans were eager to have children because they were confident in the future held nothing but peace and prosperity (history.com, 1950s)”. At first glance, then, it may be difficult to pinpoint the reason for the success of “Come Fly with Me”, which emphasizes themes of flight, adventure, and romance – none of which are themes heavily associated with the family oriented culture of the decade. However, a deeper analysis makes it quite clear how these themes might contribute to the song’s success.

In “Come Fly with Me”, Sinatra implores the listener to follow him around the world by flying with him. He begins by suggesting, “If you can use some exotic booze | There’s a bar in far Bombay” (ll. 2-3). An “exotic” location as distant as Bombay, India, can only be explained by a desire to be as geographically removed from the U.S. as possible. This desire to travel reveals a seemingly popular sentiment of boredom among the American people; the 1950s have left them tired of a lifestyle of habit and home. Further, Sinatra’s offer of “exotic booze” to the listener clearly suggests a romantic interest. Taking someone to a bar and offering to purchase them “exotic booze” is not merely a platonic gesture. Sinatra’s offer reveals yet another hidden aspect of the feelings of the late 1950s America; the desire for romance, in a time where hard work and family-building had likely diminished the romantic lives of the average American.

The themes of travel and romance continue to recur throughout the song. In the second verse, Sinatra sings, “…let’s float down to Peru | In llama land there’s a one-man band | And he’ll toot his flute for you” (ll. 5-7). In doing so, Sinatra places the listener on a pedestal by promising them a personal flute player – yet another charming gesture. After the second verse, Sinatra introduces the song’s chorus. He sings, “Once I get you up there where the air is rarified | We’ll just glide, starry-eyed | Once I get you up there I’ll be holding you so near | You may hear angels cheer ‘cause we’re together”. Often, people experience a shortness of breath when faced by someone that they love, and Sinatra’s use of “rarified air” alludes to this common human experience. Through this masterful and subtle but clearly intentional rhetoric, Sinatra manages to simultaneously illustrate beautiful scenery of heights and views with deep feelings of nervous infatuation. The chorus’ ending lines go, “Once I get you up there I’ll be holding you so near | You may hear angels cheer ‘cause we’re together” (ll. 11-12). In case the listener had any lingering doubts about the romantic intentions of the singer, Sinatra’s romantic desire for the listener is undeniably revealed when he proclaims how he will “hold you [the listener] so near”, and that even angels will celebrate their romance by “cheer[ing] ‘cause we’re together]”. Sinatra begins the second stanza of the chorus through a description of the weather. He sings, “Weather-wise it’s such a lovely day | You just say the words and we’ll beat the birds | Down to Acapulco Bay” (ll. 21-23). It is certainly not by chance that Sinatra chose the weather of this story to be “such a lovely day” – surely, Sinatra’s intention is for the beautiful weather to parallel the beauty of his date with the woman he is with.

Sinatra finishes the chorus by saying, “It’s [the weather] perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say | Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly | Pack up, let’s fly away!” (ll. 24-26). This quote, then, is perhaps the most critical group of lines in pinpointing the theme of the song; the abandonment of mundane, suburban life for a lifestyle of adventure and romance in a distant land. Sinatra urges, not for the first time, his listener to come fly with him. His urgent desire to join his listener for a romance could not be more apparent; he is urging them to pack up and fly away with him.

To pack up and “fly” away with someone is not a choice made lightly and without truly romantic feelings. To go on such an adventure with a romantic interest it takes an abundance of trust, attraction, and desire. These necessary traits further support the assertion that the tremendous commercial success of “Come Fly with Me” is due, at least in part, to a deeply underlying for escape from the monotony of suburban family life. Listeners, just as Sinatra wants them to, are forced by the song’s lyrics to imagine their own lives changing in such drastic ways. Listeners imagine the beauty of the descriptions, and escape their own reality. The listener’s mind constructs what it must be like to soar over the Atlantic to a bar in Bombay; to see a one-man band play his flute in Peru; to beat the birds to Acapulco bay, and to hold a starry-eyed lover in the sky. The success of “Come Fly with Me”, then, clearly demonstrates the commonplace existence of these desires for adventure and romance in the typical American’s mind.

The success of Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me”, however, was not limited to the mid-twentieth century. Artists have continued to recognize the success of the song, and have worked it make it part of their own success as well. According to an article from songfacts.com, some of the artists who have covered the song include Michael Bublé, Count Basie, Dean Martin and Lou Rawls (Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra, songfacts.com). Michael Bublé’s cover, just as Sinatra’s original, was the name for his 2004 record Come Fly with Me, which was certified gold by the Australian Charts (ARIA) according to aria.com.au. These widespread and repeated successes of Frank Sinatra’s ”Come Fly with Me” indicate a deeper the commonality among the American people across the years.

To understand the continued success of “Come Fly with Me” in the United States, it is necessary to examine the history of America’s political climate. The initial success of the song is largely due to the aforementioned societal development in post-war America; in other words, “Come Fly with Me” is a feel-good tune that gives the listener an escape from the stressors in life. ically, the United States has been heavily involved in international conflict. “Come Fly with Me” was released at the onset of the Vietnam War, which lasted for nearly twenty years, and was soon succeeded by the Persian Gulf War, the War in Iraq, and the ongoing War in Afghanistan. The recurring U.S. involvement in wartimes combined with the continued success of “Come Fly with Me” therefore is no coincidence. This theme of American war involvement then, at least in part, explains Michael Bublé’s 2004 success of Come Fly with Me, which was released in the midst of both the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan. Bublé’s success testifies to the effect of political climate on popular song.

Based on the continued success of “Come Fly with Me”, it reasons to predict for Americans to continue their fixation with the song. Frank Sinatra will forever be remembered by Americans for providing multiple generations with such a classic hit. Through several wars, multiple cover artists, and even across the turn of the millennia, “Come Fly with Me” has remained a household song for American families. In ten, fifty, and even one-hundred years’ time, the marks on America left by Sinatra’s “Come Fly with Me” will still be celebrated and honored.