https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9pUoVy_wW0 Frank Sinatra is like the Bob Dylan of the Great American Songbook; it's hard to imagine that there was ever a time when Ol' Blue Eyes' career was stormy - but his career during the mid-1960s was pretty rough sailing. Granted, Sinatra did hit upon a couple of hits during the period, but generally, the period is filled with middling albums. That's what the general consensus says, anyway. Sinatra was trying to re-invent himself during the 1960s. You see, Sinatra saw his daughter, Nancy, cashing in on rock-flavored pop tunes, and he wanted some of that dough. With this aim in mind, Sinatra teamed up with several pop producers, trying to equal his daughter's success. The results are mixed; most of Sinatra's 1960s pop tunes are pretty lame, but some of them are great. The ones that work include "That's Life," "This Town," and this entry. "Cycles" may be the most heartfelt song of Sinatra's career. The tune expresses a truth of life we all need to understand: that life is neither all good nor all bad. Rather, it "keeps running in cycles" that bring us from good times to bad and back again. How we respond to these cycles is what defines our character. Sinatra teaches us this truism against a lovely pop-ballad backdrop.
Alan Howell is a native of Southern California. He loves movies of any and all kinds, Hollywood, indie, and everywhere in between. He loves pizza, sitcoms, rock and pop music, surfing, baseball, reading, and girls (not necessarily in that order).