FRIDAYS ARE FOR FRANK: “Half As Lovely (Twice As True)”

“If your eyes were half as bright, they still would light my way…”

Frank’s bright blue eyes still shine brightly worldwide, as Sinatra imagery so often tends to fixate on his powerful peepers. When the Frank Sinatra Commemorative Stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2008, a ceremony unveiling the design was held on the waterfront near the main Post Office here in Hoboken.

That Post Office is set to be renovated as part of a redevelopment initiative, which has been itself in the developmental stages since 2012. A Hilton Hotel will occupy the adjacent space, while improvements to that Post Office will be part of the agreement—an agreement which has sparked a fair amount of bureaucratic wrangling lately.

Music by Sammy Gallop and lyrics by Lew Spence, “Half as Lovely (Twice as True)” was recorded by Frank Sinatra under Capitol Records with a Nelson Riddle arrangement in 1954.

As for the Hoboken Hilton—with no start date announced, let alone a completion, it’s tough to imagine that this is the way to get something built here in this City. Perhaps a more straightforward approach would facilitate future endeavors that could potentially impact the local economy?

“If your heart were twice as true then you’d be mine today.
That’s why I often wish that you were half as lovely, twice as true…”

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