"My Kind of Town": Frank Sinatra's ode to the beauty of Chicago

Chicago is the most beautiful city in the world; even Frank Sinatra loved singing about it.

Photo byEthan RougononUnsplash

Legendary Frank Sinatra once said, "When I sing, I believe. I'm honest. If you want to get an audience with you, there's only one way. You have to reach out to them with total honesty and humility."

In 1964, there couldn't have been a better song to boast about the beauty and overall love for Chicago than Sinatra's "My Kind of Town." The song, which is also referred to as "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)," was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, and its lyrics were written by Sammy Cahn.

It was a part of the 1964 musical film Robin and the 7 Hoods and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It lost to "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, but it did win a Grammy for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture.

In the song, Sinatra sings, "Chicago is my kind of town/ Chicago is my kind of people too /People who smile at you and/ Each time I roam/ Chicago is calling me home." It's no secret that Frank Sinatra wasn't a Chicagoan, he was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, but that didn't mean it wasn't his second home.

Fun facts

• Sammy Davis Jr. also starred in Robin and the 7 Hoods with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
• Sinatra recorded "My Kind of Town" several times and even performed it with his son Frank Sinatra Jr.
• It was one of the last songs Sinatra performed during his last public performance at the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament in Palm Springs in 1995.