Music Blog

In The Wee Small Hours

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Jim Adams’
Song Lyric Sunday.
Here’s what I have to say.

© SoulRide.com

This week the theme for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday is “Central Theme”, and the challenge is to write about a song from a concept album.

According to Google, a concept album is a collection of songs written by a musician or group that is based around a central theme or concept. These themes can be compositional, lyrical, instrumental, or narrative.

Thematic albums, tied together by very specific moods and/or songs, aren’t new; the kingpin of the form, Frank Sinatra, started making them 70 years ago. And thanks to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Who’s Tommy and so many more, rock took the concept of a concept album and ran with it.

In this era of streaming, you’d think concept albums …. which require listening to a record all the way through …. would have about as much appeal as ripping the plastic packaging off a new CD (remember those days?). But right along with vinyl, the ‘theme record ‘ is having a new moment. Taylor Swift’s upcoming Midnights is, she says, “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” That kind of thematic follow-through is impressive, even for a detail-oriented genius like Swift. 

Now, “genius” isn’t a word to be bandied about. The same is true for “legend”, “ground-breaking”, or “seminal”. Such titles should be treated with great respect, along with the artists who have earned them. There are many who fall into that category and the leader of the pack for me is Frank Sinatra. This week’s song is from his album, In the Wee Small Hours. The 1955 album’s songs deal with themes such as introspection, melancholy, lost love, and failed relationships. It’s not a happy album …. not with those themes …. but it’s profound and sadly beautiful.

In the Wee Small Hours peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, where it stayed for 18 weeks, becoming Sinatra’s highest-charting album since Songs by Sinatra in 1947. It was issued as two 10-inch LP discs, making it one of the first of its kind in the pop field. Critically acclaimed since its initial release, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #100 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003 and #9 on their 2022 list of the 50 Best Concept Albums.

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The Concept: Former teen idol hits 40, watches his relationship and marriage with a fellow celebrity crumble, and cuts one of the first (and most melancholy) concept albums.

The Creation: Even though the first long-playing vinyl record didn’t come about until 1948, artists and labels didn’t initially see the format of a concept album as an outlet for cohesive statements; a few singles and filler would do nicely. Sinatra, in the midst of a tumultuous relationship with actress Ava Gardner, had other ideas. Together with his producer Voyle Gilmore, Sinatra selected some of the saddest and romantically despondent songs from Great American Songbook writers like Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart. The result was a song cycle that basically invented the term ‘mope pop’. The mood is sustained by Sinatra’s long-time arranger, Nelson Riddle …. one of the best at conjuring empty, lonely, late-night saloons …. and the restrained heartbreak in Sinatra’s voice. From beginning to end, you can almost see Sinatra all alone in a bar, nursing a drink and a smoke, and wondering where it all went wrong.

My song for this week is “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” composed by David Mann with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. The duo wrote the song during a post-midnight session at Hilliard’s New Jersey home. Mann was about to leave for New York when Hilliard convinced him to remain to try some impromptu songwriting. Mann reluctantly agreed and eventually came up with the tune, to which Hilliard quickly wrote a lyric.

This is “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” by Frank Sinatra from his concept album, In the Wee Small Hours”.


LYRICS

In the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep
You lie awake and think about the girl
And never, ever think of counting sheep

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You’d be hers if only she would call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That’s the time you miss her most of all

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You’d be hers if only she would call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That’s the time you miss her most of all

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bob Hilliard/David Mann
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning lyrics © Bourne Co., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Central Theme

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some tunes.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

47 thoughts on “In The Wee Small Hours”

  6. That must be the very first concept album? I’m still ripping off the plastic packaging off new CD’s….even though it’s more cellophane now on the card sleeves rather than the plastic ‘jewel cases’.

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    1. God’s honest truth, Glyn …. when I wrote that sentence about new CDs, I immediately thought of you! I know you still buy them and enjoy adding to your collection. Lots of people do, my sons included. I was making a very broad statement about the popularity of streaming and the resurgence of vinyl. And with Alexa, Door Dash and Amazon, we may never have to leave our houses ever again!

      And Frank’s 70 year old album was the first concept album. Mind-blowing.

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  7. I think he’s one of those singers the more you listen to him, the more you want to hear, … I’ll be asking Alexa later, … but thank you for this Nancy, I haven’t heard this one either, …💫

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    1. It’s my great pleasure, Penn. And judging by the reaction I’m getting, not too many people listen to Frank Sinatra anymore. Now I know I’m old as dirt but that would really be a shame.

      Alexa …. play Lady Is A Tramp by Frank Sinatra!

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      1. Old as dirt my foot, …. Age is just a number.., …OMG, … I’ve just glanced down at my bare feet, …( I sometimes sit with one foot on the other leg , … don’t ask me why, I think it’s ‘cos the seat so big and doesn’t support you) …I’m not sharing how dirty they are, … in this heat wave I’ve not been wearing shoes very often, other than going out of course, … but strewth, my kitchen floor must be dirty…. Well that’s my excuse anyway, ….👣

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  9. I don’t think I ever listened to this Sinatra song before, but even though the lyrics were sad, I found the song very pleasant. I told you before that my dad was a big Sinatra fan and I am sure that he knew this. This is a lovely post Nancy and thanks for sharing your music again.

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    1. This is a fabulous concept for a theme, Jim!

      I’m sure my fellow WordPressers expected me to go with St. Pepper or Iron Maiden …. and I was tempted …. but I had to give credit where credit is due. Frank started this whole concept; there’s no way I was going to ignore that.

      Thanks for a great comment, Jim.

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  11. Excellent write up Nancy. His voice still rings true today. “Mope pop”…I never heard that phrase…thats great. I don’t know a lot from him but this is great.

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    1. You know, Max, I love the Beatles and the Stones, all the heavy metal stuff. Love it all ….. but I cut my teeth on Frank Sinatra singing torch songs and, at the age of 6 or 7, I’d sing along with him until I knew them perfectly. If my parents were concerned, they never said anything; maybe they figured I’d outgrow that phase. Well, I never did.

      Damn! Now I’m thinking I should have included what I just wrote in my write up!

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      1. Yes you should have! That is so great. I’m embarassed to admit I didn’t really get into him until I saw the movie Tony Rome….then I started to pay attention and listen to some of his music. What a voice! Hard to outgrow that voice Nancy…

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    1. Thanks very much, Christine. Somebody’s got to keep this music alive. It might as well be me. All music is great, each genre reaching the soul of someone somewhere. But Frank Sinatra is gold and I’ll always love him.

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    1. Interesting in the sense that it’s a 70 year old song that most people responding to this challenge have never heard before? Interesting in the sense that I didn’t go with the Beatles or Iron Maiden or Genesis, as would be usual for me? Well, as I said to Max and Jim and Christine, Frank Sinatra created the concept album. He is legend and all those titles we need to respect. He is gold and it would be a damn shame if, after I’m gone, no one listens to Frank singing a torch song. It’s my extreme pleasure to share his music.

      Thank you, Clive, for a very lovely comment. ☺️

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      1. Probably the first of those, but you did well to broaden our horizons and I’m glad you did. I’ve always understood that Sinatra was second in the queue for concept albums, just after Woody Guthrie – quite a difference in styles!

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        1. That’s the big controversy …. Woody or Frank? I did my research, just as you do, and 9 out of 10 times the vote went to Frank. I don’t even remember seeing Woody on the list of Top 50 Concept Albums. Believe me, I am just as surprised as you but happily so. I can easily listen to one of Sinatra’s albums all the way through; I know I can’t say the same for Woody. 😂

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            1. I agree. Still, while googling, I found this:

              While the exact definition of a concept album is debated, many point to Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours (1955) as one of the earliest examples, if not the first. The album is unified by its theme of loneliness and introspection, with songs sequenced to create a narrative flow. Other early contenders include Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out! (1966) and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), both of which are also cited as highly influential concept albums. 

              And not a single mention of Guthrie. Go figure! 🙉

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    1. I had to, Fan. I grew up listening to Frank. I love him as much as I love the Beatles or Deep Purple or Weird Al. But I could never ignore the creator of the concept album. I’ll keep Frank’s music alive as long as I’m alive.

      Thanks very much.

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