Sinatra, Riddle, and the Gal That Got Away: “When Your Lover Has Gone”

 

 

From the melancholy 1955 masterpiece In the Wee Small Hours album.

Legend has it that after knocking off this number, Sinatra broke down, thinking of her.
 

When Your Lover Has Gone
Words & Music by Einar Aaron Swan
Arranged by Nelson Riddle

What good is the scheming, the planning and dreaming,
That comes with each new love affair?
The dreams that we cherish, so often might perish,
And leave you with castles in air.

When you're alone, who cares for starlit skies?
When you're alone, the magic moonlight dies
At break of dawn, there is no sunrise,
When your lover has gone

What lonely hours, the evening shadows bring?
What lonely hours, with memories lingering?
Like faded flowers, life can't mean anything,
When your lover has gone.
 

 

Uploaded on September 29, 2010 by Mr1001Discos.
 

P.S. They never stopped loving one another. In Gardner’s posthumously published autobiography, Ava: My Story, she revealed that after their divorce, the two lovers would rendezvous in hotels around the world.