For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things, he truly feels,
And not the words, of one who kneels.
The record shows, I took the blows ---
And did it my way!

E nel contesto del rapporto tra Frank Sinatra e note figure di criminali:
If, as J. Edgar Hoover wrote, Frank Sinatra had a “hoodlum complex,” perhaps he publicly suffered that syndrome for many men around the world who secretly harbor a desire to hobnob with enterprising outlaws, hoping to inspire a little fear and respect by association. Why else would Sinatra’s rendition of his hit song “My Way” (lyrics by Paul Anka) become an anthem of manhood for so many American males? Like many of Sinatra’s songs, it tells the story of his life—a grand, swinging, often reckless life that many men long for. As the song defiantly says, “The record shows/I took the blows/And did it my way.”