☝️ Key Points
- Laura is an ethereal and mystical figure that the singer can only see in his thoughts and memories
- Her presence is omnipresent and is symbolized by the sound of her footsteps
- Their shared love is fleeting and indefinable, similar to a summer night
- Laura appears to the singer in everyday situations and her eyes are familiar to him from his past
- Laura was his first love, but remains unattainable and exists only in his dreams
Interpretation
The lyrics of 'Laura' by
Frank Sinatra are about a beloved but unattainable woman named Laura. She appears as a kind of dream figure or ghost who haunts the singer in his thoughts and memories.
'Laura is the face in the misty lights' - Laura is a distant, almost mystical figure who appears in the fog or semi-darkness. She is not tangible, just a fleeting apparition.
'Footsteps that you hear down the hall' - This verse could indicate that the singer still perceives Laura in his surroundings, even if she is not really there. Her presence is symbolized by the sounds she left in his memory.
'The (love) that floats on a summer night / That you can never quite recall' - The singer remembers the love he shared with Laura, but it is as fleeting and indeterminate as a summer night.
'And you see Laura on a train that is passing through / Those eyes how familiar they seem' - Laura appears to him in everyday situations, like on a passing train. Her eyes are familiar to him, she is a part of his past.
'She gave your very first kiss to you / That was Laura but she's only a dream' - Laura was his first love, her kiss remains in his memory. But she is only a dream, an unattainable memory he cannot retrieve.