That's life (that's life) that's what people say
You're riding high in April
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top, back on top in June
I said, that's life (that's life) and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks
Stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'Cause this fine old world it keeps spinnin' around
I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate
A poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race
That's life (that's life) I tell ya, I can't deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
But my heart just ain't gonna buy it
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly
I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate
A poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself layin' flat on my face
I just pick myself up and get back in the race
That's life (that's life) that's life
And I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cuttin' out but my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come here this July
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die
My, my
"That's Life" came to the attention of Frank Sinatra after it was recorded by blues singer O.C. Smith.[2] The lyrics of "That's Life" were changed for Sinatra's version with the line "I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a queen" changed to end with "a king" instead.[1] Sinatra first performed the song on his television special A Man and His Music – Part II in 1966, where it was played in the fashion of a blues song with the backing music played on an electronic organ.[2]
This arrangement was changed on the recorded version,[2] with it instead conducted by Ernie Freeman and produced by Jimmy Bowen; the trio has previously worked together earlier in 1966 on "Strangers in the Night",[3] which would go on to win Sinatra the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal.[4] For "That's Life", the background singers are vocal contractor and singer B.J. Baker, along with Gwen Johnson and Jackie Ward. A number of backup instrumentalists were also assembled for Sinatra's recording. After several attempts to record the track, Freeman & Bowen thought that they had it finished and Sinatra was pleased with it. However Bowen asked him to perform it again, which annoyed Sinatra – resulting in the performance that Bowen was looking for.[2] LA session player Michael Melvoin performed the memorable organ solo on the recording.
Bowen's vision for the rest of the album was to mirror "That's Life" onto the other songs so they all sounded similar, rather than fill it with what he viewed as typical Sinatra-style songs. This was as a result of his work on the Strangers in the Night album, where Bowen felt that the titular single didn't match the rest of the album, which was more of a classic Sinatra sound. So for the That's Life album, the other album tracks had similar brass accompaniments.[5]
Both the album and the song proved major successes for Sinatra. The song was a number-four hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached number one on the Easy Listening chart for three weeks in December 1966/January 1967.[6] Sinatra's cover of "That's Life" was later used in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale alongside his recording of Same Old Song and Dance.[7] It was also featured in the 2004 video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.[8]