"Summer Wind" is a 1965 song, originally released in Germany as "Der Sommerwind" and written by Heinz Meier and German language lyrics by Hans Bradtke. Johnny Mercer re-wrote the song into English along the same themes as the original, which talked of the changing of the seasons using the Southern European sirocco wind as a metaphor. In America, it was first recorded by Wayne Newton and subsequently by Bobby Vinton and Perry Como.
"Der Sommerwind" was a song composed in 1965 by Heinz Meier, with German language lyrics written by Hans Bradtke. The song was rewritten into English by Johnny Mercer, who had heard the song being sung by Danish singer Grethe Ingmann who had also recorded the song in her native language as "Sommervind". He wrote replacement lyrics along the same theme.[2] The song talks of the sirocco wind which passes from North Africa into Southern Europe at the end of summer, and uses this as a metaphor for the changing of the seasons and the passing of time.[3] It was recorded for the American market in 1965 by Wayne Newton as the title track for his album Summer Wind.[4] At the time of his release, it was predicted to be as successful as his recording of Red Roses for a Blue Lady,[5] which had reached tenth place on the Top 40 and the number one spot on the Easy Listening chart.[6] However it reached only the 86th position.[7] It was also recorded that year by both Bobby Vinton,[3] and Perry Como.[8] Como's version was recorded in Nashville in 1965 and was one of only seven tracks he worked on with Anita Kerr and her singers.[8]
Cover versions and in popular culture
Frank Sinatra version
The best known version of the song is by Frank Sinatra.[9] He had previously worked with Mercer on a number of songs, including "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" and Nancy Sinatra would later recall Mercer being Sinatra's favourite lyricist.[2] It was recorded for the singer's album Strangers in the Night, which was the final album he worked on with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle.[9] The composition of Sinatra's version used both an electronic organ and a big band, and the lyrics were modified to drop the second chorus.[3] This was Mercer's final work to reach the top forty within the United States.[2] Sinatra would later re-record the song with Julio Iglesias for the 1993 album Duets.[10]
The song is also well known for being the last song played on New York City radio station WCBS-FM on June 3, 2005, before they flipped from classic hits to the Jack FM variety hits format.[11] Two years later, the end of the song was also played by the station when they started the montage relaunching the classic hits format.[12]
During an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Bruce Springsteen said he would choose Sinatra's version of the track when asked to hypothetically pick only one song to listen to for the rest of his life. Likewise, in an interview on the Yes Network's CenterStage, Bob Costas named "Summer Wind" his favorite song.
In television, the song was featured at the end of the season six episode of The Simpsons titled "Bart of Darkness" (1994), and in the closing credits of the first episode of the second season of Ozark (2018).
