Songfacts®:

• In this classic love song, Frank Sinatra wistfully recalls a love affair that came and went with the summer wind. The title refers to the sirocco breeze that sweeps into Southern Europe from the Sahara desert at the end of summer. As the chill of autumn and winter creeps in, he still remembers the girl he lost to the summer wind.
• Sinatra recorded the tune for his 1966 Strangers In The Night album and released it as the second single. It peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
• This was one of Sinatra's signature songs, but he wasn't the first to record it. Originally titled "Der Sommerwind," the German love song was written by Heinz Meier (music) and Hans Bradtke in 1965. When Johnny Mercer heard a version by Danish singer Grethe Ingmann, the renowned songwriter wrote new English lyrics that reflected the theme of lost love. The English version was first recorded by Wayne Newton for his 1965 album Summer Wind. His version only went to #78 on the Hot 100. That same year, Perry Como recorded a countrified version in Nashville that was produced by Chet Atkins.
• Strangers In The Night was Sinatra's last album with his longtime arranger Nelson Riddle. Their first recording session was in 1953, shortly after Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where Riddle worked as Nat King Cole's musical director. Their first collaboration was "I've Got The World On The String," a huge hit that revived the singer's flagging recording career.
• Sinatra re-recorded this with Julio Iglesias for the 1993 album Duets.
• When Bruce Springsteen appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2021 and answered the host's "Colbert Questionert," he chose Sinatra's "Summer Wind" as the one song he could listen to for the rest of his life.
• Willie Nelson recorded this for his 2018 Sinatra tribute album, My Way. He also performed the song on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
• This was used in these TV shows:
  
  Ozark ("Reparations" - 2018)
  Criminal Minds ("Hopeless" - 2009)
  The Simpsons ("Bart Of Darkness" - 1994)
  
  And these movies:
  
  Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
  Matchstick Men (2003)
  The Man (1998)
  Arachnophobia (1990)
  The Pope Of Greenwich Village (1984)
  The Adolescents (1975)