Today’s song of the day is a jazz ballad, “Summer Wind,” by Frank Sinatra.
Fun Facts:
- Frank Sinatra has been called the greatest American singer of 20th-century popular music.
- “Summer Wind” was originally released in German as “Der Sommerwind” and was written by Heinz Meier.
- The song was rewritten to English by Johnny Mercer, who used the Southern European sirocco wind as his metaphor for the changing seasons and passing of time.
- Wayne Newton was the first American artist to debut the English version in the states, and this was the title track of his album Summer Wind.
- The song was made most popular by Frank Sinatra’s recording in 1966, which ranked at 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- The song has been featured on The Simpsons, Blade Runner 2049, The Pope of Greenwich Village and the Netflix series Ozark.
- In this Frank Sinatra version of the song, he uses both an electric organ and a big band, and the lyrics have been modified to exclude the second chorus.
- Michael Bublé, Barry Manilow, Westlife and Willie Nelson are amongst a few of the big names who have all covered the song on their jazz album classics
Lyrics
The summer wind came blowin’ in
From across the sea
It lingered there so warm and fair
To walk with me
All summer long, we sang a song
And then we strolled on golden sand
Two amigos
And the summer wind
Like painted kites
Those days and nights, they went flyin’ by
The world was new
Beneath a bright blue umbrella sky
Then softer than a piper man
One day, it called to you
And I lost you, I lost you
To the summer wind
The autumn wind and the winter winds
They have come and they have gone
And still the days, those lonely days
They go on and on
And guess who sighs his lullabies
Through nights that never end
My fickle friend, the summer wind
The summer wind, the summer wind
The summer wind