"Der Sommerwind" was a song composed in 1965 by Heinz Meier, with German language lyrics written by Hans Bradtke. The song was changed to 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. 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. It was recorded for the American market in 1965 by Wayne Newton as the title track for his album Summer Wind. At the time of his release, it was predicted to be as successful as his recording of Red Roses for a Blue Lady, which had reached tenth place on the Top 40 and the number one spot on the Easy Listening chart. However it only reached the 86th position. It was also recorded that year by both Bobby Vinton, and Perry Como. 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.
The best known version of the song is by Frank Sinatra. He had previously worked with Mercer on a number of songs, including "One for My Baby " and Nancy Sinatra would later recall Mercer being Sinatra's favourite lyricist. It was recorded for the singer's album Strangers in the Night, which was the final album he worked on with composer Nelson Riddle. 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. This was Mercer's final work to reach the top forty within the United States. Sinatra would later re-record the song with Julio Iglesias for the 1993 album Duets. The song was featured at the end of the season six episode of The Simpsons titled "Bart of Darkness", as well as in the soundtrack of the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049. It was also featured on 1984 The Pope of Greenwich Village, starring Eric Roberts and Mickey Rourke. 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. Two years later, the end of the song was also played by the station when they started the montage relaunching the classic hits format. The B-side, "You Make Me Feel So Young," is a live version from the Sinatra at the Sands album, arranged by Quincy Jones and featuring the Count Basie Orchestra.
