"Summer Wine" is a song written by Lee Hazlewood. It was originally sung by Suzi Jane Hokom and Lee Hazlewood in 1966, but it was made famous by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood in 1967. This version was originally released as the B-side of "Sugar Town" the previous year, before featuring on the Nancy & Lee LP in 1968. It was the first of Sinatra and Hazlewood's string of popular duets.
Lyrically, "Summer Wine" describes a man, voiced by Hazlewood, who meets a woman, Sinatra, who notices his silver spurs and invites him to have wine with her. After heavy drinking, the man awakens hungover to find his spurs and money have been stolen by the mysterious woman; the subtext of which being they experienced intercourse and as repayment she misappropriated his "silver spurs a dollar and a dime". He then declares a longing for more of her "wine". Another interpretation, often cited, is that the song is an allegorical description of drug use (possibly heroin) and that the lyric "she reassured me with an unfamiliar line" specifically refers to cocaine. Another interpretation, is that the man singing the song was date-raped by the woman in order to steal his money and belongings.
Read more about Summer Wine: Covers
Famous quotes containing the words summer and/or wine:
“I know I am but summer to your heart,
And not the full four seasons of the year.”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“Like a tale of little meaning though the words are strong;
Chanted from an ill-used race of men that cleave the soil,
Sow the seed, and reap the harvest with enduring toil,
Storing yearly little dues of wheat, and wine and oil;
Till they perish and they suffer—some, ‘tis
whispered—down in hell”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)