Very nice post, and there should be more like it on FR, if for no other reason than to break the relentless onslaught of The Political.
There’s a great moody song Nina Simone recorded, probably in the 50s titled “Middle of the Night”,probably from the movie of the same name, with Fredric March. Glad you mentioned the Elvis ballad, because that was his finest and most sensitive vocal.Nice soft rock song from the 70s with the lyrics “there’s a warm wind blowin’ the stars around/and I really want to see you tonight.There are no shortage of average songs with “night “ in them, like The Night has a Thousand Eyes and You and the night and the Music.Maybe I’m partial, but the song “Summer Nights” from the musical Grease, is pretty good in an adolescent-yearning kind of way. I was in the original cast in Chicago, but that song was written for the movie. For now, though, the Simone song should suffice.
I heard an incredible version of Summer Nights by Darlene Love and Lou Christie.