"In the Heat of the Night" is a 1967 song performed by Ray Charles, composed by Quincy Jones, and written by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman for the film In the Heat of the Night. As Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic states, the song "opens the film and accompanying soundtrack with a slice of real, rural backwoods gospel. Lyrically, one of the key lines is 'In the heat of the night/I'm feeling motherless somehow,' which clearly illustrates the main character's dilemma of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The song is a pivotal element in the 1967 film, providing an authentic rural gospel sound that sets the tone for the story. The lyrics also illustrate the main character's emotional turmoil, as expressed in the line "In the heat of the night/I'm feeling motherless somehow."