Confusion with "at" and "in"
I been told that I have to use "at" when saying at night but I've listened to Frank Sinatra's song: "Strangers in the night" ..... Now I'm confused. Please, tell me what the exception is
2 Answers
"In the night" is a poetic description of strangers that are met, at night, as if they are a part of the night, and therefore in the night. Imagine, you meet this gorgeous girl - at night - who just seems to "come out of" the night... she was "in" the night. The poetic message here is that she was unknown to you ("in" the night, in the dark). Once you meet her, she is no longer "in the night", no longer unknown. She is now "in the light" - known to you.
Here's another example: "The man walked into the night." What is being said here is that the man walks away, in the dark (at night) and gradually disappears "into the night".
You must be careful with music, very often poetic language can easily confuse. I hope my awkward explanation helps.
When we are speaking from a purely temporal aspect (i.e. When did it happen? —at night) then I would agree that "at night" is certainly the more common expression.
On the other hand, as NickDan already mentioned, the expression in this song is used somewhat poetically. In this sense, it seems that "in the night," as it is used in this song, appears to focus more on the physical and emotional aspect that is conveyed by the word "night" (i.e. darkness, mystery, loneliness, uncertainty, etc). Using the preposition "in" helps convey the feeling of being enveloped in the night (or in some of the properties mentioned earlier)
You can compare this idea with other similar ideas expressed in other popular songs such as "in the heat of the night or in the still of the night.
