These Foolish Things

"These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" is a 32-bar AABA popular song with music by Jack Strachey and lyrics by Eric Maschwitz, who published under the pen name Holt Marvell. Harry Link contributed additional musical material, including work on the bridge. Composed in London in the autumn of 1935, the song was written rapidly: Maschwitz drafted the lyrics in a single sitting, reportedly inspired by his relationship with actress Anna May Wong, and dictated them by telephone to Strachey, who set them to music that same day. The song premiered in the 1936 BBC radio revue Spread It Abroad, which later transferred to London's Saville Theatre for a run of 209 performances. The melody is wistful and flowing, perfectly matched to lyrics that catalog small romantic mementos, from a lipstick-stained cigarette to a tinkling piano in the next apartment. The harmony is lush and sentimental in the style of 1930s popular song, without unusual key changes or rhythmic complications, and the structure accommodates both slow ballad and uptempo swing interpretations with equal ease. Leslie Hutchinson's 1936 recording, made after he discovered the manuscript on Maschwitz's piano, was the first to popularize the song. It quickly became a transatlantic hit, with Benny Goodman's version reaching number one on the charts and Billie Holiday's recording entering the Billboard top five. "These Foolish Things" has since been recorded hundreds of times across jazz, pop, and soul, and it remains one of the most enduring compositions in the Great American Songbook.