Call Me Irresponsible

Written for the 1963 film Papa’s Delicate Condition, “Call Me Irresponsible” won Cahn and Van Heusen their third and final Academy Award for Best Original Song. Cahn considered it his personal favorite of all his lyrics — proudly noting it was “a five-syllable song written by a guy from a one-syllable neighborhood.”

The song became an instant standard, with recordings by Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Jack Jones all appearing within a year of its release. Dinah Washington’s 1963 recording — one of her last before her death that December — is among the most poignant. Michael Bublé’s 2007 recording introduced it to a new generation.