(Love Is) The Tender Trap

The title song for the 1955 Sinatra romantic comedy earned Cahn and Van Heusen an Academy Award nomination and became one of their most instantly recognizable collaborations. The central metaphor — love as an irresistible trap you walk into willingly — is delivered with such wit and inevitability that the song feels like it has always existed.

Sinatra’s swinging Capitol recording is definitive, but Stacey Kent’s 1998 interpretation shows how well the song’s sophistication translates to a more intimate jazz setting.