The Things We Did Last Summer

A masterclass in nostalgic detail — Cahn catalogs the small, specific moments of a summer romance with such precision that the listener supplies their own memories. The swing on the swings, the telephone, the way we danced — each image is universal because it’s particular. Jo Stafford’s 1946 recording was a #1 hit, one of the defining recordings of the immediate postwar era.

Sinatra’s version confirmed it as a standard, and the song has never left the repertoire of singers drawn to Cahn’s gift for making personal memory feel shared.