These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) is a 1935 English jazz standard, a torch ballad with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz under the pen name Holt Marvell and music by Jack Strachey, with Harry Link sometimes credited for a middle eight. It was written for the BBC revue Spread It Abroad and first performed live by Dorothy Dickson in 1936, with an early recording by Turner Layton in the same year. The song gained rapid fame after Leslie Hutchinson’s 1936 recording and the Benny Goodman and His Orchestra version with Helen Ward, which helped it become a global hit. It is a Mayfair song and has become a enduring jazz standard, known for its list-like lyrics that recall a vanished romance through objects and memories such as a lipstick-stained cigarette, an airline ticket, a tinkling piano, and a fairground swing. The tune has been covered by countless artists across genres, including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, James Brown, and Bryan Ferry, whose 1973 album These Foolish Things gave the title to his solo project. The song continues to appear in films and soundtracks and remains a staple of jazz repertoire for its evocative imagery and romantic mood.
