"(Love Is) The Tender Trap" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.^[1]

It was written for the 1955 film The Tender Trap, where it was introduced by Debbie Reynolds and Frank Sinatra, who each sing the song separately.^[1] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but lost to "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" from the film of the same name.^[1]

A version by Frank Sinatra became a major hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at no. 2 in February 1956.^[2] It reached no. 7 in the US charts.^[3]

Other recordings

• Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1955^[4] for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954-56) issued by Mosaic Records (catalog MD7-245) in 2009.^[5]
• Debbie Reynolds (1956).^[6]
• Denny Dennis (1956).^[7]
• Ella Fitzgerald (1956).^[8]
• Frank Sinatra recorded it again in 1962 for his album Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First.^[9]
• Sammy Davis Jr. - for his album The Wham of Sam (1961)^[10]
• Robert Palmer - from the album Robert Palmer (1992), which was also used on the soundtrack of the film True Romance. ^[11]
• Stacey Kent - included in her album Love Is...The Tender Trap (1998)^[12]
• Steve Lawrence - for his album Academy Award Losers (1964).^[13]