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"Dear Old Stockholm" is a jazz adaptation of the Swedish folk song Ack Värmeland, du sköna ("Oh Värmland, You Beautiful"), a traditional melody praising the province of Värmland. Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz first introduced the tune to the jazz repertoire during a 1951 tour of Sweden, and it has since become a widely performed standard.

The piece follows an AABA' form with irregular phrase lengths that make it deceptively challenging. Each A section consists of 8 bars of melody followed by a 4-bar vamp (12 bars total), while the B section is just 4 bars with no written melody, and the final A' section is abbreviated. The tune is typically played in D minor, with the A sections in the relative minor and the bridge shifting to the relative major. The harmony is largely diatonic, but Miles Davis's influential arrangement added rhythmic vamp figures with orchestrated hits in the A sections and a sus-chord pedal at the form's end, transforming the simple folk material into a sophisticated jazz vehicle.

The definitive recording appears on Miles Davis's 1956 album 'Round About Midnight, featuring John Coltrane (ts), Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b), and Philly Joe Jones (ds). Coltrane's counter-melody to the theme is particularly memorable. Stan Getz's original 1951 recording with the Swedish All Stars on Metronome is also essential listening, capturing the tune in its earliest jazz incarnation.