"More I Cannot Wish You"
Song by Pat Rooney, Sr.
from the album Guys and Dolls (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Released1950
Recorded1950
Genreshow tunes
Length2:27
LabelDecca
Songwriter(s)Frank Loesser

"More I Cannot Wish You" is a song written and composed by Frank Loesser and first performed by Pat Rooney, Sr. in 1950.[1][2] The song was featured in the musical Guys and Dolls. The sentimental lyrics relate the feelings of the oldest character in the play, missionary Arvide Abernathy,[3] who sings it tenderly to his granddaughter, Sarah Brown.[4]

Development

Loesser originally wrote the song for the 1949 movie Roseanna McCoy. In a scene in which the title character sat next to her elder brother in a wagon seat, her brother was to sing the song to her, "wishing her good fortune in the heart."[5] When the song was cut from the movie, because producer Samuel Goldwyn "neither liked nor understood the song,"[5] Loesser added the song to Guys and Dolls.[6]

To devise some of the singular lyrics, Loesser derived "with a sheep's eye" from "making sheep's eyes at" to describe "the imagined lover's almost pitiable adoration of the girl."[5] For "lickerish tooth," Loesser consulted a thesaurus to find synonyms for "covetous" and found "lecherous," which was "appalling in sound to the modern ear," after which he consulted Oxford English Dictionary and saw "two archaic spellings"—"licorice" and "lickerish"—and "[i]n the exemplary material ... found 'lickerish tooth.'"[5]

Reception

Reviewing the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls, Wolcott Gibbs wrote in The New Yorker that "More I Cannot Wish You" is "one of the pleasantest things in the show."[7] The New York Daily News review said that "More I Cannot Wish You" "is worthy of Rooney's old, sure charm."[8]

In his 1972 study of American popular songs, Alec Wilder described "More I Cannot Wish You" as "a very special song, shining with tenderness, as natural as if it simply happened," and called its lyrics "most distinguished and truly poetic."[9]

Notable recordings

  • Paul McCartney recorded the song as a track on his album "Kisses on the Bottom" in 2012.[10] McCartney’s version changes the lyrics slightly from "With a sheep’s eye / And a lickerish tooth" to "With a sheepish eye, / And a look of the truth."[11] Describing his interpretation of the song, McCartney said, "It's a father talking to his daughter.... quite moving, very moving."[12]
  • Bing Crosby recorded the song as a single in 1951,[13] and his recording appears on his album "Through the Years - Volume Two 1951."[14] Crosby recorded another version with Jud Conlon’s Choir and John Scott Trotter And His Orchestra in 1953.[15]
  • Loudon Wainwright III recorded the song with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks for his 2020 album "I'd Rather Lead a Band."[16]
  • Ed Ames recorded the song as the title track of an album in 1966.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Dietz, Dan (July 2, 2014). The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 39. ISBN 978-1442235052. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Pat Rooney". Playbill. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  3. ↑ Brahms, Caryl; Sherrin, Ned (January 1, 1984). Song by Song: The Lives and Work of 14 Great Lyric Writers. Anderson. ISBN 978-0863600135. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  4. ↑ Riis, Thomas L. (January 28, 2008). Frank Loesser. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0300110517. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Loesser, Susan (September 1, 2000). A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life: a Portrait by His Daughter. Winona, Minn.: Hal Leonard. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-0634009273. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  6. ↑ Granger, Farley (May 13, 2008). Include Me Out. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 81, 103. ISBN 978-0312357740. Retrieved June 15, 2021. Imagine how I felt when I heard 'More I Cannot Wish You,' my song from Roseanna McCoy which Goldwyn had cut ... being sung to Sarah Brown....
  7. ↑ Gibbs, Wolcott (December 2, 1950). "The Theatre: Bouquets, Brickbats, and Obituaries". The New Yorker. p. 78. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  8. ↑ Chapman, John (November 25, 1950). "'Guys and Dolls' New York's Own Musical Comedy - So Get in Line". New York Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  9. ↑ Wilder, Alec (1972). American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 519. ISBN 9780195014457. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Paul McCartney - Kisses On The Bottom". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  11. ↑ "More I Cannot Wish You". Paul McCartney. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  12. ↑ Lister, David (23 November 2012). "Paul McCartney talks Jimmy Savile and (unusually for him) the real John Lennon". The Independent. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  13. ↑ "Bing Crosby - More I Cannot Wish You". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Bing Crosby - Through the Years Volume Two 1951". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Bing Crosby With Jud Conlon's Choir And John Scott Trotter And His Orchestra / Bing Crosby – More I Cannot Wish You / I've Got To Fall In Love Again". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Loudon Wainwright III, Vince Giordano And The Nighthawks - I'd Rather Lead A Band". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Ed Ames - More I Cannot Wish You". Discogs. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  18. ↑ Ge, Linda (March 21, 2017). "'The Flash'-'Supergirl' Musical Crossover Performances Ranked From Worst to Best". The Wrap. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Guys and Dolls (Film) Song List". Frank Loesser. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
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