"More I Cannot Wish You" is a song written and composed by

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...

and first performed by Pat Rooney, Sr. in 1950. The song was featured in the musical ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

''. The sentimental lyrics relate the feelings of the oldest character in the play,

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Arvide Abernathy, who sings it tenderly to his granddaughter, Sarah Brown.

Development

Loesser originally wrote the song for the 1949 movie ''

Roseanna McCoy ''Roseanna McCoy'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay by John Collier, based on the 1947 novel of the same title by Alberta Hannum, is a romanticized and semi-fictionalized account of the Hatfield–McCoy feud. ...

''. 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." When the song was cut from the movie, because producer

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...

"neither liked nor understood the song," Loesser added the song to ''Guys and Dolls''. 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." 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 The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

'' and saw "two archaic spellings""licorice" and "lickerish"and " the exemplary material ... found 'lickerish tooth.'"

Reception

Reviewing the original Broadway production of ''Guys and Dolls'',

Wolcott Gibbs Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist, theatre critic, playwright and writer of short stories, who worked for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1927 until his death. He is notable for his 1936 parody o ...

wrote in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

that "More I Cannot Wish You" is "one of the pleasantest things in the show." The New York Daily News review said that "More I Cannot Wish You" "is worthy of Rooney's old, sure charm." 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."

Notable recordings

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

recorded the song as a track on his album "

Kisses on the Bottom ''Kisses on the Bottom'' is the fifteenth solo studio album by Paul McCartney, consisting primarily of covers of traditional pop music and jazz. Released in February 2012 on Starbucks' Hear Music label, it was McCartney's first studio album s ...

" in 2012. 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." Describing his interpretation of the song, McCartney said, "It's a father talking to his daughter.... quite moving, very moving." * Bing Crosby recorded the song as a single in 1951, and his recording appears on his album "Through the Years - Volume Two 1951." Crosby recorded another version with

Jud Conlon Judd "Jud" Conlon (born Justin Nobert Conlon; June 16, 1910 – July 28, 1966) was an American vocal arranger and conductor. Early life Conlon was born in 1910 in Cuba City, Wisconsin. He relocated to Dubuque, Iowa, where he attended Columbia Acad ...

’s Choir and

John Scott Trotter John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader. Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...

And His Orchestra in 1953. *

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

recorded the song with

Vince Giordano Vince Giordano (born March 11, 1952 in Brooklyn) is an American saxophonist and leader of the New York-based Nighthawks Orchestra. He specializes in jazz of the 1920s and 1930s and his primary instrument is the bass saxophone. Vince Giordano and ...

and the Nighthawks for his 2020 album "I'd Rather Lead a Band." *

Ed Ames Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick; July 9, 1927), who also recorded as Eddie Ames, is an American singer and actor. He is known for playing Mingo in the television series ''Daniel Boone'', and for his pop hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including " ...

recorded the song as the title track of an album in 1966.

In popular culture

*The song appears in ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'' television series episode " Duet", performed by

Jesse Martin Jesse Martin, OAM (born 26 August 1981) is a German-Australian sailor who in 1999 became the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted, Martin's journey in the S&S 34 sloop ''Lionheart-Mistral'' took approxima ...

featuring

Victor Garber Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...

and

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' and '' Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowv ...

. *The song was omitted from the ''

'' ( 1955) film adaptation, produced by Goldwyn, who had previously rejected the song for ''Roseanna McCoy''.

References

External links

* Allmusic Entry {{Authority control Songs from Guys and Dolls Songs from musicals Songs written by Frank Loesser Pop standards