Recorded by Paul McCartney for his 2012 album Kisses On The Bottom, ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ was a song written for the theatre production of Guys And Dolls.
The first thing I heard was a cast recording of Guys And Dolls from the stage show. It’s a beautiful song – he’s singing, ‘Mansions, I can wish you/Seven footmen in a row/And calling cards upon a silver tray/But more I cannot wish you than you find your own true love.’So it’s like, ‘I can wish you all this great stuff but, you know, really what I’m wishing is you find love.’ So, for that, for a father to a daughter – and particularly with me, having an eight-year-old – some of it was quite moving. The whole thing was very moving.
And then, when he says, ‘Music, I can wish you/And merry music while you’re young/And wisdom, wisdom when your hair has turned to grey.’ Well me thinking about my eight-year-old, with her hair turning to grey, did me in!
And then Jonny Mandel came in to do some of the arrangements, and he did that one beautifully, very simply. ’cause he doesn’t even come in with his arrangement till it says ‘Music I can wish you,’ and there’s this beautiful Mandel string thing that happens, that really just adds to the emotion.
‘More I Cannot Wish You’ was one of two songs on the Kisses On The Bottom album composed by Frank Loesser, the other being ‘The Inch Worm’.
The song is one of the less well known ones from Guys And Dolls. Five of Loesser’s songs were omitted from the 1955 film starring Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine, and three new ones written to order. As a result, ‘More I Cannot Wish You’ is rarely heard outside the theatre.
The song features in act two of the stage production. Sgt Sarah Brown confesses that she loves Sky Masterson, but has resolved to never see him again. She is urged to follow her heart by her grandfather Arvide Abernathy, who sings the song to her.
In the studio
‘More I Cannot Wish You’ was recorded in March 2010 at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. The rhythm arrangement was by Diana Krall.
Lyrics
Velvet, I can wish you
For the collar of your coat
And fortune smiling all along your way
But more I cannot wish you
Than to wish you find your love
Your own true love this day
Mansions, I can wish you
Seven footmen all in red
And calling cards upon a silver tray
But more I cannot wish you
Than to wish you find your love
Your own true love this day
Standing there
Gazing at you
Full of the bloom of youth
Standing there
Gazing at you
With a sheepish eye
And a look of the truth
Music, I can wish you
Merry music while you’re young
And wisdom when your hair has turned to grey
But more I cannot wish you
Than to wish you find your love
Your own true love this day
With a sheepish eye
And a look of the truth
And the strong arms
To carry you away
Paul McCartney’s performance of this song is delightful but why did he choose to change the lyric from “with a sheep’s eye and a lickerish tooth” to “a sheepish eye and a look of the truth.”?
I’d just be happy if I knew what either line meant.
Sheep’s eye is like calf love, looking longingly, while lickerish tooth is a lecherous desire for sweets.