Too Marvelous for Words Totally Explained

Everything about Too Marvelous For Words totally explained

Too Marvelous for Words is a popular song written in 1937. Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics for music composed by Richard Whiting. It was featured in the 1937 Warner Brothers film Ready, Willing and Able, as well as a production number in a musical revue on Broadway. It then became the love theme in the 1947 film noir Dark Passage directed by Delmer Daves, first in a version sung by Jo Stafford, then just instrumental as the love that finally reunites Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart is Too Marvelous for Words indeed.
Alec Wilder praised the song as a "model of pop song writing, musically and lyrically". He cites its surprising shifts in rhythm and key.
The lyrics are sophisticated and perfectly synchronized with the tune. Mercer successfully borrowed some lyric techniques from Ira Gershwin, and like Gershwin, he writes more about language than about love. Margaret Whiting said of the lyrics, that the song was an enormously original approach to saying "I love you, honey".

Recorded versions

Ross Alexander (1937, Film Soundtrack)
Ambrose and his orchestra (vocal: Sam Browne) (1937)
Gene Ammons
Ray Anthony
Tex Beneke and The Glenn Miller orchestra (1948)
Chu Berry (1949)
Pat Boone
Dave Brubeck
June Christy (1949)
Rosemary Clooney (1959)
Nat King Cole Trio (1947)
Bing Crosby with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra (1937)
Billy Daniels
Doris Day (1949)
Eddy Duchin and his orchestra (1937)
Eileen Farrell
Michael Feinstein
Ella Fitzgerald (1956)
Helen Forrest (1949)
Judy Garland
Stan Getz
Carroll Gibbons and Savoy Orphans (vocal: George Melachrino) (1937)
Coleman Hawkins
Dick Haymes
Billie Holliday
Helen Humes
Harry James and his orchestra (1943)
Joni James (1959)
Frankie Laine (1961)
Abbe Lane
Dean Martin
Marian McPartland
Johnny Mercer (1971)
Helen Merrill
Red Norvo and The Overseas Spotlight Band (1943)
Johnnie Ray (1958)
Leo Reisman and his orchestra (1937)
Lita Roza (1956)
Andy Russell
Artie Shaw
Frank Sinatra (1956)
Jeri Southern
Jo Stafford
Margaret Whiting
Joe Williams
Lester Young

Further Information

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