Will I Ever Tell You Lyrics – Music Man, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Signature Act 2 pairing: the Buffalo Bills’ “Lida Rose” intertwines with Marian’s “Will I Ever Tell You.”
2. Introduced on Broadway in 1957 and preserved on Capitol’s cast album with Barbara Cook and the quartet.
3. Canon example of Broadway counterpoint - two complete songs sung separately, then simultaneously.
4. Film life: Shirley Jones and the Buffalo Bills reprise it in the 1962 adaptation.
5. Typical runtime around 4:15 - a patient, unhurried shimmer compared with the show’s brassier set pieces.

Creation History

Meredith Willson builds a quiet flex. “Lida Rose” is pure barbershop - block chords, ringing overtones - while Marian’s response glides on legato lines. Each melody stands on its own, but the dramatic trick is their dovetail. On the Original Broadway Cast album, the four Bills - a real barbershop champion quartet - sing the serenade as Cook’s Marian answers from her porch. The recording keeps the pit discreet, giving the voices air; what sells the moment is architecture, not spectacle.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

While River City still hums with Harold Hill’s schemes, the school-board quartet strolls and sings “Lida Rose,” a sweetheart’s plea. Across town, Marian Paroo names what she can’t yet say out loud. Their songs pass like neighbors on evening sidewalks - then, measure by measure, lock together.

Song Meaning

It’s restraint giving itself permission. The men voice uncomplicated hope; Marian counters with a private vow. When the tunes mesh, the show tells us these people are closer than they think. The number softens the ground for what follows - a romance earned by listening, not salesmanship.

Annotations

“Lida Rose, I’m home again, Rose - about a thousand kisses shy”

Old-fashioned hyperbole that fits barbershop’s porch-lantern nostalgia; the vowels are built to ring.

“Dream of now - Dream of then - Dream of a love song that might have been”

Marian’s grammar floats in time. She refuses present-tense confession, so Willson gives her one - conditional phrasing, long lines, no rush.

“At the least suggestion I’ll pop the question”

Comic bravado undercuts the quartet’s earnestness. It keeps the scene light while the harmony gets serious.

Craft notes

Genre fusion: Classic barbershop stacked against Golden Age soprano writing. One leans on close intervals and locked chords; the other on lyrical arcs and breath-wide vowels.

Harmony design: The counterpoint is engineered so consonants rarely collide and cadences trade space. It’s less a key change than a perspective change.

Cultural touchpoints: A mid-century Broadway score borrowing America’s parlor-singing tradition - a valentine to community music-making.

Key Facts

• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of The Music Man; The Buffalo Bills; Barbara Cook
• Featured: School-board quartet voices opposite Marian Paroo
• Composer: Meredith Willson
• Producer: Dick Jones
• Release Date: January 20, 1958
• Genre: Pop, Broadway, Musicals
• Instruments: Unaccompanied voices with light pit support
• Label: Capitol Records
• Mood: tender, reflective, courtly
• Length: 4:16
• Track #: 15
• Language: English
• Album: The Music Man - Original Broadway Cast
• Music style: Barbershop ballad plus soprano aria in counterpoint
• Poetic meter: mixed - syllabic barbershop text vs. longer iambic phrases in Marian’s verse

Canonical Entities & Relations

People

Meredith Willson - wrote - music and lyrics for the score.

The Buffalo Bills - sang - the onstage school-board quartet.

Barbara Cook - performed - Marian’s lines on the cast album.

Shirley Jones - performed - the Marian part in the 1962 film.

Herbert Greene - conducted - cast album orchestra and sessions.

Organizations

Capitol Records - released - Original Broadway Cast album.

Barbershop Harmony Society - recognizes - the Buffalo Bills as 1950 International Quartet Champions.

Recording Academy - awarded - Best Musical Theater Album to The Music Man.

Works

The Music Man - includes - “Lida Rose” and “Will I Ever Tell You.”

The Music Man - Motion Picture Soundtrack - features - Shirley Jones with the Buffalo Bills on the medley.

Venues/Locations

Majestic Theatre, New York - premiered - the 1957 Broadway production that introduced the number.

Questions and Answers

What makes this duet structurally special?

Each song is complete on its own. Willson then overlays them so harmony, rhythm, and text all stay intelligible - the cleanest kind of stage counterpoint.

Who sings it on the Original Broadway Cast album?

The Buffalo Bills as the school-board quartet with Barbara Cook as Marian.

Who performs it in the 1962 film?

Shirley Jones with the Buffalo Bills - same dramatic concept, cinematic framing.

Was it ever a single?

The medley circulated chiefly via the hit cast album and film soundtrack; “Lida Rose” had earlier separate recordings, but the paired version’s calling card is the OBC take.

Typical tempo and key?

Common recordings hover around 110-116 BPM. Film listings often analyze the medley around G major, though productions transpose as needed.

Why does it work so well for community choirs?

The lines are independent yet friendly to ears and breath. Barbershop stacks invite a quartet, while Marian’s melody gives a featured soprano a graceful arc.

Any notable covers?

Beyond the cast and film versions, barbershop ensembles and choirs regularly record the piece; arrangements for mixed double-quartet are widely published.

What is the dramatic payoff?

The counterpoint plants the seed for the show’s final interweavings - a musical way of saying two people are learning how to share a life.

How does the OBC compare with later revivals?

Revival albums retain the blueprint. Interpretations vary in tempo and brightness, but the shape - quartet first, Marian next, then both - remains intact.

Awards and Chart Positions

Milestones tied to the album carrying this track and its screen sibling:

How to Sing Lida Rose / Will I Ever Tell You

Essentials: Expect a ballad pulse around 110–116 BPM. Many analyses place the film medley near G major; transpositions for stage are common. Scoring can be a cappella 8-part double-quartet or quartet plus soloist with discreet pit. Soprano sits in a comfortable mid-to-upper register, blooming on sustained vowels; quartet favors locked chords and clean ring.

1. Tempo - set the sway: Start near 112 BPM. Keep a gentle two-feel so phrases can breathe without dragging.
2. Diction - vowels first: Round the long “o” in “Rose,” keep “Lida” bright but not wide, and ride legato on “Dream of now.” Quartet consonants should release together to keep the chord ring.
3. Breath & phrasing: Soprano plans full, quiet inhales before “Dream of now” and “Sweet and low.” Quartet staggers breaths to preserve sustained stacks.
4. Flow & balance: In the combined section, think foreground and halo. Marian’s line carries the thought; the quartet frames it.
5. Accents: Feather beat one. Save emphasis for cadences and the chapel-bell figure - tiny lifts, not punches.
6. Ensemble layout: If staging with chorus, place the quartet close and Marian offset upstage or on a porch level to help the counterpoint read.
7. Mic craft: Slightly closer mic for Marian than for the quartet. Add just enough room to let overtones bloom.
8. Common pitfalls: Over-sentimental rubato, quartet tuning drift on long vowels, and crowded text when both lines enter. Fix with slow-count rehearsals and vowel-matching drills.

Practice materials: Use an 8-part a cappella chart or TTBB plus solo arrangement; a click track at 112 helps early rehearsals, then remove it to restore natural lift.

Additional Info

The quartet on the album is not a studio invention but a real champion barbershop group whose career leapt from radio to Broadway to film. The medley has since become a staple for barbershop chapters and school choirs, often published as an 8-part double-quartet chart. According to NME-style industry retrospectives, the mid-century boom in cast albums helped songs like this live in living rooms far from Times Square.

Sources: Apple Music, Spotify, Billboard, Recording Academy, Playbill, Wikipedia, SecondHandSongs, Barbershop Harmony Society, Hal Leonard.