Adelaide’s Lament

Current Publisher: Frank Music Corp.

Featured in Guys and Dolls and Guys and Dolls (Film)

Copyrighted December 28, 1950. Previously registered for copyright as an unpublished song August 14, 1950. Published as part of Guys and Dolls vocal score, September 3, 1953. Introduced by Vivian Blaine (Adelaide).

Originally written for a stripper who caught a cold due to exposure, the song was revised after Abe Burrow’s book for Guys and Dolls was completed. Vivian Blaine, who originated the role, nearly turned it down. “I almost walked out,” she recalled in a 1959 radio interview. “But before I could finish the line ‘Thanks a lot, Frank -‘ he said ‘Wait a minute, I want you to hear something.’ He then sat down and played ‘Adelaide’s Lament.'”