The Four Freshmen began as a American vocal group popular from the 1950s th… Read Full Bio ↴The Four Freshmen began as a American vocal group popular from the 1950s through to the early 1960s. Founded by brothers Ross and Don Barbour in 1948 as freshmen at Butler University, the other two original members included their cousin Bob Flanigan and Hal Kratzsch. Well-known for their multi-part harmonies, they are notable as early purveyors of vocalese and as the forerunners of vocal-harmony based rock music, particularly that of The Beach Boys. In their current configuration, The Four Freshmen continue to perform.

The group took off after being signed to Capitol Records in 1952 at the insistence of high profile fan, Stan Kenton. They remained popular throughout the 50s and early 60s, releasing a wide array of successful albums, movie and television appearances and performing countless sold-out concerts. The band eventually lost mainstream attention with the emergence of the British pop bands of the 1960s, even though they managed to stay together even after the retirement of final original member Bob Flanigan in 1992.

As of 2001, the Freshmen have been composed of Bob Ferreira, Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, and Vince Johnson. Although the new lineup of the Four Freshmen have continued the legendary vocal tradition of the original band and perform many of the same standards, the current sound has more of a lounge sound rather than focusing primarily upon harmonies. This modernized sound has proven quite successful, as the group won Down Beat magazine's reader's poll award for Vocal Group of the Year in 2000, proving the quartet's prominence in the jazz world today.

The More I See You
The Four Freshmen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Each time I look at you
Is like the first time
Each time you're near me
The thrill is new
And there is nothing
That I wouldn't do for
The rare delight of the sight
Of you for

The more I see you,
The more I want you
Somehow this feeling
Just grows and grows
With every sigh
I become more mad about you
More lost without you and so it goes

Can you imagine how much I love you?
The more I see you as years go by
I know the only one for me can only be you
My arms won't free you, my heart won't try

I know the only one for me
Can only be you

My arms won't free you,
My heart won't try

Overall Meaning

The Four Freshmen’s “The More I See You” is a song about a person who is deeply and hopelessly in love with someone. The lyrics describe the feeling that each time the lover sees their partner, it is like the first time, and they are overwhelmed by the thrill and delight of their sight. The more they see their partner, the stronger their desire for them grows, with every sigh and every moment they spend apart making them more and more mad about them. The lyrics suggest that their love is intense and unwavering, and they cannot imagine being with anyone else but their beloved.

The song is a beautiful expression of the timeless feeling of true love. The lyrics describe how powerful and all-consuming love can be, where each moment with a loved one feels like the first, and all one can think of is being with them forever. The words also beautifully capture the feeling of longing and yearning for someone who is not with you, and how being apart from them can make you feel lost and incomplete. The final lines of the song emphasize the depth of the singer's love and commitment by declaring that their heart and arms belong only to their beloved.

Line by Line Meaning

Each time I look at you
Every instance that I gaze upon you

Is like the first time
Feels as though it is my initial encounter with you

Each time you're near me
Whenever you are in proximity

The thrill is new
A fresh excitement arises within me

And there is nothing
Absolutely nothing

That I wouldn't do for
There isn't a task I wouldn't undertake

The rare delight of the sight
To witness the scarce satisfaction of visualizing

Of you for
Your esteemed being

The more I see you,
As I lay my eyes upon you increasingly,

The more I want you
The more is my desire for you

Somehow this feeling
This emotion of mine is somewhat baffling