Something 's Gotta Give ( Johnny Mercer song ) - Wikipedia Something 's Gotta Give ( Johnny Mercer song ) This article is about the Johnny Mercer song. For other songs with similar titles, see Something 's Gotta Give ( disambiguation ). `` Something 's Gotta Give '' is a popular song with words and music by Johnny Mercer in 1954. It was published in 1955. It was written for and first performed by Fred Astaire in the 1955 musical film Daddy Long Legs, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1955 as Best Original Song, losing to Love is a Many Splendored Thing. The song playfully uses the irresistible force paradox -- which asks what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object -- as a metaphor for a relationship between a vivacious woman and an older, world - weary man. The man, it is implied, will give in to temptation and kiss the woman. The song 's lyrics echo the plot of Daddy Long Legs, in which a reserved man in his 50s ( Astaire ) falls in love with a woman in her early 20s ( Leslie Caron ). Popular cover versions The biggest - selling version was recorded by The McGuire Sisters, reaching # 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1955 ( see 1955 in music ). Sammy Davis, Jr. had a popular competing version out the same year which also made the Top 10 on the Billboard pop chart, peaking at # 9. The following year Mel Tormé released a version on his Sings Fred Astaire album. Frank Sinatra recorded the song in 1959 on his album Come Dance with Me ! and it was featured in the incomplete 37 - minute 1962 film Something 's Got to Give, which was Marilyn Monroe 's last work, the film being abandoned after her death. In 1964, Ella Fitzgerald included this song on her Verve album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook, with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. In the game Fallout : New Vegas, Dean Domino from the Dead Money add - on sings this song, although it is a reused version of Bing Crosby 's cover which can be heard in Radio New Vegas. Notes Jump up ^ Furia, Philip ( 1992 ). Poets of Tin Pan Alley. New York & Oxford : Oxford University Press. p. 278. ISBN 0 - 19 - 507473 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ). McGuire Sisters Christine McGuire Dorothy McGuire Phyllis McGuire Singles `` Pine Tree, Pine over Me '' `` Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite '' `` Muskrat Ramble '' `` Christmas Alphabet '' `` Sincerely '' `` No More '' `` Something 's Gotta Give '' `` He '' `` Picnic '' `` Weary Blues '' `` Ev'ry Day of My Life '' `` Goodnight, My Love, Pleasant Dreams '' `` Sugartime '' `` Volare '' `` May You Always '' `` Tears on My Pillow '' `` Just Because '' `` I Do n't Want to Walk Without You '' Book : McGuire Sisters This 1950s pop song - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Something%27s_Gotta_Give_(Johnny_Mercer_song)&oldid=757581945 '' Categories : 1955 songs Songs written for films Songs written by Johnny Mercer Fred Astaire songs Sammy Davis Jr. songs 1950s pop song stubs Talk About Wikipedia Deutsch Edit links This page was last edited on 31 December 2016, at 14 : 08. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote the song something's gotta give
Answer: Johnny Mercer