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In the Wizard of Oz, the scarecrow sings, "If I only had a brain." Doesn't he really mean, "If only I had a brain"?

I think the sentence the scarecrow sings actually asks what it would be like if he had only one thing, a brain. That, however, is not what he wants to ask.

The reason I ask is that I am playing off this song in a post I am writing on dualism. I was going to title it, "If Only Souls Had a Brain". But when I listened to the song again, I would need to rewrite it as, "If Souls Only Had a Brain" to do a proper play on the scarecrow's words. I think "If Souls Only Had a Brain" is so poorly written, I will just modify what the scarecrow says, and title my post "If Only Souls Had a Brain".

Maybe the scarecrow would have used better grammar, if only he had a brain!

Heartspring
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Merle Hertzler
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    Even if the grammar is bad it only adds to the truth of the situation. He Doesn't have a brain. If he did he would be saying it betterer. Wouldn't he. – Elliot Apr 05 '23 at 01:30
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    Lyrics, being a form of art, are exempt from normal strictures concerning word order and placement. – Robusto Apr 05 '23 at 03:33
  • I don't think the question has been fully dealt with by the previous question and its answers. – JK2 Apr 05 '23 at 05:42
  • 'If only' is a fixed phrase, and that is the default sense here, not [If] [only {I}]. From CD: << If only [Grammar > Verbs > Conditionals and wishes > If only [from English Grammar Today]: We use if only to express a strong wish that things could be different. It means the same as I wish but is stronger. We use it to talk about past, present and future unreal conditions. If only he knew the truth. (he doesn’t know the truth, but he wishes he did) >> The ordering is sometimes switched (If he only knew the truth.) but this is not mandatory and more formal.... – Edwin Ashworth Apr 05 '23 at 11:41
  • And again, the alternative reading ('If he only knew the truth ... even that would be something; he doesn't have to fully espouse it at this time.') is again not the default. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 05 '23 at 11:44
  • Sorry; the Cambridge Dictionary link. They class the fixed phrase as an idiom, and they're probably right (unusual usage of 'only', after complementiser if analysing word for word). – Edwin Ashworth Apr 05 '23 at 15:31

4 Answers4

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Dorothy asks the Scarecrow, who wants a brain, "What would you do with a brain if you had one?". And the Scarecrow's song "If I Only Had a Brain" is in response to the question. So the song easily could have been "If I Had a Brain" (without "Only"), but it included "Only" to emphasize how much he wanted a brain.

In this context, both If I only had a brain and If only I had a brain work with little difference in meaning.

It's worth noting, though, that it's a 1939 movie. According to Ngram, "If I only had a/an" was more productive than "If only I had a/an" until around 1949, after which point the latter became more productive than the former.

JK2
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The use of "only", in this context, is not intended to separate those who have brains from those who don't. Rather, "if only" is expressing a wish.

For instance, if I were wanting to bake some bread and I did not have any yeast for leavening, I might say "If only I had some yeast". This does not imply that I want to be the only person in my community to possess yeast, but rather it means that I wish I had some yeast.

Hot Licks
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On the contrary,

If only I had a brain

means if I had a brain, and no one else did, because "only" modifies "I". "If Only Souls Had a Brain" means that nothing else has a brain.

if I only had a brain

means that if I had a brain and nothing more (in context, nothing more in addition to what he already has).

Mary
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    It's not ambiguous because context is an intrinsic part of language. It's absurd to assume that only the scarecrow has a brain, so there's essentially no room for misunderstanding. "If I only had a brain," is an ideal formulation because it fits the rhythm of the song and because, as is the case with the above suggestion, the meaning is not ambiguous; it's absurd to assume that the scarecrow is singing about a condition in which he has a brain and, uh... nothing else. – R Mac Apr 05 '23 at 01:11
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"If I only had a brain" is not bad grammar, but if you want to adjust it for the sake of your title, feel free to do so.

herisson
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