“I Cannot Sing To-Night” was submitted for copyright deposit on August 11, 1852 by Firth, Pond & Co. The lyrics are by George F. Bannister.

Evelyn Foster Morneweck writes in The Chronicles of Stephen Foster’s Family, “After his return from the South in March, 1852, Stephen published that year ‘Massa’s in de Cold Ground,’ ‘The Hour for Thee and Me,’ ‘I Cannot Sing Tonight,’ and ‘Maggie by My Side.’”