How Deep Is the Ocean? (song)

"How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1932, and can be heard in the background of the 1933 film The Life of Jimmy Dolan. The song was introduced by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with vocals by Jack Fulton.

The song was written at a low point in Berlin's professional and personal life, and is among the select few of his numbers introduced on the radio rather than onstage or in film. The song is a series of questions posed in succession to one another, with the only exception being the second line, "I'll tell you no lie."

Notable recordings

 * Al Hirt for his album, Trumpet and Strings (1962)
 * Aretha Franklin for her album The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin (1962)
 * Barry Manilow - The Greatest Love Songs of All Time (2010)
 * Benny Goodman (vocal by Peggy Lee) #1 (1941)
 * Bill Evans Trio – Explorations (1961)
 * Billie Holiday – Billie Holiday (1954)
 * Bing Crosby (1933)
 * Dexter Gordon – True Blue (1976)
 * Diana Krall - Love Scenes (1997)
 * Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra. Recorded at Manhattan Center, New York City, on February 26, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5202A (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10638.
 * Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (1957)
 * Eric Clapton - Clapton (2010)
 * Etta James – Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (1994)
 * Franck Amsallem - Out a Day (1992)
 * Frank Morgan and McCoy Tyner - Major Changes (1988)
 * Frank Sinatra – Nice 'n' Easy (1960)
 * Julie Andrews (1987)
 * Julie London - Lonely Girl (1956 mono, 1959 stereo)
 * Kurt Rosenwinkel - Intuit(1999)
 * Lee Wiley – featured in Night in Manhattan (1937)
 * Michael Feinstein "Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin" (1987 CD)
 * Nat King Cole
 * Rita Reys – Marriage in Modern Jazz (1960)
 * Susannah McCorkle - From Bessie to Brazil (1993)
 * The Isley Brothers - Shout! (1959)