Throughout the 1950s and early-1960s, Jackie Gleason enjoyed a secondary mu… Read Full Bio ↴Throughout the 1950s and early-1960s, Jackie Gleason enjoyed a secondary music career, lending his name to a series of best-selling mood music albums with jazz overtones for Capitol. Gleason felt there was a ready market for romantic instrumentals. He recalled seeing Clark Gable play love scenes in movies, and the romance was, in his words, "magnified a thousand percent" by background music. Gleason reasoned, "If Gable needs music, a guy in Brooklyn must be desperate!"

Gleason could not read or write music in a conventional sense; he was said to have conceived melodies in his head and described them vocally to staff help. He did likewise with the well-remembered themes of both The Jackie Gleason Show ("Melancholy Serenade") and The Honeymooners ("You're My Greatest Love"). There has been some controversy over the years as to how much credit Gleason should have received for the finished products; it has been written that beyond the possible conceptualizing of many of the songs, Gleason had no direct involvement such as conducting in the making of these recordings. However, his main musical companion, cornetist and trumpeter Bobby Hackett once said: "Jackie knows a lot more about music than people give him credit for. I have seen him conduct a sixty-piece orchestra and detect one discordant note in the brass section. He would immediately stop the music and locate the wrong note. It always amazed the professional musicians how a guy who technically did not know one note from another could do that. And he was never wrong."

Born February 26, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He died on June 24, 1987

How Deep Is the Ocean?
Jackie Gleason Lyrics

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How much do I love you?
I'll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
How many times in a day
Do I think of you?
How many roses are
Sprinkled with dew?

How far would I travel
Just to be where you are?
How far is the journey
From here to a star?
And if I ever lost you
How much would I cry?

How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Jackie Gleason's song How Deep Is the Ocean? talk about the depth of love that the singer has for his significant other. He emphasizes that his love for her is immense and can be compared to the vastness of the ocean and the height of the sky. The singer asks several rhetorical questions to convey his feelings and shows that his love is not just a passing fancy but is eternal. He questions the number of times he thinks about his lover in a day and how the roses are drenched with dew to imply that his love for her is not just restricted to words but is an incessant emotion that he experiences throughout the day.

The singer further amplifies his love by questioning the lengths he would travel to be with his lover, even covering the distance to a star. He concludes by conveying the depth of his sorrow if he ever loses her and how he would be inconsolable. The lyrics of this song are a fascinating expression of love and convey the depth of emotions that lovers feel for each other.

How Deep Is the Ocean?Jackie Gleason Lyrics

How Deep Is the Ocean?
Jackie Gleason Lyrics