McCorkle was born in Berkeley, California. She studied modern languages at the University of California, Berkeley. McCorkle began singing professionally after hearing recordings of Billie Holiday in Paris in the late 1960s. She nearly became an interpreter at the European Commission in Brussels, but moved instead to London in 1972 to pursue a career in singing. While in the UK, she made two albums which, although well received, enjoyed only limited circulation.
In the late 1970s, McCorkle returned to the United States and settled in New York City, where a five-month engagement at the Cookery in Greenwich Village brought her to wider public attention and elicited rave reviews from critics.
During the 1980s, McCorkle continued to record; her maturing style and the darkening timbre of her voice greatly enhanced her performances. In the early 1990s, two of the albums McCorkle made for Concord Records, No More Blues and Sábia, were enormously successful and made her name known to the wider world. She was recorded by the Smithsonian Institution which at the time made her the youngest singer ever to have been included in its popular music series. McCorkle played Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls five times and Carnegie Hall three times, and was featured soloist with Skitch Henderson and the 80-piece New York Pops in a concert of Brazilian music.
Thanks to her linguistic skills, McCorkle translated lyrics of Brazilian, French, and Italian songs, notably those for her Brazilian album Sabia. McCorkle also had several short stories published and, in 1991, began work on her first novel. She published fiction in Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and non-fiction in the New York Times Magazine and in American Heritage, including lengthy articles on Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith, Irving Berlin and Mae West.
McCorkle suffered for many years from depression and cancer, and took her own life at age 55 by leaping off the balcony of her highrise Manhattan apartment. She was alone in her home at the time. The police immediately entered her home after identifying her body and found no foul play. Suicide was ruled the cause of death.
How Deep Is the Ocean?
Susannah McCorkle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How can I measure each and every part?
How can I tell you how much I love you?
How can I measure just how much I do?
How much do I love you?
I'll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How many times a day do I think of you?
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?
How far would I travel
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?
The lyrics to Susannah McCorkle's "How Deep Is the Ocean?" is a love song that tries to measure the depth of the singer's love for her beloved. The lyrics ask a series of questions about how deep, wide, and high her love is for her partner. The first stanza of the song questions how she can express her love in words or measure it in any way. The second stanza contemplates the significant amount of time she spends thinking about her partner and the vastness of her love. The final stanza states the possibility of losing her partner and asks how much she would cry and how deep and high her sorrow would be if she ever did.
The lyrics in this song highlight the expansive nature of love, which cannot be fully measured or contained. The song speaks to the human desire to express the depths of emotions that are inexpressible. The use of the ocean and sky as comparisons brings to mind the vastness of the world and how love transcends physical boundaries. The questions the lyrics ask also showcase a sense of vulnerability and openness, as the singer expresses her love and deep devotion to her partner.
Line by Line Meaning
How can I tell you what is in my heart?
I find it difficult to express my feelings to you.
How can I measure each and every part?
It's impossible to quantify the depth of my emotions.
How can I tell you how much I love you?
It's tough to communicate the intensity of my love for you.
How can I measure just how much I do?
It's hard to gauge the extent of my affection.
How much do I love you?
My love for you is immeasurable.
I'll tell you no lie
I am sincere and honest in what I say.
How deep is the ocean?
My love for you is as boundless as the sea.
How high is the sky?
My love for you is limitless, just like the vast expanse of the sky.
How many times a day do I think of you?
You're always on my mind, every moment of every day.
How many roses are sprinkled with dew?
You're so special to me, like the delicate dew on a beautiful rose.
How far would I travel
I would go to great lengths to be with you.
To be where you are?
My heart desires to be close to you.
How far is the journey
The distance between us seems insurmountable.
From here to a star?
It's like traveling from here to a distant star to be together.
And if I ever lost you
The mere thought of losing you shakes me to the core.
How much would I cry?
I would be so devastated that I would cry an ocean of tears.
How deep is the ocean?
The depth of my sadness would be as deep as the ocean, if I lost you.
How high is the sky?
The pain of losing you would be as vast as the sky, which seems to have no end.
Contributed by Madelyn T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.