Under the Sea

"**Under The Sea**" is a song from the Disney 1989 animated fantasy movie *The Little Mermaid*, influenced by the Calypso style of Trinidad and Tobago. The song is a plea by the crustacean royal court composer Sebastian imploring King Triton's daughter Ariel to remain sea-bound, and reject her desire to become a human in order to spend her life with the human surface dweller Prince Eric, with whom she has fallen in love. Sebastian warns of the struggles of human life and on land while at the same time expounding the benefits of a care-free life underwater. However, Ariel manages to sneak off with the aid of her best friend Flounder just before Sebastian's finale. The song was performed in the film by Samuel E. Wright and composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman. An instrumental version of the theme features heavily in the opening theme of the *The Little Mermaid* television series, which is a medley of this, "*Part Of Your World*" and "*Kiss The Girl*". An instrumental version of the song is also played in the closing credits of the TV series. In 2007, the Broadway musical version uses this as the featured production number with the role of Sebastian played by Tituss Burgess. Because Burgess is a tenor (unlike the baritone Wright), the key of the song was raised from B-flat to D. The placing of the song is also moved to after the scene in which King Triton destroys Ariel's collection of "human stuff" with his Trident, where the purpose of the song was to cheer Ariel up.

## Lyrics

* Original version

Ariel, listen to me

The human world, it's a mess

Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!

The seaweed is always greener

In somebody else's lake

You dream about going up there,

But that is a big mistake

Just look at the world around you

Right here on the ocean floor

Such wonderful things surround you

What more is you lookin' for?

Under the sea

Under the sea

Darling it's better

Down where it's wetter

Take it from me

Up on the shore they work all day

Out in the sun they slave away

While we devotin'

Full-time to floatin'

Under the sea!

*[Repeat in the Sing-Along Songs version]*

Down here all the fish is happy

As off through the waves they roll

The fish on the land ain't happy

They sad 'cause they in their bowl

But fish in the bowl is lucky

They in for a worser fate

One day when the boss get hungry

Guess who gon' be on the plate? (Uh-oh!)

Under the sea

Under the sea

Nobody beat us

Fry us and eat us in fricassee

We what the land folks loves to cook

Under the sea we off the hook

We got no troubles

Life is the bubbles

Under the sea (under the sea)

Under the sea (under the sea)

Since life is sweet here

We got the beat here naturally (naturally)

Even the sturgeon an' the ray

They get the urge 'n start to play

We got the spirit

You got to hear it

Under the sea!

The newt play the flute

The carp play the harp

The plaice play the bass

And they soundin' sharp

The bass play the brass

The chub play the tub

The fluke is the duke of soul (Yeah)

The ray he can play

The ling's on the strings

The trout rockin' out

The blackfish she sings

The smelt and the sprat

They know where it's at

An' oh, that blowfish blow!

(First chorus sung a third time in sing along)

Yeah, under the sea (Under the sea)

Under the sea (Under the sea)

When the sardine

Begin the beguine

It's music to me (Music is to me)

What do they got? A lot of sand

We got a hot crustacean band

Each little clam here

Know how to jam here

Under the sea!

Each little slug here

Cuttin' a rug here

Under the sea

Each little snail here

Know how to wail here

That's why it's hotter

Under the water

Yeah, we in luck here

Down in the muck here

Under the sea

* Broadway Version

The seaweed is always greener

In somebody else's lake

You dream about going up there,

But that is a big mistake

Just look at the world around ya'

Right here on the ocean floor

Such wonderful things surround ya'

What more is you lookin' for?

Under the sea

Under the sea

Darling it's better

Down where it's wetter

Take it from me

Up on the shore they work all day

Out in the sun they slave away

While we devotin'

Full-time to floatin'

Under the sea!

Down here all the fish is happy

As off through the waves they roll

The fish on the land ain't happy

They sad 'cause they in their bowl

But fish in the bowl is lucky

They in for a worser fate

One day when the boss get hungry

Guess who gon' be on the plate? (Uh-oh!)

Under the sea (under the sea)

Under the sea (under the sea)

Nobody beat us

Fry us and eat us in fricassee

We what the land folk love to cook

Under the sea we off the hook

We got no troubles

Life is the bubbles

Under the sea (life is the bubbles under the sea, oh)

(Under the sea)

Under the sea (under the sea)

Since life is sweet here

We got the beat here naturally (under the sea)

Even the sturgeon an' the ray (hey)

They get the urge 'n start to play

We got the spirit

You got to hear it

Under the sea!

The newt play the flute

The carp play the harp

The plaice play the bass

And they soundin' sharp

The bass play the brass

The chub play the tub

The fluke is the duke of soul

The ray, he can play

The lings on the strings

The trout rockin' out

The blackfish, she sings

The smelt and the sprat

They know where it's at

An' oh, that blowfish blow!

Yeah, under the sea (under the sea)

Under the sea (under the sea)

When the sardine

Begin the beguine

It's music to me

What do they got? A lot of sand

We got a hot crustacean band

Each little clam here

Know how to jam here

Under the sea!

Oh yes, each little slug here

Cuttin' a rug here

Under the sea (Oh, yes)

Each little snail here

Know how to wail here

That's why it's hotter

Under the water

Yeah, we in luck here

Down in the muck here

Under the sea

Under the sea

* 2023 version

Okay, okay, listen to me

The human world, it's a mess

Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!

The seaweed is always greener

In somebody else's lake

You dream about going up there

But that is a big mistake

Just look at the world around you

Right here on the ocean floor

Such wonderful things surround you

What more is you lookin' for?

Under the sea

Under the sea

Darling it's better

Down where it's wetter

Take it from me

Up on the shore they work all day

Out in the sun they slave away

While we devotin'

Full-time to floatin'

Under the sea!

Down here all the fish is happy

As off through the waves they roll

The fish on the land ain't happy

They sad 'cause they in their bowl

But fish in the bowl is lucky

They in for a worser fate

One day when the boss get hungry

Guess who gon' be on the plate? (Oh no)

Under the sea

Under the sea

Nobody beat us

Fry us and eat us in fricassee

We what the land folks loves to cook

Under the sea we off the hook

We got no troubles

Life is the bubbles

Under the sea (under the sea)

Under the sea (under the sea)

Yes, child, since life is sweet here

We got the beat here naturally (naturally)

Even the sturgeon an' the ray

They get the urge 'n start to play

We got the spirit

You got to hear it

Under the sea!

Watch this, the newt play the flute

The carp play the harp

The plaice play the bass

And they soundin' sharp

The bass play the brass

The chub play the tub

The fluke is the duke of soul (Yeah)

The ray he can play

The ling's on the strings

The trout rockin' out

The blackfish she sings

The smelt and the sprat

They know where it's at

An' oh, that blowfish blow!

Yeah, under the sea (Under the sea)

Under the sea (Under the sea)

When the sardine

Begin the beguine

It's music to me (Music is to me)

What do they got? A lot of sand

We got a hot crustacean band

Each little clam here

Know how to jam here

Under the sea!

Each little slug here

Cuttin' a rug here

Under the sea

Each little snail here

Know how to wail here

That's why it's hotter

Under the water

Yeah, we in luck here

Down in the muck here

Under the sea

## Trivia

* The song was based on the song "*The Beautiful Briny Sea*" from the 1971 film *Bedknobs And Broomsticks*.
* The track won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1989.
* In 2002, the song was featured in the famous Square Enix action RPG videogame franchise *Kingdom Hearts* as the background music for the Atlantica world in the first *Kingdom Hearts*. The song also appeared in the unforgettable second game *Kingdom Hearts II* as part of a minigame where it was rearranged to have parts for Sebastian, Ariel, and even the young Keyblade master Sora. For both appearances, the music was arranged by Yoko Shimomura.
* The song is present throughout all the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts around the world as well as the Disney Cruise Line.
* Just as the Broadway version has this song placed after King Triton destroys Ariel's grotto, in *The Little Mermaid Jr.*, the song is sung right after "*Part Of Your World*" before Ariel first encounters Prince Eric.
	+ Both of these placements could be due to the addition of the song "*She's In Love*".
* The music is heard in the *Phineas And Ferb* episodes "*Lawn Gnome Beach Party Of Terror*" and "*Out Of Toon*". "*Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation*" parodies the song with A-Prime Calypso in Part 1.
* The music is briefly heard during *Aladdin* just before Genie used his wish-granting magic powers to turn Aladdin into a prince in the boy's attempted to impress Princess Jasmine. During this segment, the Genie opens a recipe book to find a supposed recipe for a prince and comes upon "Alaskan king crab", a snippet of "*Under The Sea*" playing as he pulls Sebastian from his finger.
* The song is on Disc 1 of the UK release of *Now That's What I Call Disney*.
* At least 12 known species of fish are mentioned in the song, even though it is entitled "Under The Sea", the fish mentioned are a mix between freshwater and marine.
* This song is the only song in the Disney Renaissance to be both a main and ending song and use the same singer and melody in each use. Starting with *Beauty And The Beast* and its titular song, the main and ending covers are sung by different people.
* The dolphin who loops around during the song is likely a cameo of the minor character Breaker who was cut from the final film.
* In the sing along version of this song, the first part was sung twice and after Sebastian sang "*an' oh that blowfish blow!*" the first chorus line was sung a third time during the instrumental break.
	+ In the credits version of the song, several sounds and instruments are missing and the instrumental break was skipped entirely.
* In the official comic adaptation for *The Little Mermaid*, the song was instead incorporated into dialogue.
	+ The music band Mannheim Steamroller covered the song on their 1999 album *Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse*.
* It is often performed by Suburban Legends during their live performances. The band performed frequently at Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort in their early years, and still often play at Disneyland's Tomorrowland Terrace. The song appears on their 2012 album entitled *Day Job*.
* The song is also covered by the A\*Teens For *Disneymania*, by Raven-Symoné for *DisneyMania 3* by Booboo Stewart for *Disneymania 7* and later by Kate Ryan for *DisneyMania 8*. A remix of Raven's version is also featured on *DisneyRemixMania*.
* The song is covered by the band Squirrel Nut Zippers on their album *The Best Of Squirrel Nut Zippers as Chronicled by Shorty Brown*.
* The Brazilian singer Diogo Nogueira made a Portuguese version of the song ("Aqui no Mar", something like, 'Here At Sea') in a samba style on the album *Disney Adventures in Samba*.
* Powerglove was originally going to include a power metal version of the song on their second studio album, but Disney denied the rights to the song.
* On the 2012 album *Disney - Koe no Oujisama*, which features various seiyus covering Disney songs, this song was covered by Miyu Irino.
* At the 1990 Academy Awards, Geoffrey Holder performed this song.
* This song was parodied in an episode of *Dinosaurs* entitled "*Under The Water*", with lyrics that went:

Under the Water

Under the Water

Every Son and Daughter

Really Oughtta

Live Under the Water