"Under the Sea" is the theme song from Disney's 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid. It is influenced by the Calypso style of Trinidad and Tobago and performed in the film by Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian.
Summary[]
The song is a plea by the crab Sebastian imploring Ariel to remain sea-bound, and resist her desire to become a human in order to spend her life with Prince Eric, with whom she has fallen in love. Sebastian falsely warns her of the struggles of human life while at the same time expounding the benefits of a care-free life underwater. However, Ariel manages to sneak off with the aid of Flounder just before Sebastian's finale.
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", where the purpose of the song was to cheer Ariel up.
In the 2023 remake of the original film, the song remains the same. However, unlike the original, Ariel joins in the song before sneaking off.
Lyrics[]
Sebastian: 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 around you,
What more is you looking 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 devoting, full-time to floating,
Under the sea!
(Repeat in sing along)
Sebastian/Lobster: Down here, all the fish is happy
Sebastian: As off through the waves they roll
Both: The fish on the land ain't happy,
Sebastian: They sad 'cause they in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky,
Both: They in for a worser fate!
One day when the boss get hungry...
Deep Voice: Guess who gon' be on the plate?
Sebastian: 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, (Snails: Under the sea)
Under the sea (Snails: Under the sea)
Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here
Naturally
Snails: Naturally-y-y-y
Sebastian: Even the sturgeon and the ray,
They get the urge and 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 sounding sharp,
The bass play the brass,
The chub play the tub,
The fluke is the duke of soul! (Fish: Yeah!)
The ray, he can play,
The lings on the strings,
The trout rocking out,
The blackfish, she sings,
The smelt and the sprat,
They know where it's at,
And oh, that blowfish blow!
(Instrumental bridge (First chorus sung a third time in sing along))
Yeah!
Under the sea!
(Chorus: Under the sea)
Under the sea!
(Chorus: Under the sea)
When the sardine begin the beguine,
It's music to me!
(Chorus: 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 cutting 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!
Sebastian: 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 around 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
Sea Creatures: 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
Sebastian: Guess who goin' be on the plate (Bass: Uh-oh!)
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Sebastian:
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
Sea Creatures: Under the sea
We want 'de land folk love to cook
Under the sea we off the hook
We got not trouble
Life is the bubbles!
Under the sea
Sea Creatures: The bubbles under the sea
Oh, under the sea
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: Under the sea (under the sea)
Since life is sweet here,
We got the beat here
Naturally
Sea Creatures: Under the sea
Sebastian: Even the sturgeon an' the ray (Hey!)
They get the urge 'n' start to play
Sebastian/ Sea Creatures: We got the spirit
You got to hear it
Under the sea
Sebastian: The newt play the flute
The carp play the harp
(sea creatures joining in)
The plaice play the bass
And they soundin' sharp
The bass play the brass
The chub play the tub
The fluke is a duke of soul
The ray he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout rockin' out
The blackfish she sing
The smelt and the sprat
They know where it's at
An' oh that blowfish blow!
(instrumental verse)
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Under the sea
(Under the sea)
When the sardine
Begin to beguine,
It's music to me
Sebastian: What do they got?
Sea Creatures/Sebastian: A lot of sand
We got a hot crustacean band
Sebastian: Each little clam here
Know how to jam here
Sea Creatures: Under the sea
Sebastian: Oh yes!
Each little slug here
Cuttin' a rug here
Sea Creatures: Under the sea
Sebastian: Oh yes!
Each little snail here
Know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter
Under the water!
Ya we in luck here
Down in the muck here
Sea Creatures: Under the sea!
Sebastian: Under the sea!
Sea Creatures:
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
Sebastian:
Yes he is!
Sebastian/Sea Creatures:
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!
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
Sebastian:
Each little clam here know how to jam here, Under the sea
Each little slug here cutting a rug here, Under the sea
We got a hot crustacean band here, Under the sea
Each little snail here know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter under the water
Ya, we in luck here down in the muck here
Under the...
See, child, that's what I'm talking about!
You got to put your back into it. Ariel! Hello? Uh oh.
Under the sea!
Come with me!
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 around you
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea, under the sea
Darlin' 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, haha, c'mon!
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 they bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
They in for a worser fate
One day when the boss gets hungry
Guess who's goin' be on the plate (Uh-oh)
Under the sea, under the sea
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us in fricassee (Under the sea)
We what the land folks loves to cook
Under the sea we off de hook
We got no troubles, life is the bubbles
Under the sea, under the sea
Since life is sweet here
We got the beat here naturally
Even the sturgeon an' the ray
They get the urge an' 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 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!
(Under the sea, under the sea)
Oh! (Under the sea)
Ow! C'mon!
Oh
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
Each little slug here
Cuttin' a rug here under the sea, oh!
Each little snail here
Know how to wail here
That's why it's hotter under the water
We all in the luck here
Down in the muck here under the sea!
Woo!
Sebastian: 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 around you,
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea,
(Chorus: Under the sea)
Under the sea
(Chorus: Under the sea)
Darling, it's better down where it's wetter,
Take it from me!
(Chorus: Take it from me-e-e)
Up on the shore they work all day,
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devoting, full-time to floating,
Under the sea!
Hey!
Under the sea!
(Chorus: Under the sea)
Under the sea!
(Chorus: Under the sea)
When the sardine begin the beguine,
It's music to me!
(Chorus: Music to me-e-e)
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 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!
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 around you.
What more is you looking for?
Under the sea,
(Under the sea)
Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Darling, it's better down where it's wetter,
Take it from me
(Take it from me-e-e-e)
Up on the shore they work all day,
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devoting, full-time to floating,
Under the sea!
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 goin' be on the plate (Oh, no)
Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Under the sea
(Under the sea)
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
(In fracassee-e-e)
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
The ray he can play
The lings on the strings
The trout rockin' out
The blackfish she sing
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 cutting 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!
Sebastian: Believe me, Ariel. The human world, it's a mess.
Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!
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 devoting, full-time to floating,
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...
Deep Voice: Guess who's gonna be on the plate?
Sebastian: 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, (Chorus: Under the sea)
Under the sea (Chorus: Under the sea)
Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here
Naturally
Chorus: Naturally-y-y-y
Sebastian: Even the sturgeon and the ray,
They get the urge and 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 sounding sharp,
The bass play the brass,
The chub play the tub,
The fluke is the duke of soul! (Male Voice: Yeah!)
The ray, he can play,
The lings on the strings,
The trout rocking out,
The blackfish, she sings,
The smelt and the sprat,
They know where it's at,
And oh, that blowfish blow!
(repeat verse above)
Sebastian: The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
Ariel: I dream about going up there
Sebastian: But that is a big mistake
Just look at 'de world around you
Right here on the ocean floor (Ariel: Yeah, sure.)
Such wonderful things around 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!
Yeah!
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: Down here all the fish is happy
As off through the waves they roll
Ariel: The fish on the land seem happy
Sebastian: They sad 'cause they in their bowl
But fish in the bowl is lucky
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: They're in for a worser fate
One day when the boss gets hungry...
Deep-Voiced Fish: Guess who's goin' be on the plate?
Sebastian: Under the sea (Ariel: Don't wanna be...)
Under the sea (Ariel: Don't wanna be...)
Nobody beat us
Fry us and eat us
In fricassee
We who 'de land folks loves to cook
Ariel: Still, I'd love to take a look
Sebastian: Why look for troubles?
Life is the bubbles!
Under the sea
Sea Creatures: Under the sea (Ariel: Under the... see ya!)
Sebastian: Under the sea (Sea Creatures: Under the sea)
We got the beat here
Since life is sweeter
Naturally
Sea Creatures: Naturally-y-y-y
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: 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!
Sebastian: 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 (Fish: Oh, yeah!)
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
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: An' oh that blowfish blow!
Chorus: Under the sea
Under the sea
Under the sea
Under the sea
Under the sea
Under the sea
Under the sea-ea-ea-ea-ea
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
(vocalizes)
Sebastian: Yeah!
Under the sea (Sea Creatures: Under the sea)
Under the sea (Sea Creatures: Under the sea)
When the sardine
Begin the beguine,
It's music to me (Sea Creatures: Music is to me)
Sebastian/Sea Creatures: 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!
Ya we in luck here
Down in the muck here
Under the sea!
Mermaid Emcee:
Whoo! Come on, everybody!
Let's celebrate! Have some fun!
Yeah, yeah!
The seaweed is always greener
In somebody else's lake
I dream about going up there,
But that is a big mistake
Just look at 'de world around you
Right here on the ocean floor
Such wonderful things around you
What more is you lookin' for?
Under the sea (Sebastian: Oh.)
Under the sea
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter,
Take it from me!
Up on the shore they work all day, (Sebastian: Wow!)
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin'
Full-time to floatin',
Under the sea!
Yeah! Whoo!
Under the sea (under the sea)
Under the sea (under the sea)
Darling it's better
Down where it's wetter,
Take it from me! (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!
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!
Yeah! Thank you, everybody!
Yeah!
Sebastian: Yeah, mon!
Sebastian: Okay, okay, listen to me. The human world is a mess.
Life under the sea is better than anything they got goin' on 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 around you,
What more is you looking 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's gonna be on the plate?
Oh no!
Under the sea,
Under the sea
Nobody beat us, fry us, and eat us
In fricassee!
Sebastian: 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, yeah (Ariel: Under the sea)
Under the sea, yes, child (Ariel: Under the sea)
Sebastian: Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here
Naturally (Ariel: Naturally)
Even the sturgeon and the ray,
They get the urge and 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 sounding sharp,
The bass play the brass,
The chub play the tub,
The fluke is the duke of soul! (Manatee: Yeah!)
The ray, he can play,
The lings on the strings,
The trout rocking out,
The blackfish, she sings,
The smelt and the sprat,
They know where it's at,
And oh, that blowfish blow!
(instrumental break)
Sebastian: Yeah!
Under the sea, (Ariel: Under the sea)
Under the sea. (Ariel: Under the sea)
When the sardine begin the beguine,
It's music to me! (Ariel: Music is to me)
Sebastian: What do they got? (Both: A lot of sand!)
We got a hot crustacean band, ha!
Each little clam here know how to jam here,
Under the sea!
Each little slug here cutting 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!
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The song is 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 1990.
- In 2002, the song was featured in the Square Enix action RPG, Kingdom Hearts as the background music for the Atlantica world. In 2006, the song also appeared in Kingdom Hearts II as part of a minigame where it was rearranged to have parts for Sebastian, Ariel, and 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 turns Aladdin into a prince. 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. ("I hate when they do that.")
- 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 Breaker, a character 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.
- 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, 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 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.[citation needed]
- On 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 Oughta
Live Under the Water
- The song was also parodied in "The Simpsons" episode "Homer Badman".
External links[]
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