As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)
song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler; performed by Lena Horne and others

"As Long as I Live" is a song composed by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Ted Koehler, it was written for their last show at the Cotton Club Parade, in 1934. It was introduced by Avon Long and Lena Horne.
Notable recordings
Lew Stone and His Band (vocal: Al Bowlly) (1934)
Red McKenzie and Spirit of Rhythm - recorded September 11, 1934, for Decca Records (catalog 302B).
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, recorded May 14, 1934, for Columbia Records (catalog No.2923D).
Benny Goodman and His Sextet, recorded November 7, 1940, with Count Basie on piano and Charlie Christian on guitar. This charted briefly in 1941.
Lena Horne - recorded for RCA Victor (catalog No. 20-1626) (1944).
Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1955 for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954-56) issued by Mosaic Records (catalog MD7-245) in 2009.
The public source identifies “As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)” as song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler; performed by Lena Horne and others. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Long, Live and Harold.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 13, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4802923. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1940, 1941 and 1626.
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This entry incorporates text from “As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.