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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

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 13, 2025
Entity authorityQ4802923 ↗
Source-derived summary

"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.

Editorial summary

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.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1934, 1940, 1941, 1626—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1933. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Long, Live and Harold providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)”, the useful work is to connect “song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler; performed by Lena Horne and others” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

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.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song) primary sources, As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song) archive and Long research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “As Long as I Live (Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler song)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

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.