Down in the Depths (On the Ninetieth Floor) is a torch song written by Cole Porter for the 1936 Broadway musical Red, Hot and Blue, where it was introduced by Ethel Merman. The lyrics contrast high and low imagery, telling the story of a rich woman in a penthouse who looks down on the city below yet feels lonely and at the lowest point in her life. Porter's melody intertwines with the lyric in a way similar to Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye. The song was a late addition to the show, added during the Boston tryout. Notable recordings include Sylvia Syms (Songs By Sylvia Syms, 1952), Johnny Hartman (Songs from the Heart, 1956), Ella Fitzgerald (Ella Loves Cole, 1972; Newport Jazz Festival: Live at Carnegie Hall, 1973), Lisa Stansfield for Red Hot + Blue (1990), and Tony Bennett (Here's to the Ladies, 1995). In popular culture, Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band refers to it as the gay national anthem.
