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Over the Rainbow

"Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg.[1] It was written for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland[2] in her starring role as Dorothy Gale.[1] It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Garland's signature song.

This article is about the 1939 song. For other uses, see Over the Rainbow (disambiguation).

"Over the Rainbow"

About five minutes into the film, Dorothy sings the song after failing to get Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and the farmhands to listen to her story of an unpleasant incident involving her dog, Toto, and the town spinster, Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton). Aunt Em tells her to "find yourself a place where you won't get into any trouble". This prompts her to walk off by herself, musing to Toto, "Someplace where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? There must be. It's not a place you can get to by a boat, or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain", at which point she begins singing.

Background[edit]

Composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Yip Harburg often worked in tandem, Harburg generally suggesting an idea or title for Arlen to set to music, before Harburg contributed the lyrics.[3] For their work together on The Wizard of Oz, Harburg claimed his inspiration was "a ballad for a little girl who... was in trouble and... wanted to get away from... Kansas. A dry, arid, colorless place. She had never seen anything colorful in her life except the rainbow". Arlen decided the idea needed "a melody with a long broad line".[4]


By the time all the other songs for the film had been written, Arlen was feeling the pressure of not having the song for the Kansas scene. He often carried blank pieces of music manuscript in his pockets to jot down short melodic ideas. Arlen described how the inspiration for the melody to "Over the Rainbow" came to him suddenly while his wife Anya drove:


"I said to Mrs. Arlen... 'let's go to Grauman's Chinese ... You drive the car, I don't feel too well right now.' I wasn't thinking of work. I wasn't consciously thinking of work, I just wanted to relax. And as we drove by Schwab's Drug Store on Sunset I said, 'Pull over, please.' ... And we stopped and I really don't know why—bless the muses—and I took out my little bit of manuscript and put down what you know now as 'Over the Rainbow.'"[5]


The song was originally sung in A-flat major.[6] Arlen later wrote the contrasting bridge section based on the idea of "a child's piano exercise".[7] In the movie, a renowned Stradivarius violin was used in the accompaniment.[8]


Italian newspaper Il Messaggero has noted a resemblance, both harmonic and melodic, between Over the Rainbow and the theme of the intermezzo (known as Ratcliff's Dream) of Pietro Mascagni's 1895 opera Guglielmo Ratcliff.[9]

Recordings by Judy Garland[edit]

On October 7, 1938, Judy Garland recorded the song on the MGM soundstage with an arrangement by Murray Cutter. In September 1939, a studio recording of the song, not from the film soundtrack, was recorded and released as a single for Decca. In March 1940, that same recording was included on a Decca 78 four-record studio cast album entitled The Wizard of Oz. Although this isn't the version that appeared in the film, Decca continued to release the "cast album" into the 1960s after it was reissued on disc, a 3313-rpm album.


The film version of "Over the Rainbow" was unavailable to the public until the soundtrack was released by MGM in 1956 to coincide with the television premiere of The Wizard of Oz.[10] The soundtrack version has been re-released several times over the years, including a deluxe edition by Rhino in 1995.[11]


After The Wizard of Oz appeared in 1939, "Over the Rainbow" became Garland's signature song. She performed it for thirty years and sang it as she had for the film. She said she wanted to remain true to the character of Dorothy and to the message of being somewhere over the rainbow.[12]


In 1981, the 1939 recording of the song by Judy Garland on Decca Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[13]

Other lyrics[edit]

An introductory verse ("When all the world is a hopeless jumble...") that was omitted from the film is sometimes used in theatrical productions of The Wizard of Oz and is included in the piano sheet music from the film. It was used in versions by Cliff Edwards, Tony Bennett, Al Bowlly, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Mandy Patinkin, Trisha Yearwood, Melissa Manchester, Hilary Kole, Jewel, Eva Cassidy, and Norma Waterson. Judy Garland sang the introductory verse at least once, on a 1948 radio broadcast of The Louella Parsons Show.[14] Lyrics for a second verse ("Once by a word only lightly spoken...") appeared in the British edition of the sheet music.[15]

Awards and honors[edit]

In March 2017, Judy Garland's 1939 Decca single was entered in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as music that is "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".[16] The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) ranked it number one on their Songs of the Century list. The American Film Institute named it best movie song on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.


"Over the Rainbow" was given the Towering Song Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was sung at its dinner on June 12, 2014, by Jackie Evancho.[17] In April 2005, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Yip Harburg that includes a lyric.[18]


It was sent as an audio wakeup call to astronauts aboard the STS-88 space shuttle mission on Flight Day 4, dedicated to astronaut Robert D. Cabana by his daughter Sara.[19]


According to his family, Gene Wilder died while listening to "Over the Rainbow" sung by Ella Fitzgerald, one of his favorite songs.[20][21]

German versions[edit]

The first German version in the English language was recorded by the Swing Orchestra Heinz Wehner (1908–1945) in March 1940 in Berlin. Wehner, at this time a well-known international German swing artist,[22] also took over the vocals.[23] The first German version in German language was sung by Inge Brandenburg (1929–1999) in 1960.[24]

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"

1993

1988

5:07

"Dark End of the Street"[48]

January 29, 2001 (2001-01-29)

4:58

Chris Biondo

December 3, 2001 (2001-12-03)

4:47

H. Arlen, E.Y. Hamburg, George David Weiss, G. Douglas

May 23, 2010 (UK)

2:58

September 7, 2021 (2021-09-07)

3:31

at Elstree Studios just outside of London which was where the main telethon was broadcast from.

Elstree

at Aerospace

Bristol

at The Discovery Museum

Newcastle

at The Piece Hall

Halifax

at The Broadcasting House

Cardiff

at The Albert Hall

Nottingham

The 1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird was no. 1 on the Your Hit Parade chart for six weeks that year.


The Demensions recorded an ethereal, orchestral, and dreamy doo-wop version, arranged by composer Seymour Barab that reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960[66] and number 17 in Canada.[67] Katharine McPhee's version in 2006 reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.


In 1965 Australian band Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs released the song as a single following the release of an EP called I Told The Brook in 1964. The single went to Number 2 on the Australian charts.[68]


Jerry Lee Lewis included "Over the Rainbow" on his 1980 album Killer Country on Elektra Records. This version went to number 10 on the Pop Country charts.[69]


The 1997 film Face/Off featured a recording of "Over the Rainbow" by Olivia Newton-John.[70]


Nicholas David, a contestant on the third season of The Voice, recorded a version that went to number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012 with sales of 48,000 copies.[71]


American singer Ariana Grande released a version of the song on June 6, 2017, to raise money at her benefit concert One Love Manchester after 22 people were killed in the Manchester Arena bombing at Grande's concert on May 22, 2017.[72] Her live performance at the benefit concert was televised two days prior, i.e. on June 4, 2017. The song was then added to the setlist of her Dangerous Woman Tour.[73] The version peaked at number 60 on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending June 22, 2017.[74]


In 2017 to raise money for BBC Children in Need 1788 Children sang Over the Rainbow live in unison from 10 towns across the UK. This was broadcast on the main telethon Children in Need 2017 where it cut between the different choirs as they sang[75] The Choirs sang from:

Musical selections in The Wizard of Oz

List of 1930s jazz standards

List of best-selling singles

List of best-selling singles in the United States

The Judy Garland Online Discography