Over the Rainbow
| "Over The Rainbow" | |
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| Music by | Harold Arlen |
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| Lyrics by | E.Y. Harburg |
| Published | 1939 |
| Language | English |
| Original artist | Judy Garland |
| Recorded by | See Covers |
"Over the Rainbow" (often referred to as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") is a classic ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in that movie.
In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM orchestra over the opening credits. about 20 minutes later, Garland, in the role of Dorothy, sings Over the Rainbow after unsuccessfully trying to get her aunt and uncle to listen to her regarding an unpleasant incident involving Dorothy's dog Toto and the nasty spinster Miss Gulch, whom Toto bit after she struck him with a rake. Dorothy's Aunt Em tells her to "find a place where you won't get yourself into any trouble", prompting the girl to walk off by herself and sing the song.
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Influence
The song is number one of the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The American Film Institute also ranked Over the Rainbow the greatest movie song of all time on the list of "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs". It was adopted (along with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas") by American troops in Europe in World War II as a symbol of the United States.
The Wizard of Oz
The song was deleted from the film after a preview, because MGM chief executive Louis B. Mayer thought the song "slowed down the picture" and that "our star sings it in a barnyard". Harold Arlen, who was at the preview, and executive producer Arthur Freed lobbied successfully to get the song sequence reinstated.[1]
A reprise of the song was deleted after being filmed. An additional verse was to be sung by Dorothy while she was locked in a room in the witch's castle, helplessly awaiting death as the witch's hourglass ran out. However, although the visual portion of that reprise is presumably lost, the soundtrack of it survives and was included in the 2-CD Deluxe Edition of the film's soundtrack, released by Rhino Entertainment. In that extremely intense rendition, Dorothy weeps her way through it, unable to finish, concluding with a tear-filled, "I'm frightened, Auntie Em; I'm frightened." This phrase was retained in the film and is followed immediately by Auntie Em's brief appearance in the witch's crystal, where she is soon replaced by the visage of the witch, mocking and taunting Dorothy before turning toward the camera to laugh.
In other films
In the violent action movie Face/Off a little boy listens to Over the Rainbow in his headphones as terrorists and FBI agents battle it out with machine-guns and explosives. The song was also a big influence in the epic movie Australia in which Lady Sarah Ashley sings it to comfort Nullah, and the sequence in which Judy Garland sings it is screened in the film. The song was also used in the 1997 biopic movie Selena in the scene where a young Selena (played by Rebecca Lee Meza) sings the song in front of many customers in her father's restaurant "Papa Gayo's". The song also appears in the film 'You've Got Mail' starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version is played in the closing credits of the 2000 movie Finding Forrester, and the Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates. Hurley listens to it in one of the "Lost" series (season 1); has also been played in "ER" and in the final titles of "Meet Joe Black" and the final titles of the Kathy Bates/Rupert Everett film "Unconditional Love".
Original Garland recordings
Judy Garland first pre-recorded the song on the MGM soundstages on October 7, 1938. A studio recording of the song, not from the actual film soundtrack, was recorded and released as a single by Decca Records in September 1939. In March 1940, that same recording was included on a Decca 78-RPM four-record studio cast album entitled "The Wizard of Oz". Although this is not the version of the song featured in the film, Decca would continue to re-release the so-called "Cast Album" well into the 1960s after it was reissued as a single-record 33 1/3 RPM LP. Garland always performed the song without altering it, singing exactly as she did for the movie. She explained her fidelity by saying that she was staying true to the character of Dorothy and to the message of really being somewhere over the rainbow.[2]
It was not until 1956, when MGM released the first true soundtrack album from the film, that the film version of the song was made available to the public. The 1956 Soundtrack release was timed to coincide with the television premiere of the movie.[3] The soundtrack version has been re-released several times over the years, including in a "Deluxe Edition" from Rhino Records in 1995.[4]
At the time of Garland's original release hers was not the most commonly played version in jukeboxes, where versions by dance bands such as Bob Crosby's predominated.[citation needed]
Lyrics
The introduction was not used in the movie, nor was there ever any intention of using it; but it is often used in theatrical productions of The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland herself sang the introductory verse once on the radio during the War. The second chorus is used occasionally in theatrical productions, but remains largely unknown. It was intended to be used when Dorothy was locked in the Witch’s castle, but was not included. The only time verse two has been recorded, aside from Garland's original, was for The Wizard of Oz In Concert, where it was performed by singer/songwriter Jewel.[citation needed] In 2009, Jewel recorded a studio version of the song in its entirety (all three verses) for her album, "Lullaby".
Other charting or significant versions
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's album Facing Future, released in 1993, included a ukulele medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", used in several films, television programs, and commercials. The song reached #12 on Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).
Eric Clapton covered this song on his 2002 cd/dvd One More Car, One More Rider as the closing song of the setlist.
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/trivia
- ^ The Wizard of Oz (Decca label) - The Judy Room.
- ^ The Wizard of Oz (MGM label) - The Judy Room.
- ^ The Wizard of Oz (Rhino Movie Music label) - The Judy Room.
See also
External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by "Thanks for the Memory" from The Big Broadcast of 1938 |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1939 |
Succeeded by "When You Wish upon a Star" from Pinocchio |
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