Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow", music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg, is one of the most famous and beloved songs of the late 1930s.

Related Topics:
Harold Arlen - Yip Harburg - 1930s

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Many feel the song epitomizes the hopes and dreams of youthful aspiration for an ideal world of love and joy. The song was especially written to showcase Judy Garland's talents in the star vehicle The Wizard of Oz, and she was forever after called upon to sing it in all her public appearances, for it became her lifelong theme song.

Related Topics:
Judy Garland - The Wizard of Oz

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Its plaintive melody and simple lyrics depict a pre-adolescent girl's desire for an escape from the "hopeless jumble" of this world, from the sadness of raindrops to the bright new world "over the rainbow". It expresses the childlike faith that "Heaven" will magically "open a door" to a place where "troubles melt like lemon-drops".

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The song tops the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. It also topped the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Songs" list.

Related Topics:
Songs of the Century - American Film Institute

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The American troops in Europe in WWII adopted the song, as well as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (in which Bing Crosby omitted the opening verse about a New-Yorker in California and made it a universal song of longing for home), as a symbol of the US, that faraway land that, after long years of war, seemed like a dream, beyond the rainbow. Over the years, the song has also become an anthem for gay men.

Related Topics:
WWII - Irving Berlin - White Christmas - Bing Crosby - Gay

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Modern listeners may be unaware that the song had an introductory stanza, as this was not sung in the film by Garland.

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