Over the rainbow

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Over the Rainbow ( Beyond the Rainbow , music Harold Arlen , lyrics EY Harburg ), sometimes also called Somewhere over the Rainbow , is one of the most famous songs of the late 1930s. It is part of the score for the musical film The Wizard of Oz .

Analysis of the song

Over the Rainbow Part A (Four Bars)

Harold Arlen wrote Over the Rainbow with an introduction and a 32-measure chorus in AABA. The coda (final part) is derived from the B part.

Each A section begins with “Somewhere over the rainbow…” and then continues to describe a wonderfully beautiful situation, e.g. B. a country like a lullaby, where blue birds (actually: hut singers ) fly, the skies are always blue or dreams come true. In the "Bridge" (B part) it is described that the singer (in the film it was Judy Garland ) can make a wish one day and it will be true when she wakes up.

Melodically, the song is based on the major scale (without tones that are unrelated to the scale) and begins with the simplest of all intervals, the octave (sung on the word "Somewhere"). The melody has similarities to the theme of the 3rd movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto . The tonality of the piece is clearly marked by a major ; a few minor chords support the musical tension.

Impact history

The title was originally written for the film adaptation of the 1939 novel The Wizard of Oz and sung there by the young Judy Garland . But just a few days after the film premiere (August 15 and 17, 1939), four versions of the song were on the market, all of which reached the top ten and the specified place within one month in the order given:

Since the text was formulated neutrally, it could be interpreted unchanged by both men and women.

In 1940 he received the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song (Oscar). The song tops the list of Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs of the American Film Institute .

Together with Irving Berlin's White Christmas , the song was adapted by the US troops in World War II as a symbol of longing for home. The title later served as a hymn for the gay movement and as a source of inspiration for the rainbow flag .

Jazz standard

The song was also picked up by jazz musicians and quickly became one of the international jazz standards . The first German version in English was recorded by the Heinz Wehner swing orchestra in Berlin in March 1940, with Wehner also taking on the vocal part. Also, Art Tatum , Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong recorded the song. Inge Brandenburg sang a German version (Wenn You in my dreams) in 1960 . Alto saxophonist Art Pepper often played the piece live and recorded it repeatedly, including an unaccompanied solo improvisation over the harmonies of the song. Other well-known performers were Eric Clapton , the Modern Jazz Quartet , Keith Jarrett and Les Paul . In 1976 it was interpreted by Sunny Murray , Byard Lancaster and David Murray ( Wildflowers - The New York Jazz Loft Sessions ) .

More artists

As a pop and jazz standard, Over the Rainbow was interpreted by a multitude of performers of different styles. Some of the most commercially successful recordings include:

In the album Face Value by Phil Collins, the first lines of the song can be heard on the lead-out track of the second page.

The list of cover versions has over 100 entries for this song.

Notes on the version of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

His simple version (in C major) is only accompanied by a ukulele in the double time feeling and is characterized by his voice with very reserved volume. He does not sing the octave jump (on "somewhere"), but only a prim (twice the same upper C). In the B part it also deviates from the original melody, which would have required a sequence of thirds.

Israel restricts itself harmoniously to the basic chords, although it has made some extensions: An introduction which it begins with the cadence C-Am-F. And at the end of each A section it does not go to C major (the tonic), but to Am-F (small fifth). As a result, the stanzas are actually not closed for the listener, which creates a tension of its own.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Over the Rainbow (1938). ( English ). jazzstandards.com, accessed November 7, 2007 .
  2. ↑ Helmut Söring: The hit parade of the best film songs , In: abendblatt.de . Hamburger Abendblatt , June 24, 2004.
  3. ↑ AFI's 100 Years… 100 songs. (PDF; 134 kB) In: afi.com. American Film Institute (AFI), June 22, 2005, accessed August 28, 2015 .
  4. ^ Over the Rainbow , Swing-Orchester Heinz Wehner, engl. Refraingesang Heinz Wehner, Telefunken A 10101, matrix number 24836, recorded on March 23, 1940
  5. ^ If you are in my dreams (Over The Rainbow) , Inge Brandenburg with the NDR dance orchestra , recorded on November 2, 1960
  6. ↑ Art Pepper Discography: Art Pepper - The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions (Contemporary 9CCD 4417-2)
  7. ↑ latent.de: Rio Reiser: Over the rainbow ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.latent.de
  8. ↑ hitparade.ch [1]
  9. ↑ Jazz glossary: Double time feeling on apassion4jazz.net