Over the Rainbow
Encyclopedia
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning 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 the movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song
.
In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM orchestra over the opening credits
. About five minutes later, Garland, in the role of Dorothy Gale
, 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 (Margaret Hamilton
). Dorothy's Aunt Em
tells her to "find yourself a place where you won't get into any trouble", prompting Dorothy to walk off by herself. She muses 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.....", commencing with singing the song. The famous sequence itself, as well as the entirety of the Kansas scenes, was directed (though uncredited) by King Vidor
.
" 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
--in fact, Garland even performed the song for American troops as part of a 1943 command performance.
In April 2005, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp recognizing lyricist Yip Harburg
's accomplishments. The stamp pictures the opening lyric from "Over the Rainbow".
and producer Mervyn LeRoy
thought the song "slowed down the picture" and that "the song sounds like something for Jeanette MacDonald
, not for a little girl singing in a barnyard". The persistence of associate producer Arthur Freed
and Garland's vocal coach/mentor Roger Edens
to keep the song in the picture paid off.
A reprise
of the song was deleted after being filmed. An additional chorus 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 and fear-filled 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 Aunt 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 cackle.
first pre-recorded the song on the MGM soundstages on October 7, 1938, using an arrangement by Murray Cutter
. 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". Even though 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 re-issued 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.
It was not until 1956, when MGM released the 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. The soundtrack version has been re-released several times over the years, including in a "Deluxe Edition" from Rhino Records in 1995.
At the time of Garland's original release, hers was initially not the most commonly played version in jukeboxes, where versions by dance bands such as Bob Crosby
and Glenn Miller
's predominated, however, 'Over the Rainbow' would eventually become the signature song
most closely identified with Garland and she would perform it for the next thirty years, until her death in 1969. In a letter to Harold Arlen
, Garland wrote:
and is included in the piano sheet music book of songs from the film.It was also used in renditions by Frank Sinatra
, Doris Day
, Tony Bennett
, Ella Fitzgerald
and Sarah Vaughan
(among others). Garland herself sang the introductory verse only once, on a 1948 radio broadcast of The Louella Parsons
Show. A second bridge is also used occasionally in theatrical productions.
The short reprise, deleted from the final cut of the film, uses the melody of the bridge (or "B" section).
, released in 1993, included a ukulele
medley
of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World
". 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). In the UK the song was released as a single under the title "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". It entered the UK Official Singles Chart in April 2007 at #68. After several returns to the chart, in September 2008 it reached its peak position so far going up to #46. In Germany, the single also returned to the German Singles Chart in September 2010. After only 2 weeks on that chart, the song already received gold for 150,000 copies sold. In October 2010 the song reached No. 1 in the German charts and in February, 2011 it has been certified 2x Platinum for selling more than 600,000 copies. It stayed 12 non-consecutive weeks at the top spot and was the most successful single in Germany in 2010. In France, the song debuted at #4 in December 2010 and reached number one. In the USA, the song was certified Platinum for 1,000,000 downloads sold. In Switzerland, the song received Platinum, too, for 30,000 copies sold.
This version has been used in several commercials
, film
s and television program
s including Finding Forrester
, Meet Joe Black
, 50 First Dates
, Snakes on a Plane
, South Pacific
, Cold Case, ER
, Life on Mars
, Horizon, and Scrubs. The Kamakawiwoʻole version of the song was covered by the cast of Glee
on the season one finale "Journey
", and included on the extended play
Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals
, charting at number 30 in the UK, 31 in Canada and Ireland, 42 in Australia, and 43 in the US.
recorded a version of the song for the 1992 Chuck Brown
/Eva Cassidy album The Other Side. After Cassidy's death in 1996, the song was included in her posthumously-released compilation album Songbird, released in 1998 and was released as a CD single in 2001. This version was popularised by the BBC
on BBC Radio 2
and on the television show Top of the Pops 2, the latter of which featured a video recording of Cassidy performing the song. This publicity helped push sales of the compilation album Songbird to #1 in the UK charts. Eva Cassidy's unique rendition of "Over the Rainbow" was selected by the BBC in the UK for their "Songs of the Century" album in the year 1999. Cassidy's performance of "Over the Rainbow" at Blues Alley was published for the first time in January 2011 on her Simply Eva album
.
, Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue
released a live cover version of the song. The song's audio was taken directly from Minogue's live DVD Kylie Showgirl
, filmed on 6 May 2005 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
. Released on 25 December 2005, it was her first single to be released by digital means only. The release was joined by her cover of "Santa Baby
" as a B-side.
, the winner of the Wizard of Oz-themed BBC talent show Over the Rainbow
released a cover version of the song. The song was released by digital download
on 23 May 2010 and a CD single was released on 31 May 2010. As the song was recorded before a winner was announced, runners-up Lauren Samuels
and Sophie Evans
also recorded versions of the song. These were both later made available for download on 6 June 2010. All three finalists appeared on the CD single's B-side
: a Wizard of Oz medley.
The single was a charity record
, raising money for both the BBC Performing Arts Fund and Prostate UK.
UK digital download
CD single
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
Yip Harburg
Edgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
. It was written for the movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, and was sung by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in the movie. Over time it would become Garland's signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
.
In the film, part of the song is played by the MGM orchestra over the opening credits
Opening credits
In a motion picture, television program, or video game, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There...
. About five minutes later, Garland, in the role of Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
, 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 (Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
). Dorothy's Aunt Em
Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
tells her to "find yourself a place where you won't get into any trouble", prompting Dorothy to walk off by herself. She muses 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.....", commencing with singing the song. The famous sequence itself, as well as the entirety of the Kansas scenes, was directed (though uncredited) by King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
.
Influence
The song is number one of the "Songs of the CenturySongs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. 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
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
") by American troops in Europe in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a symbol of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
--in fact, Garland even performed the song for American troops as part of a 1943 command performance.
In April 2005, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp recognizing lyricist Yip Harburg
Yip Harburg
Edgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
's accomplishments. The stamp pictures the opening lyric from "Over the Rainbow".
The Wizard of Oz
The song was initially deleted from the film after a preview in San Luis Obispo, because MGM chief executive Louis B. MayerLouis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
and producer Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
thought the song "slowed down the picture" and that "the song sounds like something for Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
, not for a little girl singing in a barnyard". The persistence of associate producer Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed was born Arthur Grossman in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a Jewish American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer.- Biography :Freed began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago...
and Garland's vocal coach/mentor Roger Edens
Roger Edens
Roger Edens was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "golden era of Hollywood".-Early career and work with Judy Garland:Edens was born in...
to keep the song in the picture paid off.
A reprise
Reprise
Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...
of the song was deleted after being filmed. An additional chorus 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
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
. In that extremely intense and fear-filled 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 Aunt 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 cackle.
Original Garland recordings
Judy GarlandJudy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
first pre-recorded the song on the MGM soundstages on October 7, 1938, using an arrangement by Murray Cutter
Murray Cutter
Murray Cutter was a versatile Hollywood orchestrator, working mainly for filmcomposer Max Steiner, with over 150 credits spanning the mid-thirties to early 1960s...
. A studio recording
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
of the song, not from the actual film soundtrack, was recorded and released as a single by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in September 1939. In March 1940, that same recording was included on a Decca 78-RPM four-record studio cast album
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
entitled "The Wizard of Oz". Even though 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 re-issued 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.
It was not until 1956, when MGM released the 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. The soundtrack version has been re-released several times over the years, including in a "Deluxe Edition" from Rhino Records in 1995.
At the time of Garland's original release, hers was initially not the most commonly played version in jukeboxes, where versions by dance bands such as Bob Crosby
Bob Crosby
George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...
and Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
's predominated, however, 'Over the Rainbow' would eventually become the signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
most closely identified with Garland and she would perform it for the next thirty years, until her death in 1969. In a letter to Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
, Garland wrote:
Lyrics
An introductory verse that was not used in the movie is often used in theatrical productions of The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
and is included in the piano sheet music book of songs from the film.It was also used in renditions by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
(among others). Garland herself sang the introductory verse only once, on a 1948 radio broadcast of The Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons was the first American news-writer movie columnist in the United States. She was a gossip columnist who, for many years, was an influential arbiter of Hollywood mores, often feared and hated by the individuals, mostly actors, whose careers she could negatively impact via her...
Show. A second bridge is also used occasionally in theatrical productions.
The short reprise, deleted from the final cut of the film, uses the melody of the bridge (or "B" section).
Other charting or significant versions
- Doo-wopDoo-wopThe name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
group The DemensionsThe DemensionsThe Demensions are an American doo wop group from Bronx, New York. They attended Christopher Columbus High School. Over the years, there have been a number of lineup changes...
charted the song to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1960. - AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n musician Billy ThorpeBilly ThorpeWilliam Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...
' s version topped the Australian music charts in 1965 and a later revision of the song also charted in 1974 following his blues-based revival of the song at the 1973 Sunbury Pop Festival. - Patti LaBelle and the BluebellesLabelleLabelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
album Over the Rainbow peaked at #20 on the US R&B charts in 1966. - MarushaMarushaMarusha, real name Marusha Aphrodite Gleiß is a German Techno, Happy hardcore, Breakbeat and Eurodance artist/DJ, who was on the hit lists in the mid '90s....
charted on #3 in the German single charts in 1994 with a dance-version of the song. - Katharine McPheeKatharine McPheeKatharine Hope McPhee is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records...
released a cover of the song and it peaked at #12 on The Billboard Hot 100.
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version
Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's album Facing FutureFacing Future
Facing Future is an album by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, released in 1993.The bestselling album of all time by a Hawaiian artist, Facing Future combines traditional Hawaiian-language songs, hapa haole songs with traditional instrumentation, and two Jawaiian tracks...
, released in 1993, included a ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968. Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world . Armstrong's recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999...
". The song reached #12 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Hot Digital Tracks
Hot Digital Tracks
The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to Billboard magazine...
chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004). In the UK the song was released as a single under the title "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". It entered the UK Official Singles Chart in April 2007 at #68. After several returns to the chart, in September 2008 it reached its peak position so far going up to #46. In Germany, the single also returned to the German Singles Chart in September 2010. After only 2 weeks on that chart, the song already received gold for 150,000 copies sold. In October 2010 the song reached No. 1 in the German charts and in February, 2011 it has been certified 2x Platinum for selling more than 600,000 copies. It stayed 12 non-consecutive weeks at the top spot and was the most successful single in Germany in 2010. In France, the song debuted at #4 in December 2010 and reached number one. In the USA, the song was certified Platinum for 1,000,000 downloads sold. In Switzerland, the song received Platinum, too, for 30,000 copies sold.
This version has been used in several commercials
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s including Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester
EnglishFinding Forrester is a 2000 American drama film written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant. A black American teenager, Jamal Wallace , is invited into a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester , through whom he refines his...
, Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black
Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
, 50 First Dates
50 First Dates
50 First Dates is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by George Wing. The film stars Adam Sandler as a woman-chasing veterinarian and Drew Barrymore as an amnesiac, along with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd.Most of the film...
, Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane
Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006 in North America...
, South Pacific
South Pacific (TV series)
South Pacific is a British nature documentary series from the BBC Natural History Unit, which began airing on BBC Two on 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history of the islands of the South Pacific region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand. It was filmed...
, Cold Case, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Life on Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
, Horizon, and Scrubs. The Kamakawiwoʻole version of the song was covered by the cast of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
on the season one finale "Journey
Journey (Glee)
"Journey to Regionals" is the 22nd episode and first season finale of the American television series Glee. The episode was written and directed by series creator Brad Falchuk, and premiered on the Fox network on June 8, 2010. In "Journey to Regionals", New Directions performs at Regionals in front...
", and included on the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals
Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals
Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals is the second extended play by the cast of musical television series Glee. Containing six songs from the season one finale "Journey to Regionals", it was released on June 8, 2010, the same day the episode aired. Half of the tracks are cover versions of...
, charting at number 30 in the UK, 31 in Canada and Ireland, 42 in Australia, and 43 in the US.
Eva Cassidy version
Eva CassidyEva Cassidy
Eva Marie Cassidy was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996...
recorded a version of the song for the 1992 Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown
Chuck Brown is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called "The Godfather of Go-go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s...
/Eva Cassidy album The Other Side. After Cassidy's death in 1996, the song was included in her posthumously-released compilation album Songbird, released in 1998 and was released as a CD single in 2001. This version was popularised by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
and on the television show Top of the Pops 2, the latter of which featured a video recording of Cassidy performing the song. This publicity helped push sales of the compilation album Songbird to #1 in the UK charts. Eva Cassidy's unique rendition of "Over the Rainbow" was selected by the BBC in the UK for their "Songs of the Century" album in the year 1999. Cassidy's performance of "Over the Rainbow" at Blues Alley was published for the first time in January 2011 on her Simply Eva album
Simply Eva
Simply Eva is the eighth posthumous album by Eva Cassidy, released on 25 January 2011. It's a collection of 11 acoustic tracks with Cassidy herself on the guitar and an a capella version of "I Know You By Heart". The Blues Alley version of "Over the Rainbow", which was not included in the Live at...
.
Chart performance
| Chart (2001) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
Kylie Minogue version
During her treatment and recovery from breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
released a live cover version of the song. The song's audio was taken directly from Minogue's live DVD Kylie Showgirl
Kylie Showgirl
Kylie Showgirl is a live DVD by Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue. Filmed during Minogue's Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour on 6 May 2005 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, England, it was released by EMI on 25 November 2005 in Europe....
, filmed on 6 May 2005 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
. Released on 25 December 2005, it was her first single to be released by digital means only. The release was joined by her cover of "Santa Baby
Santa Baby
"Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a...
" as a B-side.
Danielle Hope version
Danielle HopeDanielle Hope
Danielle Hope is an English actress and singer. She is the winner of the BBC talent contest Over The Rainbow and as a result is currently playing the part of Dorothy in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Wizard of Oz, which began performances in the West End at the London Palladium in...
, the winner of the Wizard of Oz-themed BBC talent show Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow (2010 TV series)
Over the Rainbow is a British television talent series which aired on BBC One from March to May 2010. It documents the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Dorothy in the forthcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and a...
released a cover version of the song. The song was released by digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on 23 May 2010 and a CD single was released on 31 May 2010. As the song was recorded before a winner was announced, runners-up Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels
Lauren Samuels is an English singer/actress and was a contestant on the 2010 BBC UK TV series Over the Rainbow. Since appearing on the show she has gone on to appear in West End theatre, including playing the lead role of Sandy in Grease.-Background:Samuels was born Lauren Bonner...
and Sophie Evans
Sophie Evans (performer)
Sophie Evans is a Welsh singer and actress. She was the runner-up on the 2010 BBC talent show Over the Rainbow. Beginning in 2011, Evans has been appearing on the West End stage as the alternate Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz.-Background:Evans was born and raised in the Rhondda...
also recorded versions of the song. These were both later made available for download on 6 June 2010. All three finalists appeared on the CD single's B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
: a Wizard of Oz medley.
The single was a charity record
Charity record
A charity record is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. Some of the earliest charity records came from the Music for UNICEF Concert, with ABBA's Chiquitita and the Bee Gees' Too Much Heaven among them released as singles, with all the royalties going to UNICEF...
, raising money for both the BBC Performing Arts Fund and Prostate UK.
Track listings
UK iTunes digital download- "Over the Rainbow" - 2:58
UK digital download
- "Over the Rainbow" - 2:58
CD single
- "Over the Rainbow"
- "The Wizard of Oz medley" - Sophie Evans, Danielle Hope and Lauren Samuels
Chart performance
| Chart (2010) | Peak Position |
|---|---|