NRR Project: 'Over the Rainbow' (1939)

 

NRR Project: ‘Over the Rainbow’

Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

Performed by Judy Garland with Victor Young and his Orchestra

Recorded July 1939

2:47

One of the greatest American songs was crafted for the groundbreaking Technicolor fantasy film The Wizard of Oz in 1939. It was written expressly for Judy Garland to sing as Dorothy in the sepia-toned prologue to the movie, set in Kansas. There, amid her colorless, ramshackle environment, Dorothy sings of wanting to be somewhere else, somewhere “the dreams that you dream really do come true.”

First, read Walter Limler’s excellent explanatory essay here. It breaks down just how difficult it was for composer Harold Arlen to come up with the music for this song. He was adept at crafting comic songs, but this one needed to be heartfelt. (In musicals, this type of song is often referred to as a “wants” song, one in which the lead character expresses longing for change.)

The movie was a hit, and so was the song. It became Judy Garland’s theme song (she was only 16 when she first recorded it), and is one of the most familiar tunes of all time.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Next time:‘Peter and the Wolf.’