Somewhere Over The Rainbow By Harold Arlen and

“(Somewhere) Over The Rainbow By: Harold Arlen and Edgar Harburg Presentation by: Carly Pearce 6 th Period Mrs. Turner

Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high, There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow Skies are blue, And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star And wake up where the clouds are far Behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly Beyond the rainbow Why, oh why can't I?

Works Cited

Harold Arlen: Back Harold was born in Buffalo, New York in 1905. He was a part of the band, The Southbound Shufflers during his youth and young adult years where he was a pianist, arranger and singer. Harold was noticed first by Broadway composer, Vincent Youmans, and was given his first part in the “Great Day” performance as a pianist in 1929. His first song, “Get Happy” was composed along with fellow composer Ted Koehler and made a hit by Ruth Etting in 1930. From 1930 -1934, Arlen wrote music for various Broadway musicals. After moving to Hollywood, he and his new friend, Johnny Mercer, wrote Academy Award Nominee, “That Old Black Magic”. Harold married Anya Taranda January 8 th, 1937. In 1939, Harold was hired by the producers of The Wizard of Oz to write the music for his biggest movie theater in Los Angles. He wrote the music that night and turned it in to his writing partner, E. Y. Harburg, who added lyrics to the piece. Judy Garland sang “Over the Rainbow” as her signature song, making it a huge hit. Arlen continued writing many, many hit songs for Broadway shows and film productions until his death on April 23, 1986 from Parkinson’s disease. (Gale Biography Resource Center) Harold Arlen: Homepage

Edgar Harburg: Back Edgar Yipsel “Yip” Harburg was born in New York, New York in 1896. His middle name, Yipsel, is the Yiddish name meaning squirrel that was given to him since he was a very active child. As a child, Edgar went to theater plays and musicals in both Yiddish and English. After graduating in 1917, he got a job at a meatpacking company in Uruguay to avoid having to be drafted in the World War I. Edgar married Alice Richmond in 1923 but divorced in 1929, the same year Edgar lost most of his money in the Stock Market Crash. The Great Depression gave Harburg a lot of time to think about writing and from 1929 -1934 Edgar had the opportunity to work with over 30 composers. One of his biggest achievements was the composing of “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime” with Jay Gorney in 1932. The composing of “Over The Rainbow” came from Harburg’s desire to create a show with writing lyrics and music, putting them together. So Harburg, writing the lyrics, composed the Academy Award-Winning song, “Over The Rainbow” with the music by Harold Arlen. Edgar also wrote all of the lyrics to the rest of the songs from the production of The Wizard of Oz. It was Harburg’s idea to create the seamless integration between the songs and stories that makes the film seem so magical. He also entirely created the idea of a rainbow in the background of the Aunt Em and Dorothy scene where she sings the song. After a life full of writing many famous pieces, Edgar Harburg was killed of a heart attack in 1981. (Gale Biography Resource Center) E. Y. Harburg: Homepage

Anaphora: Back An anaphora is a literary device that is the repeating of the same word at the beginning of a phrase, stanza or lyric. It comes from the Greek word meaning carrying up or back. The repetition can be a whole line or just one word, like “somewhere”, from this song. (Poets. org) For information on how anaphoras were derived from the Catholic religion, click here.

A Land: Back The “land” that is said in the song refers to what the soldiers over in the World War II thought of the United States of America. The soldiers adopted “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” as a symbol of the United States in time of war and depression. The sign gave a sign of hope and perseverance to the soldiers who were risking their lives fighting in the war. (Barnet, Nemerov, and Taylor p. 100 -101)

Back In a Lullaby: During the World War II, men had to leave their wives and children behind in the United States and go off to war in Europe. The lullaby signified in the song could be relating to the fact that the women had to stay home and sing lullabies to the children while the men went off to be brave and fight in the war. Interested in reading a real Great Depression lullaby sung by Woodie Guthrie? Click here.

The Wizard of Oz: The movie The Wizard of Oz was produced in 1939 by directed by Victor Fleming. The music won many awards throughout the years that the film was first open but was beaten out by Gone With The Wind for Best Picture. The movie did, however, win the Best Song award for “Over The Rainbow”. It is ironic because originally, producers wanted to cut out “Over the Rainbow” thinking it would not fit in with the other fast and cheery songs of the film. (Barnet, Nemerov, and Back

Back Skies are blue: The phrase “skies are blue” could refer to one of the colors of the United States, which was a hopeful sign to the soldiers during the war. The phrase could also be describing the ‘heaven’ or ‘refuge’ that is over the rainbow Harburg and Arlen are referring to. It would probably be a place where the skies are clear and there are no troubles like there are in the present day time.

Alliteration: Back An alliteration is a literary device that uses the same letter as the beginning of the word in a single line as repetition. Articles and words can be used throughout the line, but most of the words are beginning with the same letter. “Sally sells sea shells at the seashore” is an example of an alliteration.

Wish Upon a Star: Back These few words showed hope to the soldiers fighting in the war and of those who survived the Great Depression after the war. People looked to this song optimistically as they did to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s new idea, the New Deal. People were able to get through the day and know that they would make it through. For more information on president Franklin Roosevelt, click here.

Simile: Back A simile is a literary device using like or as. From the lyrics, “troubles” are being described to melt LIKE lemon drops, thus using the word like so the whole line is considered a simile. This is just a beautiful and amazing line where you can imagine the candies melting away like the

Personification: Back A personification is a literary device that gives human actions to things that are unliving or unable to perform the actions. In the lyrics, “troubles” are being described as melting, which is an action that “troubles” could not usually perform. ‘Troubles melting’ could also refer to the feeling of a heavy burden is done with and over.

Fly beyond the rainbow: The phrase ‘fly beyond the rainbow’ could be referring to the land or whole other world/heaven the entire song is about. The word ‘fly’ could refer to escaping either out of the pain of the war or of just loneliness. Just the idea of there possibly being a special place beyond the rainbow probably gave many people the hope they needed to get through the war. Back

The Great Depression 1929 -1940 s: Back For more information The Great Depression started off with the Stock Market Crash in 1929 and was a terrible time of hunger and poverty before the World War II. A lot of people were out of jobs and having to live on the street. Many businesses failed everyday, thus putting more people out of work on a daily basis. Everybody needed money and a job and there just weren’t enough to go around to the whole United States. President Hoover tried his best to keep the spirits of the American people high and not negative however he had underestimated the harshness of the crisis. He also did not believe that the U. S. government should help the unemployed or provide food, so more people were starving and unemployed. The end of his term was rejoiced since Hoover had been insensitive and uncaring to the American people. The new president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came up with a plan called the New Deal, which was different economic systems that were set up to try to fix the problems and issues that Hoover left unattended. Starvation and homelessness were some of the worst problems of the Great Depression. Soup kitchens and homeless shelters were set up to try to help the unfortunate people of the United States. After many long years of depression and hurt, the Great Depression was finally finished in the early 1940 s. (Nishi)