Names Behind the Song: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Some music lovers may or may not be familiar with songs such as Stormy Weather, I’ve Got the World on a String, April in Paris or a musical called Finian’s Rainbow. But these titles are like unknowns compared to the most famous work to come from the collaboration of Harold Arlen and lyricist E. Y. “Yip” Harburg: Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The correct title is actually Over the Rainbow.

The duo had already individually achieved success in popular music, Broadway and Hollywood when they signed a contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer to score The Wizard of Oz. Although the film, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, was released in 1939 (75 years ago in 2014), it remains an ongoing family favorite.

It’s hard to believe that there was a fight to keep the song in the picture. In fact, while the original novel from 1899 is in public domain, Warner Brothers currently owns the rights to the film and battles over copyright infringement still happen in court today.

Arlen Wanted to Be a Singer

A surviving brother of twins born in Buffalo in 1905, Chaim Arlook chose Harold Arlen as his showbiz name when he worked as a piano player in Vaudeville. He performed as a vocalist as well as keyboard player with various bands in the 1920s to the mid 1930. His first popular song, Get Happy, led to a 1929 contract for Arlen and his then partner Ted Koehler. From there, the two began an association with the Cotton Club. They wrote Stormy Weather in 1933, the year that brought an end to prohibition and the same year that Arlen moved on to the movies, writing Let’s Fall in Love with Yip Harburg. It’s interesting that his friend and former roommate was Ray Bolger who played Scarecrow in the Oz film.

In the 1950s, Arlen teamed with Ira Gershwin to write music for A Star is Born and the song The Man That Got Away for Judy Garland. He continued to work in Hollywood and New York until his wife died in 1970. After that event, he apparently withdrew from social contact until he died of cancer in 1986 at the age of 81. A member of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, his catalog is listed on seven pages.

Harburg Was Among the Blacklisted

Yip Harburg, born in 1896 to a poor Jewish family on the lower east side of Manhattan, was a writer of lyrics, poems and books. As a champion of “democratic socialism,” his work often centered on related themes. Yip was a nickname, a shortened version of Yipsel, the Yiddish word for squirrel.

After college, Harburg worked briefly as a journalist and then ran an electrical appliance company until the stock market crash of 1929. That year, his long time friend from student days, Ira Gershwin, introduced him to his first collaborator, Jay Gorney. They wrote for Broadway and Hollywood, penning one of the Depression’s big songs, Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? The partnership ended when Gorney became involved with and eventually married Harburg’s wife.

 In 1932, Harburg cowrote April in Paris with composer Vernon Duke. In 1933, he and Arlen teamed up for their first hit song: It’s Only A Paper Moon. Although Arlen became a major music partner, Harburg also collaborated with other composers including Burton Lane (Old Devil Moon and Finian’s Rainbow). As for the Oz film, his contribution extended beyond lyrics to all the songs; as script editor, he also worked on some dialogue.

In 1951 came McCarthyism. The Un-American Activities Committee blacklisted Harburg for his political views. He even lost his passport. Unable to work in Hollywood, he focused on Broadway stage productions and worked with a variety of composers before the blacklisting ended and he was able to return to the film industry.

Along with Arlen, he is also a member of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame and his list of songs takes up six pages. Yip died in 1981 of a heart attack at the wheel of his car, in Los Angeles, a month short of his 85th birthday.