The song "Over the Rainbow" was written by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and is known as Somewhere Over the rainbow.
Israel Kamakawiwoole, a singer from Hawaii, recorded a song called "Over the Rainbow" and "What a wonderful world".After its release on his 1993 album Facing Future, an acoustic rendition of the medley became notable.
The single was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.[2]
In 1988 the song was recorded in a demo session.Israel was given 15 minutes to arrive by the recording engineer after he called the studio.The largest human being I had seen in my life is walking.Israel was probably 500 pounds.The first thing to do is find something for him to sit on.Israel was found by the building security."Then I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, and the first thing he does is 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'."It was over when he played and sang.[3]
The acoustic recording was only made for Kamakawiwoole and his wife.Kamakawiwoole's debut album Ka Anoi contains an "upbeat Jawaiian version" of the song.In 1993, five years after the original recording, the acoustic version was played for the producer of Facing Future, and he decided to include it on the album.[4]
On the Hot Digital Tracks chart, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was number 12 for the week of January 31, 2004.
According to the Israel Kamakawiwoole website, Universal Studios was interested in using the song in the movie after the director of Meet Joe Black became interested.Kamakawiwoole's recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" has been used on other soundtracks as well.The UK original version of Life On Mars was featured on TV series like Charmed, ER, Scrubs, Cold Case, and more.[8]
Other artists have recorded the same thing.There is a jazz flute arrangement on the album Burning Whispers.A single from the 2001 album Wanted, which peaked at number 11 on the UK Official Charts, was recorded by Cliff Richard.10
The song was recorded for Aselin Debison's 2002 album.The album Poetic License was released in June 2004.[2]