who wrote the lyrics to "over the rainbow"?

Answer 1

"Over the Rainbow" music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, is one of the most famous songs of the late 1930s.

Many feel the song epitomizes the hopes and dreams of youthful aspiration for an ideal world of love and joy. The song was especially written to showcase Judy Garland's talents in the star vehicle The Wizard of Oz, and she was forever after called upon to sing it in all her public appearances, for it became her lifelong theme song.

Its plaintive melody and simple lyrics depict a pre-adolescent girl's desire for an escape from the "hopeless jumble" of this world, from the sadness of raindrops to the bright new world "over the rainbow." It expresses the childlike faith that "Heaven" will magically "open a door" to a place where "troubles melt like lemon-drops."

The song tops the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. It also topped the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Songs" list.

The American troops in Europe in WWII adopted the song, as well as Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," as a symbol of the US, that faraway land that, after long years of war, seemed like a dream, beyond the rainbow. Modern listeners may be unaware that the song had an introductory stanza, as this was not sung in the film by Garland.

The song has come to epitomize the gesture of the rising octave, which makes its opening so distinctive. Sight-singing instructors and other musicians use the song as an example and a reference point for hearing the interval.
And if you need the lyrics,

Over The Rainbow
(Arlen-Harburg)
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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

Some day I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemondrops
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?
Some day I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemondrops
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?

Answer 2

Over The Rainbow
(Arlen-Harburg)

Answer 3

Music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

Answer 4

E.Y. Harburg wrote the lyric's and harold arlen wrote the music.

Answer 5

Edgar Yipsel Harburg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Y._Harburg

This song has always been very popular, but Finian's Rainbow was his most famous broadway show.

He was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 1972.

Answer 6

E.Y Harburg

Answer 7

E.Y. Harburg