The song of the day for Tuesday, January 21, 2025, is “Over The Rainbow.”

About Yip Harburg

We’re continuing our examinations of lyricists with Yip Harburg. He was born in New York City on April 8, 1898, and was named Isidore Hochberg. His parents, Lewis and Mary Hochberg, were Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews from Russia. He later changed his name to Edgar Yipsel Harburg, called Yip for short. He attended high school and befriended another student, Ira Gershwin, and they shared a love of Gilbert and Sullivan and worked together on the school paper. After college, marriage, and two children, he wrote light verse for newspapers and co-owned an appliance company that went bankrupt following the stock market crash of 1929. At that time, Ira and Yip decided that Harburg should start writing song lyrics. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” was one of his earliest songs. On the basis of that song, he was offered a contract with Paramount Studios, where he worked with Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne, and Burton Lane. He also wrote lyrics for several Broadway musicals, including Bloomer Girl and Finian’s Rainbow.

Harburg was also a social activist and a member of the Socialist Party. Even though he was not a communist, he was blacklisted from 1950 until 1962, unable to work in Hollywood films, television, and radio.

Yip Harburg died in an automobile accident on Sunset Boulevard on March 5, 1981, at the age of 84. It was determined that he had suffered a heart attack while stopped at a red light.

About This Song

“Over The Rainbow” was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Probably the most widely known of all Harburg’s songs, “Over The Rainbow” is from The Wizard Of Oz. Interestingly, the producers wanted to cut the song from the film, as they felt it slowed down the movie. Thankfully, the preview audiences preferred the movie with the song. “Over The Rainbow” ranked as the #1 song of the 20th century per the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The song has always been closely associated with Judy Garland. In a letter to Harold Arlen, Judy Garland wrote that the song “…has become part of my life. It’s so symbolic of everybody’s dreams and wishes that I’m sure that’s why some people get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I’ve sung it thousands of times and it’s still the song that’s closest to my heart.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Over The Rainbow” on August 15, 1960, for his album Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, released in 1961. Glenn Osser wrote the arrangement and conducted the orchestra.

“Over The Rainbow,” as well as Tony Bennett Sings a String of Harold Arlen, is available on Apple Music.

In 1979, Yip Harburg appeared on a television program called They Write the Songs. He talked about his career and sang “Over The Rainbow.”

Here’s an extended version of Harburg’s appearance on They Write the Songs.