Adventurer's Journal

Journal #1 The Enchanted Forest: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Notes: For those following the entries in this journal. These are being written for a Writing.com activity called the "Ultimate Trinket Adventure [Mainland]" .

The task is split up into 7 worlds. I am currently on the first world navigating the Enchanted Forest. To escape the enchanted forest one of the tasks involves a blogging category where we were given the choice of three videos to write about.

What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Somewhere over the Rainbow by Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole
Earth by "Lil Dicky"

Just picking which of the three songs to do wasn't an easy choice. I love both the song "What a Wonderful World" and Louis Armstrong. "Earth" was new to me but it seemed to have an amazing video connected it. In the end though the Opportunity to write about "Somewhere over the Rainbow" was just too tempting to resist.

As a Sidenote, Iz did an awesome medley of "It's a Wonderful World" and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" which I couldn't help thinking about when looking through the choices.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is an amazing song. The Judy Garland rendition in the Wizard of Oz movie was actually voted by the American Film Institute as the #1 choice for the top 100 songs in film.

The Wizard of Oz book series was one of the first book series I read through as a kid. My parent read the first 3 books in that series to me and I wound up reading the last 11 books by myself. It will always have a special place in my heart. The Wizard of Oz movie does a great portraying how beautiful the Oz Environment is by shifting the film from Black and White to Color for the segments that take place in Oz. This song provides a similar perspective shift with the titular rainbow causing viewers to picture colors themselves as the main character of the film (Dorothy) sings about her longing to be away from the gloomy atmosphere of her current home. Listening to this song always makes me smile and reminisce about the dream like fantasy qualities of the Oz environment. Rainbows are beautiful things and there is a hopeful sweet element to the song.

As for Iz... I first heard his rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" in an episode of the Television Medical Comedy series "Scrubs". "Scrubs" was doing its own parody of The Wizard of Oz storyline with its lead doctor (J.D.) undergoing a similar journey to Dorothy's as he encountered fellow coworkers whose goals were very similar to the characters from the Wizard of Oz. (For example one of members of the medical staff that J.D. was working with found herself lacking courage.) There were a lot of scenes and lines designed to correspond with moments from the film itself. One signature line from the film that I remember a character uttering clearly was "Pay no attention to the Man behind the curtain" from one of the doctors. There was also the classic close out of the Wicked Witch of the West's phrase "I'm Melting I'm Melting" as one of the characters struggled with a broken air conditioner. It was a great episode and I highly recommend watching it. This version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" played at the end of episode to close the story out. I was blown away by it as a beautiful modern take to the classic Judy Garland song I was very familiar with. I loved it. I would find out much later about the background of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole who was responsible for this version of the song. He was a Hawaiian singer who had passed away relatively young.

If you listen to Iz's version of this music... the Hawaiian influence is very clearly depicted. You can hear the Ukulele playing which adds a gentle style to it even though it is a much more sophisticated version vocally than Judy Garland's. Iz has such an amazing voice. He is able to carry notes extending them at key moments of the song and adds his own jazz variations to certain segments making the familiar melody sound new and fresh. The singer has an amazing legacy and is considered to represent the voice of Hawaii with his music.

The Judy Garland version of this song is a timeless classic that is incredibly difficult to follow. It is a huge credit to Israel Kamakawiwoʻole that he was able to create a memorable version of this song that is able to stand out on its own. I personally cannot decide which version of this song I like more. They both stand out in their own way and both are a joy to listen to. This is the type of song that no matter which version is playing the tune draws in the attention of its listeners making them pause whatever they are doing to appreciate it.
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Word Count: 810