Why was the song over the Rainbow removed from the movie?

For an advance screening, MGM executives had removed “Over the Rainbow” because they felt it slowed down the film. Associate producer Arthur Freed stepped in, telling studio head Louis B. Mayer, “The song stays—or I go,” to which Mayer replied: “Let the boys have the damn song.

What does “over the Rainbow” mean to you?

Frisch defines “Over the Rainbow” as a classic “I want” song, delivered at the outset of a show or film to “express the desires that will motivate the protagonist’s actions.”

Why was over the Rainbow removed from Wizard of Oz?

When Judy Garland went over the rainbow as Dorothy Gale in the classic 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz, she almost left without singing what was to become her signature number. For an advance screening, MGM executives had removed “Over the Rainbow” because they felt it slowed down the film.

How would you interpret over the Rainbow by Judy Garland?

Garland would interpret “Over the Rainbow” differently by changing its “tempo, timbre, rhythm, phrasing, diction and choice of pitches,” Frisch writes, noting that: “It grew with her and became the culminating moment of her concerts.

Is ‘over the Rainbow’ the greatest song of the 20th century?

It can’t hurt.” More than 75 years later, the film and the song by composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Yip Harburg are cultural touchstones. In 2001, “Over the Rainbow” was voted the greatest song of the 20th century in a joint survey by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America.

Was Judy Garland’s ‘over the Rainbow’ the song of the century?

When it was named song of the century, the headlines were usually along the lines of “Judy Garland’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ is No. 1,” with hardly a mention of the composer or lyricist. The song followed and sometimes burdened her throughout the decades. “It’s like being a grandmother in pigtails,” she once said.

How did Arlen draw inspiration for over the Rainbow?

Musical inspiration often struck at odd moments. On his way to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with his wife, Arlen asked her to stop the car as they passed Schwab’s drugstore on Sunset Boulevard. In a burst of creativity, he jotted down the tune for “Over the Rainbow” on the music paper that he invariably carried with him.