Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World

"Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"
Single by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
from the album Ka ʻAnoʻi and Facing Future
Released 1990 (K'A)
November 1, 1993 (FF)
Recorded 1988
Genre
Length 5:08
Label Big Boy Records

"Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" is a medley of the songs "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole and released on his albums Ka ʻAnoʻi and Facing Future.

Recording history

"Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" was originally recorded in a spur-of-the-moment demo session in 1988, and was done in a single take. At the time, copies of the recording were only made for Kamakawiwoʻole himself and recording engineer Milan Bertosa. Five years later, in 1993, Bertosa played the song for producer Jon de Mello while the two were completing work on Facing Future, and de Mello decided to include it in the album.[1]

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Somewhere over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World
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According to the Israel Kamakawiwoʻole website, Universal Studios first became interested in using "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" in the movie and on the soundtrack for Meet Joe Black after director Martin Brest became interested in the song.[2] Kamakawiwoʻole's recording of "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" would be used on other soundtracks as well including the soundtracks for Finding Forrester, 50 First Dates, Fred Claus, Happy, Happy and IMAX: Hubble 3D.[3] It was also featured on TV series like Charmed, ER, Scrubs, Cold Case, Glee and the UK original version of Life On Mars among others.[4]

"Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" reached #12 on Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004).

On July 21, 2006, BBC Radio 1 announced that "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World (True Dreams)" would be released as a single in America. To this day, the song is still receiving airplay from Hawaiian and adult alternative-formatted radio stations.

Other artists have recorded the medley as well. Cliff Richard recorded his own version of the medley, released as a single from the album Wanted, which charted in the UK in 2001. Aselin Debison recorded the medley for her 2002 album Sweet is the Melody. Elisabeth von Trapp included her interpretation of the medley in her album Poetic License, released in June 2004.[5]

The song was used in several eToys.com commercials in the late 1990s.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (2004–10) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[9] 35
France (SNEP)[10] 1
Luxembourg Digital Songs (Billboard)[11] 1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[12] 10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 19
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 3
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[15] 22

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Belgium (BEA)[16] Platinum 30,000*
Germany (BVMI)[17] 2× Platinum 600,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[18] 2× Platinum 60,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Silver 200,000^
United States (RIAA)[20] Platinum 4,200,000[21]
Total available sales: 5,090,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Montagne, Renee (March 9, 2011). "Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: The Voice Of Hawaii". NPR. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  2. ↑ de Mello, Jon. "The Official Site of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole | Biography". izhawaii.com. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  3. ↑ "IMAX: Hubble 3D – Toronto Screen Shots". 18 March 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Kim Grant; Glenda Bendure; Michael Clark Ned Friary; Conner Gorry; Luci Yamamoto (2005). Lonely Planet Hawaii (7th ed.). Lonely Planet Publications. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-74059-871-2.
  5. ↑ http://elisabethvontrapp.com/biography/ Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Over the Rainbow" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW / WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW / WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Over the Rainbow". Tracklisten. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Over the Rainbow" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Luxembourg Digital Songs - November 13, 2010". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Over the Rainbow" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW / WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD". Singles Top 100. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole – Over the Rainbow". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Israel Kamakawiwo'ole – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2013". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  17. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Israel Kamakawiwo' Ole; 'Over the Rainbow')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  18. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole; 'Over the Rainbow')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  19. ↑ "British single certifications – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole – Somewhere over the Rainbow". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Somewhere over the Rainbow in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  20. ↑ "American single certifications – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole – Over the Rainbow". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 22 March 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  21. ↑ Trust, Gary (October 21, 2014). "Ask Billboard: The Weird Connections Between Mary Lambert & Madonna". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
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