Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" is a special mix of two famous songs, "Over the Rainbow" by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, and "What a Wonderful World" by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was performed by a singer from Hawaii named Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. He first shared this mix on an album called Ka ʻAnoʻi in 1990, and later included a special acoustic version on his 1993 album Facing Future.

This gentle, acoustic version of the song became very popular many years later. It started to be heard in many movies and television shows during the 2000s and 2010s. The song kept growing in popularity, especially in Europe in 2010 and 2011. In 2020, it was chosen to be kept safe forever in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress because it was thought to be very important to culture, history, and how people feel about music.

Recording history

The song was first recorded in 1988 during a quick late-night session. Israel Kamakawiwoʻole called the studio at 3 A.M. and had just 15 minutes to record. He performed "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in one take, playing and singing it all at once.

The song was later re-recorded for his 1990 album Ka ʻAnoʻi. In 1993, the original acoustic version was added to his album Facing Future. The song became very popular and reached number 12 on Billboard's Hot Digital Tracks chart in 2004.

Impact in popular culture

The song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole became very popular. Universal Studios wanted to use it in the 1998 movie Meet Joe Black after the director Martin Brest liked it. The song has also been used in many other movies, like Finding Forrester, 50 First Dates, Fred Claus, Happy, Happy, Hubble, and The Healer. It has also appeared on TV shows such as ER_, Charmed, Scrubs_, Cold Case_, the UK version of Life on Mars_, Glee_, and others.

Other cover versions

Many artists have also recorded this special mix of songs. For example, Cliff Richard made his own version. He released it as a single from his 2001 album Wanted, and it reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart that same year.

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)	Platinum	30,000^*
Belgium (BRMA)	Platinum	30,000^*
Germany (BVMI)	2× Platinum	600,000^{^}
Italy (FIMI)	Gold	25,000^‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)	3× Platinum	90,000^‡
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	2× Platinum	60,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)	Platinum	600,000^‡
United States (RIAA)	Platinum	4,200,000
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.