Oh me, Oh my... Over the Rainbow still rocks / File
Posted on 06/23/2004 7:33:12 AM PDT by yankeedame
Over the Rainbow top song
By David Germain in Los Angeles
June 23, 2004
THERE'S no song like Over the Rainbow - the wistful ditty sung by Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz has a topped the American Film Institute's list of 100 best movie songs.
In second place on the list, released today, is the song that sparked a thousand clichés, As Time Goes By from Casablanca. In third place was the title tune from Singin' in the Rain.
Over the Rainbow, sung by Judy Garland in the 1939 musical fantasy, was picked as the top song in US cinema by about 1,500 actors, filmmakers, writers, critics and others in Hollywood.
"It deserves it. It's one of the great, great songs. Judy Garland, the emotion in that song. It gives me chills whenever I hear it," said songwriter Burt Bacharach.
Mr Bacharach was represented on the list for co-writing Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (No 23) from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) (No 79) from Arthur.
In 2001, Garland's Over the Rainbow (and Bing Crosby's White Christmas ) also topped the 365 Songs of the Century selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Two songs each from The Sound of Music (My Favourite Things at No 64 and Do Re Mi at No 88) and Singin' in the Rain (Make 'Em Laugh at No 49 and Good Morning at No 72) both made the list. West Side Story also landed three songs: Somewhere (No 20), America (No 35) and Tonight (No 59).
Chosen from 400 nominees, the list was announced in the CBS television special AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs, the institute's latest countdown to promote US film history.
The show's host was John Travolta, star of Saturday Night Fever and Grease, whose Summer Nights came in at No 70.
"A list like this really drives people back to rediscover or discover these movies," Jean Picker Firstenburg, the institute's director, said.
"It's about older generations revisiting them and younger generations finding them for the first time."
Past specials presented such lists as the best 100 American movies, comedies, screen legends and love stories. AFI leaders had been mulling a list of best movie songs for years.
"It's an idea we've had floating around since the beginning," said Bob Gazzale, who produces the AFI specials. "Movies and music are so obviously linked at the heart, really."
"I think this list is about music that has made its way into daily lives, rather than an assessment of what's great," said Jennifer Warnes, who sang two duets that made the list, Up Where We Belong (No 75) from An Officer and a Gentleman and (I've Had) The Time of My Life (No 86) from Dirty Dancing.
"The reason why my songs made it there is that they're used. I still hear Up Where we Belong when I'm at the store buying frozen peas, and it makes me happier to be buying frozen peas."
The earliest song to make the list was Isn't It Romantic (No 73), sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in 1932's Love Me Tonight. The newest came from 2002 with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger's rendition of All That Jazz (No 98) from Chicago and Eminem's Lose Yourself (No 93) from 8 Mile.
The AFI's Top Ten Songs
1. Over the Rainbow, The Wizard of Oz, 1939. 2. As Time Goes by, Casablanca, 1942.
3. Singin' in the Rain, Singin' in the Rain, 1952.
4. Moon River, Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961.
5. White Christmas, Holiday Inn, 1942.
6. Mrs. Robinson, The Graduate, 1967.
7. When You Wish Upon a Star, Pinocchio, 1940.
8. The Way We Were, The Way We Were, 1973.
9. Stayin' Alive, Saturday Night Fever, 1977.
10. The Sound of Music, The Sound of Music, 1965.
Heck, I'd go for Darth Vader's theme!
You have freepmail.
You stop that right now, or I will sing "Honey" until your ears bleed, which - given my voice and the song selection - should be about 8 seconds.
Uh, if 'The Sound of Music' is in the top ten, then doesn't that make THREE from the movie??? DUH. One of my favorite movies, BTW.
Did 'Wind Beneath My Wings' make it on the list? If not, it should.
bump
A couple of my favorites:
"Breaking the Sound Barrier," from The Right Stuff. It gave a real sense of the sky being a cathedral.
The ending score from Backdraft. The main character is much saddened; he has lost a great deal that is important to him; but he is continuing mission, and the music soars to a triumphant conclusion honoring all firefighters.
"(I wonder if I'm the only woman ever to have uttered that sentence.)"
No, you're not. I've seen it several times with my husband. It's great!
LOL!!! Oh my gosh, that's great! My husband says that line all the time. And I thought HE was the only one who did that. Thanks, Xenalyte. I needed that.
SBM
You are special. :-)
Dr. Zhivago and Lara's Theme didn't make it but some of the other junk did!
If you really liked the Wizard of Oz, then when you got the DVD and looked at the cut stuff, you found a second singing of Over the Rainbow.
Dorothy was captured in the Witch's castle, in the room with the big crystal ball, and had one hour to live. She sang a fearful, teary version of a kid that knew she was going to die. If they would have left that song in, I'd be GWTW would have had a run for the oscar that year.
But it was dropped because the movie was too long. The footage is lost, never to be seen again. A recording of her singing it is all that is left.
It is great!
DK
What about the sinister background music from the Clinton Chronicles?
Any movie song written by Henry Mancini belongs on the list.
What kind of special? Exceptional special, or short-bus special?
Cool, we play most of these schmaltzy classics regularly.
I love the song, "Over the Rainbow". It brings back memories of watching the Wizard of Oz, every year, growing up.
I would add to the list, "It's A Wonderful World" and "One For My Baby" (It's quarter 'til 3, there's noone in the place...except you and me)....
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