Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad, with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale. Over time, it would become Garland's signature song.

In the summer of 1938, Arlen and Harburg were signed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer to write the score for the filming of the childhood classic The Wizard of Oz. Arthur Freed, associate producer of the film, chose the Arlen-Harburg team because he felt that Harburg's feeling for lyrical fantasy and Arlen's musical fancy together created the perfect combination for the project.

Once signed, the team began work immediately having only had two months to turn out what was expected to be a unique and extended film score! Once they had completed what Harold called the lemon drop songs, We're Off to See the Wizard, The Merry Old Land of Oz, Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead, Arlen created the melody for Over the Rainbow on the way to Grauman's Chinese Theatrer and finished the bridge the following day. On a listen, Harburg felt that the song was too grand a tune to be sung by a little girl in Kansas and that it might clash with the direct simplicity and lightness of the other songs. Still, Harold defended his tune and played it for friend, Ira Gershwin, to get a second opinion. Gershwin liked it. Harburg, in response to Gershwin's approval, quickly titled the new song Over the Rainbow and composed its lyrics.The song has become one of the most enduring standards of the 20th century.

Over the Rainbow has become number one on the Songs of the Century list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. The American Film Institute also ranked Over the Rainbow the greatest movie song of all time on its list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs. The song was adopted (along with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas") by American troops in Europe in World War II as a symbol of the United States. Garland herself performed the song for the troops as part of a 1943 visit.

The movie, Wizard of Oz was completed in 1939 and cost M-G-M nearly three million dollars to create. The movie was a huge success when released that year, yet lost the Academy Award to Gone with the Wind.

Over six decades later, Wizard of Oz continues to be a favorite of the young and old alike.