TS: Over The Rainbow vs. Moon River

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOByH_iOn88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0-um0pHTAg

mancini all the way

Both great, Rainbow.

Octave vs. fifth

This is tough, but Rainbow.

OTR

otr is great and everything but moon river x 1000 for me. one of my favorite songs period.

i second the rent 'pinion 'swell.

MR and this isn't even close.

Moon River is a fine little song but "my huckleberry friend" is an irritating line.

In the explicit version it's "my motherfuckin' friend"...

thats what you get for buying your mancini records at walmart

I Love a huckleberry friend!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

For background information on both of these songs, you might want to look at Philip Furia's books on the Great American Songwriters, including his Johnny Mercer bio.

So Mercer often wrote words with Harold Arlen as did Yip Harburg. Harburg collaborated with Arlen (who also wrote "Stormy Weather")on "Over the Rainbow," while Mercer wrote the lyrics and Mancini the music for "Moon River."

One famous Mercer/Arlen collabo was Blues In The Night. At the time of "Moon River" Mercer was the star and Mancini was the kid who needed a break. But also at that point stage musicals (and even movie musicals) as a source of hits had all but died out so somebody like Johnny needed to work on movie themes. They also worked together on the theme of The Days Of Wine And Roses. There is some story about them gathering around a little piano at the corner of a soundstage to demo the song and Jack Lemmon crying his eyes out (but hey, when doesn't he?)

When Harold Arlen first played the music "Over The Rainbow" for his lyricist, Yip Harburg hated it, said that it was too complicated for the farm girl from Kansas, so Arlen simplified it to the version we all know.

otr is great and everything but moon river x 1000 for me. one of my favorite songs period.

True story:

When my grandfather was a little boy he happened to know James Cagney, who had a country house not too far from where my grandfather lived. Cagney used to tell stories to my grandfather and his brother and one of the stories he told involved the time Cagney was on the MGM lot and he heard two men laughing amongst themselves. He asked them what was so funny and one (both?) of them said they had just written a terribly silly song with really maudlin lyrics for an MGM movie. Cagney asked them what the song was called and they said it was titled "Over The Rainbow."

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I got so busy i forgot to participate in my own thread. Oh no. Well, Over The Rainbow won, and that was my vote.

Moon River is a fine little song but "my huckleberry friend" is an irritating line.

we are normal and we want our freedom (Abbott), Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:31 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

This is exactly what i was going to write. Its like he was trying to hard to be whimsical or something. It doesn't help that I have no experience going huckleberry-ing. What I do like about Moon River is it feels incomplete, like its story is never quite told and ends too soon.

I like the coda best on Over the Rainbow, thats what really makes it for me.

Also this:
In the explicit version it's "my motherfuckin' friend"...

― ♪♫(●̲̲̅̅̅̅=̲̲̅̅̅̅●̲̅̅)♪♫ (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, November 11, 2009 9:40 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha!

I think the huckleberrying was autobiographical.

This past week was Johnny Mercer centennial, which came with various tributes including an AMC documentary. So now everybody should know about the other connection between these songs, the big Johnny Mercer/Judy Garland love affair.