Over the Rainbow and A Wonderful (Digital) World

This morning before we started a big department-wide meeting at work, this song was being played, and it drove me nuts. I love this version of “Over the Rainbow” and I knew I had heard it in a film or on a TV show, but I couldn’t remember where.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2Jt4WOxN8]

Thankfully, searches in iTunes and through Google reminded me fairly quickly that this had been used in LOST. I remembered how much I liked it, and listened to it again a couple of times.

So it was kind of eerie to read in the YouTube comments on this video tonight that it had been played at the end of the memorial service for Tim Russert earlier today. I hadn’t thought of this song for several months.

It’s also sad to discover a musician I really like and find out his name, only to realize he died 11 years ago at the age of 38. His name was unpronounceable: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. I guess that’s why his nickname was IZ. So while I can explore some of his music, but unfortunately there won’t be any more of it.

My, how things have changed in a generation…or actually just since about 2002. Formerly if you thought of a song you didn’t own and wanted to hear it, you called in a request on your local radio station, or had to drive to a music store and buy a full CD.

Now we can buy a single track for 99 cents on iTunes and hear it immediately…and some songs are available for free on YouTube.

So I think to myself: what a wonderful (digital) world.

Author: Lee Aase

Husband of one, father of six, grandfather of 15. Chancellor Emeritus, SMUG. Emeritus staff of Mayo Clinic. Founder of HELPcare and Administrator for HELPcare Clinic.

0 thoughts on “Over the Rainbow and A Wonderful (Digital) World”

  1. Love love love this song, and IZ. Just have to share this with you. First time I heard it was the credits for the movie Finding Forrester back in 2000. Little did I know then that I would pick up a client in Honolulu that next year and visit there 5 times in a year. He really is a national hero to them…they all shared their stories about him when I asked, and I left there with 3 of his CD’s. Yup…now they’re just on my iPod. Boy how I agree with you what a shame it is we will never hear new music from Iz again, much in the way we will never gain that unique perspective from Tim Russert that I’ve come to love on Sunday mornings!

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