“Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what’s on the other side?” That’s the opening line of a song from The Muppet Movie sung by Kermit the Frog as he sits in his swamp on a log with his banjo. It was co-written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, setting the tone for adventure in that movie. Kermit and friends go seeking whatever there is to discover in the big, wide world, beyond his swamp.
Rainbows and travel brought me this picture, taken in August 2024 at Niagara Falls. We’d taken a walking tour, stood in the sun, wandered through a gift shop, walked to lunch. With aching feet, we sat on a ledge across from some landscaping and were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow in the mist.
You know how it is sometimes though, after adventuring, you can’t wait to get home. And depending on if you’ve crossed the border or not, take The Rainbow Bridge or The Peace Bridge and be grateful to put your feet up at home!
Rainbows do feel special. They’re referenced in so much music and culture:
The viral “Double Rainbow” video filmed by Paul “Bear” Vasquez from about 15 years ago.
The borrowing of the Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 66 for the song “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows.”
Florence Price wrote a piece titled Rainbow Waltz.
Singer Kacey Musgraves released a song called "Rainbow” in 2018 which she says began as an encouraging note to herself and transformed into a message of hope for anyone “in the midst of dark times.”
Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles’“Kaleidoscope Heart” lyrics say…
All the colors
Of the rainbow
Hidden 'neath my skin
Hearts have colors
Don't we all know?
Red runs through our veins
Feel the fire burning up
Inspire me with blood
Of blue and green
I have hope
Inside is not a heart
But a kaleidoscope
Maybe the most iconic of songs about rainbows is one written by Harold Arlen, born in Buffalo in 1905. Of the over five hundred songs Arlen wrote in his life, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is dubbed America’s best-loved song of the 20th Century. The story goes that Arlen took a drive with his wife and the entire melody came to him out of the blue!
I remember watching The Wizard of Oz as a kid, identifying with the rural setting, sitting on my couch in my small hometown. As Dorothy wondered why she couldn’t just fly away like the “happy little bluebirds,” I empathized with her, not unlike Kermit, alone in his rural swamp setting.
In the end though, Dorothy discovers that there is “no place like home.” And that’s something to celebrate. BTPM Classical is celebrating all kinds of connections to home during “Local Connections Weekend” January 24-26. Music from and by musicians in Western New York and Southern Ontario will be there. Harold Arlen’s music will be there. Hopefully, you’ll get to listen and Dorothy can say “…and you were there too!”
