Over The Rainbow

Is it just me, or is anyone else annoyed by the ukulele version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" that keeps popping up everywhere these days?  Before someone has the urge to bash me on the head with a ukulele, keep in mind it's just my opinion, and since this is my journal, I'm able to share my opinion with anyone who reads this.  That having been said, the ukulele version of the song bothers me.  I think it's even a bit spooky. Don't get me wrong - I love Judy Garland's version from "The Wizard of Oz" - that's a classic.  But I just don't like the ukulele version.  And the song is everywhere - as background music on countless commercials, and in movies and tv shows where it usually is played as the movie/show is ending the closing credits start to roll. 

I'd been toying with the idea of a journal entry about this song, but kept it on the back burner until today.  A co-worker stopped by our cubicle, and was telling me about a couple of cd's he had bought, and then asked if I'd heard of some singer named Iz.  I was clueless. He went on to say he was a Hawaiian that played the ukulele, and that he recorded a version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."  I knew immediately this had to be the same singer/version.  He said that Iz died a few years ago. I did some research on Iz and here's what I found:

Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole was a Hawaiin recording artist.  With a last name like that, I guess we know why he went by the knickname Iz.  He was over 700 pounds, and from the pictures I saw, he looked like a sumo wrestler.  He recorded "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in just one take, with just his vocals and the ukulele.  He recorded four other songs after this "....Rainbow", and walked out of the recording studio, and never played the song again.  Iz was one of only 1500 full-blooded Hawaiians left in the world, and this song because some type of an anthem for the islands. 

Iz was Hawaii's first artist to have an album certified gold.  Even Don Ho didn't accomplish that with "Tiny Bubbles."  His version of "Over The Rainbow" became the number 1 bestselling song downloaded from the World Music section of iTunes.  And Iz didn't live to see any of it. 

It's a haunting story, as haunting as the simple melody and ukulelemusic.  But I'm sorry; I still don't care for this version.