It was roughly 3:00 AM in a Honolulu recording studio back in 1988 when a 500-pound man walked in with a ukulele. The engineer, Milan Bertosa, was tired. He was ready to go home. But Israel Kamakawiwoʻole—known to his friends as Iz—had an idea. He sat down, strummed a few light chords, and in a single take, changed music history forever.
Most people searching for somewhere over the rainbow lyrics hawaiian are actually looking for more than just a translation. They are looking for that specific, ethereal medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World." It’s a song that has been played at thousands of funerals, weddings, and graduations, yet its origins and the specific way Iz changed the words are often misunderstood. He didn't just sing the song; he reimagined it through a Pacific lens, mixing up the lyrics and adding a "Hawaiian-style" cadence that felt more like a prayer than a show tune.
The Story Behind the 1988 Single Take
You might think a song this perfect took weeks of production. Nope. It was a "one and done" situation.
Milan Bertosa has often recounted how Iz called the studio at 2:00 AM asking to record. When he arrived, the studio didn't even have a chair big enough for him, so they had to find something sturdy enough to hold his frame. He started playing. He actually messed up some of the lyrics from the original Judy Garland version, but it didn't matter. The raw emotion was so thick you could practically feel the salt air of the islands through the speakers.
Honestly, the "errors" are what make it. If you listen closely to the somewhere over the rainbow lyrics hawaiian version, you'll notice he swaps lines and shortens verses. He skips the entire "someday I'll wish upon a star" bridge in the first half and heads straight for the "bluebirds fly" section. It was stream-of-consciousness. It was pure soul.
Breaking Down the Lyrics and the Medley
The version everyone loves isn't a straight cover. It’s a medley.
Iz begins with a soft, breathy "Oooooh" that mimics the sound of the wind or the ocean. This intro sets the stage for the ukulele—a Kamaka tenor, if you’re a gear nerd—which provides that iconic rhythmic "island strum."
Where the "Hawaiian" Part Comes In
While the lyrics themselves are mostly English, the delivery is what makes it Hawaiian. This is a concept known in the islands as "mana," or spiritual power. When Iz sings about "chimney tops," he isn't thinking about a snowy London roof. He’s thinking about the mist over the Pali Lookout or the steam from a volcano.
Here is the basic structure of the lyrics as Iz performed them:
- The Intro: A melodic humming that isn't in the original 1939 score.
- The Verse: "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high..."
- The Shift: He moves directly into "And the dreams that you dream of, once in a lullaby."
- The Transition: This is where he pivots into Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World."
He famously sings, "I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you." It’s a mashup that shouldn't work on paper, but because of his gentle tenor voice, it feels like one continuous thought.
Why the Ukulele Changed Everything
Before Iz, the ukulele was often seen as a toy or a gimmick in mainstream American music. Think Tiny Tim. But the somewhere over the rainbow lyrics hawaiian rendition forced the world to take the instrument seriously.
He played with a rhythmic "swing" that is characteristic of contemporary Hawaiian music. It’s not a stiff 4/4 time; it has a slight lilt, a "ka-anapali" bounce. This rhythmic foundation is why the lyrics feel so much more relaxed than Judy Garland’s orchestral version. Garland was yearning for something she didn't have; Iz sounded like he was already there, just describing the view.
The Cultural Weight of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
To understand these lyrics, you have to understand the man. Israel was a staunch advocate for Hawaiian sovereignty. He lived during a time when the Hawaiian language (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi) was seeing a massive resurgence after decades of being suppressed.
While this specific song is in English, Iz’s other work, like "Hawaiʻi '78," dealt with the pain of stolen land and cultural loss. When he sings about a "land that I heard of once in a lullaby," many Native Hawaiians hear a subtext about the Kingdom of Hawaii before the 1893 overthrow. It’s a song about a paradise lost, or a paradise regained in the afterlife.
He died in 1997 at the age of 38. When his casket stood in the rotunda of the Hawaii State Capitol, it was a day of national mourning in the islands. Thousands of people watched as his ashes were paddled out in a traditional voyaging canoe off Mākua Beach. If you watch the music video, you see the pure joy on people's faces as they splash the water. That’s the "rainbow" he was singing about.
Common Misconceptions About the Lyrics
People often search for the "Hawaiian translation" of the lyrics.
Here’s the truth: There isn't a formal Hawaiian language version of this song that is widely recognized. Iz sang it in English. However, he used Pidgin inflections—the local creole of Hawaii—in his phrasing.
For example, his pronunciation of "troubles melt like lemon drops" has a distinct glottal stop and vowel shape that you won't find in a Broadway singer’s repertoire. He also adds a specific "Kay?" at the end of some phrases in live versions, which is a classic Hawaiian Pidgin tag.
Another mistake? Thinking he wrote it. He didn't. "Over the Rainbow" was written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg. "What a Wonderful World" was written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. Iz just perfected the marriage between them.
Why This Version Still Dominates the Charts
Decades later, this version still pops up in movies like 50 First Dates, Meet Joe Black, and countless commercials. Why?
Because it’s "honest."
We live in an era of over-produced, AI-tuned pop music. The somewhere over the rainbow lyrics hawaiian version is the antithesis of that. You can hear his breathing. You can hear the slight buzz of the ukulele strings. It’s human.
The song captures a specific type of "Hiraeth"—a Welsh word that doesn't have a perfect English equivalent, but refers to a nostalgic longing for a home that maybe never was, or a place you can't return to. In Hawaii, this is tied to the concept of aloha ʻāina, or love of the land.
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Technical Details for Musicians
If you're trying to play this at home, the chords are relatively simple, but the "feel" is hard to nail.
- The Chords: C, G, Am, F. That’s the core of the song.
- The Tuning: Iz used standard G-C-E-A tuning, but because of his size and the way he held the instrument, the resonance was incredibly deep.
- The Strum: It’s a "down, down-up, up-down-up" pattern, but you have to keep it loose. If you play it too "square," it loses the island vibe.
Actionable Steps for Further Exploration
If you really want to dive into the world of Hawaiian music beyond this one song, don't stop here. The lyrics to "Over the Rainbow" are just the gateway.
- Listen to "Hawaiʻi '78": This is Iz's most important work. It provides the political and emotional context for his life.
- Research the 1993 Apology Resolution: To understand why the "rainbow" means so much to Hawaiians, look into the history of the US government's formal apology for the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
- Learn the "Hawaiian Turnaround": If you play ukulele, learn the G7 to C transitions that Iz uses between verses. It’s the "secret sauce" of the song's structure.
- Watch the documentary 'Beyond the Rainbow': It features footage of that legendary 3 AM recording session and interviews with Milan Bertosa.
The song isn't just a cover. It’s a cultural landmark. When you read the somewhere over the rainbow lyrics hawaiian version, remember that you're reading the final thoughts of a man who loved his islands more than anything else. It’s a recording of a moment in time that can never be replicated, born from a late-night phone call and a single, perfect take.