another random question

[mamajoan]

In "The Rainbow Connection," Kermit sings, "Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?" But the only songs about rainbows that I can think of are "The Rainbow Connection" and "Over the Rainbow." That's not so many. Are there others that I don't know about?

Similarly, in "Over the Rainbow," Dorothy sings, "...there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby." Again with the rainbow songs referencing other rainbow songs. Is there really a lullaby that talks about a land over the rainbow, other than "Over the Rainbow"? (Which isn't exactly a lullaby, but it does seem to make Isaac sleepy when I sing it, or maybe that's just because I sing it while I'm putting on his pj's.)

So what is it about rainbow songs being all meta and talking about other rainbow songs that don't exist? 'Sup with that? Discuss.

Comments

[peterchayward.livejournal.com]

A quick search for "Rainbow" on my music collection brings up "There's a Rainbow over the Rock" by Slim Dusty. As well as the Rainbow Connection and Over the Rainbow.

[skreeky]

Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow
Sing a rainbow too.

[skreeky]

I'm always chasing rainbows
Watching clouds drifting by
My schemes are just like all my dreams
Ending with the sky

[skreeky]

(or more recently...)

When the veil of dreams has lifted
And the fairy tales have all been told
There's a kiss at the end of the rainbow
More precious than a pot of gold

[skreeky]

Hey hey my playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree

Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends
Forever more

[skreeky]

She comes in colors everywhere
She combs her hair
She's like a rainbow
Coming, colors in the air
Oh everywhere

[skreeky]

Yes, I can make it now the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been praying for
It's gonna be a bright bright sunshiny day

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

wow, the sad thing is, this is the only one of the songs you posted that I recognize. I guess I'm just not up on my rainbow discography.

And what's on the other side?

[skreeky]

So I bundled me heart
And I roamed the world free
To the east with the lark
To the west with the sea
And I searched all the world
And I scanned all the skies
But I found it at last
In my own true love's eyes

Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow it over the hill and stream
Look, look, look to the rainbow
Follow the fellow who follows the dream

[hawkeye7.livejournal.com]

Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Everyday of your life
For as long as you live

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

OK, but that's a song that briefly mentions a rainbow, not a song *about* rainbows...
[/picky]

[hawkeye7.livejournal.com]

Well I've run through rainbows and castles of candy
I cried a river of tears from the pain
I try to dance with what life has to hand me
My partner's been pleasure...my partner's been pain

[lightningrose.livejournal.com]

I am asleep on a rainbow
Hiding from the wake of the tide
I am a sleep on a rainbow
Hoping for the rest of the ride

[lightningrose.livejournal.com]

Look, look

Look to the rainbow.

Follow it over the hill

And the stream.

Look, look

Look to the rainbow.

Follow the fellow

Who follows a dream.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I have no songs to post, but consider that the rainbow is interpreted as a bridge between the material world and the supernatural world in a fair number of traditional belief systems (Norse, Greek, Japanese, various North American aboriginal peoples, just off the top of my head, and I know there are more...).

In addition to the songs we know about because they have been recorded, there are probably a fair number of fairy tales, folk songs, nursery rhymes, and even lullabyes that have been passed down in families and villages... and possibly some of those were heard by the writers of the lyrics you mention as children.

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I think the lyrics go that way because "lullaby" rhymes with "high."

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Ehh, I dunno. Lots of things rhyme with "high."