Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz… Read Full Bio ↴Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognised as such by other jazz musicians who called him King.

As a youth, Carter lived in Harlem around the corner from Bubber Miley who was Duke Ellington's star trumpeter. Carter was inspired by Miley and bought a trumpet, but when he found he couldn't play like Miley he traded the trumpet in for a saxophone.

Carter began playing professionally at 15. He first recorded in 1928 and formed his first big band the following year. He played with Fletcher Henderson in 1930 and 1931, then briefly led McKinney's Cotton Pickers before returning to lead his own band in 1932. The few recordings his band made between 1933 and 1934 are considered by most jazz scholars to be milestones in early swing arranging. They were sophisticated and very complex arrangements, and a number of them became swing standards which were performed by other bands ("Blue Lou" is a great example of this.) He also arranged for Henderson and Duke Ellington during these years and wrote two hits, "Blues in My Heart" and "When Lights are Low." By the early 1930s he and Johnny Hodges were considered the leading alto players of the day. Carter also quickly became a leading trumpet soloist, having rediscovered the instrument. He recorded extensively on trumpet in the 1930s. Also, in 1933, Carter took part in an amazing series of sessions that featured the British band leader Spike Hughes, who came to New York specifically to organize a series of recordings featuring the best Black musicians available. These 14 sides were only issued in England at that time, though they are available on CD and worthwhile looking for. (The musicians were mainly made up from member of Carter's band and from Luis Russell's.)

In 1935 he moved to Europe, where he became staff arranger for the British Broadcasting Corporation dance orchestra and made several records. He returned to the United States in 1938 and led a big band and sextet before moving to Los Angeles in 1943 to write for movie studios. Carter continued writing and performing into his 90s. He arranged for Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Sarah Vaughan, among many others.

His biggest hit was "Cow Cow Boogie", a song he co-wrote with Don Raye and Gene DePaul, which was a hit for Ella Mae Morse in 1942.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Carter was one of the first black men to compose music for films. He was an inspiration and a mentor for Quincy Jones when Jones began writing for television and films in the 1960s. Also in the 1940s, Carter's successful legal battles in order to obtain housing in then-exclusive neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area made him a pioneer in an entirely different area.

He also appears uncredited in the 1952 film, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, as a sax player.

Carter was admired for his ability to write saxophone solis, which are sections of music that the entire section plays as one unit in the manner of a solo.

Carter was a member of the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. He was also a member of the Black Film Makers' Hall of Fame and in 1980 received the Golden Score award of the American Society of Music Arrangers. Carter was also a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1996 and received honorary doctorates from Princeton, Harvard, Rutgers, and the New England Conservatory.

He died, aged 95, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles of what is thought to have been bronchitis.

Over The Rainbow
Benny Carter Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
High above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
High above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Overall Meaning

The song "Over The Rainbow" by Benny Carter is a hauntingly beautiful piece about the dreams and hopes we hold dear in our hearts. The first verse sets the scene for the listener, telling us about a magical place "way up high" that the singer has heard of in a lullaby. This place represents the singer's hopes and dreams - a place where things are better than they are in the real world. The singer longs to reach this place and escape from the difficulties and hardships of life.

In the second verse, the singer talks about wishing upon a star to reach this magical place. The imagery of waking up where "clouds are far behind me" implies that this place is above the clouds, somewhere unreachable by earthly means. The lyrics "Where troubles melt like lemon drops, High above the chimney tops" create a vivid and joyful picture of the place the singer wants to reach.

The song's chorus brings in the idea of blue birds flying over the rainbow while the singer wonders why they are lucky enough to do so while he cannot. Ultimately the song is about hope and dreams, and the fact that we all have hopes and dreams, no matter where we are in life or what we are going through.

Line by Line Meaning

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There exists a place somewhere beyond our typical boundaries where only skies and clouds are prevalent.

There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
I’ve heard magical place mentioned in stories when I was asleep.

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
In that magical, distant land above the clouds, the colors of the sky are blue and serene.

And the dreams that you dare to dream, Really do come true.
Your dreams that you’re always hesitant to share even with yourself, come true in that special place.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
At some point in my future, I will look for hope at the bright stars above.

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
I will end up in the place beyond the clouds, where there are no more troubles.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
In this magical getaway, all life problems simply fade away like sugary lemon drops.

High above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me.
In this free land, I will be located in the heights, above any chimneys, free of any worries.

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly
In that secret paradise, blue birds enjoy their freedom to fly

Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I?
I wish I had the same freedom, why is it denied to me?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Since those small blue birds can go beyond the rainbow and still be happy,

Why, oh why can't I?
I must be able to do the same!