Was an American compo… Read Full Bio ↴Harold Arlen (February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986)
Was an American composer of popular music. Having written over 400 songs, a number of which have become known the world over, Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. His 1938 song "Over the Rainbow” was voted the twentieth century's No. 1 song by the Recording Industry Association of America
Biography
Arlen was born Hyman Arluck, in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned the piano as a youth and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer and moved to New York City in his early 20s. He worked as an accompanist in vaudeville.[1] At this point, he changed his name to Harold Arlen. He performed on record with the "Buffalodians" orchestra, as well as those of Red Nichols, Henny Hendrickson and Arnold Johnson.
Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe Venuti, Leo Reisman and Eddie Duchin, usually singing his own compositions.
In 1929, Arlen composed his first well-known song: "Get Happy" (with lyrics by Ted Koehler). Throughout the early and mid-1930s, Arlen and Koehler wrote shows for the Cotton Club, a popular Harlem night club, as well as Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. Arlen also continued to perform with some success, most notably on records with Leo Reisman's society dance orchestra.
Arlen's compositions have always been popular with jazz musicians because of his facility at incorporating a blues feeling into conventional American popular songs.
Arlen and Koehler wrote several hit songs during the early and mid-1930s.
In the mid-1930s, Arlen married, and spent increasingly more time in California, writing for movie musicals. It was at this time that he began working with lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg. In 1938, the team was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to compose songs for The Wizard of Oz. The most famous of these is the song "Over the Rainbow" for which they won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. They also wrote "Down with Love", a song later featured in the 2003 movie Down with Love.
Arlen was a longtime friend and former roommate of actor Ray Bolger who would star in The Wizard of Oz, the film for which "Over the Rainbow" was written.
In the 1940s, Arlen teamed up with lyricist Johnny Mercer, and continued to write hit songs like "Blues in the Night" ("My Mama Done Tol' Me") and "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive".
Out of This World
Harold Arlen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I'm looking at you
I hear out of this world
The music that no mortal ever knew
You're right out of a book
The fairy tale I read when I was five
No armored knight out of a book
Then I
After waiting so long
for the right time
After reaching so long for a star
All at once from long and lonely night time
And despite time, here you are
I cry, "Out of this world"
If you said we were through
So let me fly out of this world
And spend the next eternity or two
With you
The lyrics to Harold Arlen's "Out of This World" express the singer's awe and admiration for the object of their affection. The first lines contain a play on words, using "out of this world" both literally and figuratively. The singer is saying that the person they are looking at is so remarkable that they seem to be from another planet. However, this person's presence also inspires a musical sensation that is otherworldly in its beauty and uniqueness.
The second stanza compares the person to a character from a fairy tale, specifically an enchanted Loralei. The singer seems to be experiencing a sense of wonder and disbelief, as they never thought they could find someone so perfect. The third stanza expresses the singer's joy at finally finding this person after waiting and searching for so long. The singer is so enamored that they declare that they never want to leave this person's side, and would even be willing to spend an eternity with them.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of transcendence and enchantment, likening the feeling of being in love to an experience that is beyond the ordinary and mundane.
Line by Line Meaning
You're clear out of this world
You are beyond anything I have ever encountered.
When I'm looking at you
Whenever I gaze upon you.
I hear out of this world
I am transported to another plane of existence.
The music that no mortal ever knew
A harmony that is truly divine and can never be understood by any mere human.
You're right out of a book
You are the embodiment of a storybook character.
The fairy tale I read when I was five
You are the absolute image of the story I loved as a child.
No armored knight out of a book
Not even a legendary figure like a knight could compare to you.
was more enchanted by a Loralei
Their love and enchantment for a legendary woman pale in comparison to what I feel for you.
Then I
The love I harbor for you is more than words could ever say.
After waiting so long
Days upon days, I have waited for you.
for the right time
Just waiting for the perfect moment to express my love for you.
After reaching so long for a star
For as long I have been alive, I yearned and reached for a star in the sky.
All at once from long and lonely night time
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, you appeared and ended the long, lonely nights I have experienced.
And despite time, here you are
Despite the many years that have passed, you appeared before me, just as I had hoped and dreamed.
I cry, "Out of this world"
I can not contain my emotions, you take me to another plane of existence.
If you said we were through
If you were to leave me and take away my happiness.
So let me fly out of this world
I would rather leave this reality and fly away.
And spend the next eternity or two
As long as I am with you, time does not matter.
With you
Together with you, my love.
Contributed by Stella C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@benvoiles2048
great job!
@mariah5144
Hi is there any chance you have the recording to the instrumental you did I’m doing this song for college right now and would love it if you have the recording to this version u did or even possible the sheet music as well