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".
Stormy Weather
Harold Arlen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
Since my gal and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Life is bare
Gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather
I'm weary all the time
Every time
So weary all of the time
When she went away
The blues walked in and then they met me
If she stays away
That old rocking chair's bound to get me
All I do is pray
The lord above will let me
Just walk in that sun again
Can't go on
Everything I had is gone
Stormy Weather
Since my gal and I ain't together
Keeps raining all the time
Keeps raining all of the time
The lyrics to Harold Arlen's song "Stormy Weather" describe the singer's personal experience with heartbreak and how it has caused a literal and metaphorical storm in his life. He sings that he doesn't know why there's no sun up in the sky and how it's been "raining all the time" since his gal left him. The stormy weather symbolizes his inner turmoil and how he just can't seem to get his "poor old self together," which has left him feeling weary all of the time. Everywhere he looks, he sees gloom and misery, and he feels like everything he had is gone.
The singer believes that his heartache is so severe that it's affecting not only his emotional state but his physical state as well. He worries that if she stays away for much longer, that old rocking chair will get him, meaning he'll die of loneliness. The singer spends his days praying that the lord above will let him walk in that sun again, symbolizing his desire to return to the happier times he experienced with his gal. The song's imagery of the stormy weather, gloom and misery, and weariness all convey the intense feelings of loss and despair that come with heartbreak.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't know why
I don't understand why
There's no sun up in the sky
The sky is cloudy and dark with no sunshine
Stormy weather
The weather is rough and stormy
Since my gal and I ain't together
Ever since my girlfriend and I broke up
Keeps raining all the time
It's been constantly raining
Life is bare
My life is empty
Gloom and misery everywhere
There's sadness and despair everywhere
Just can't get my poor old self together
I'm unable to pull myself out of this depression
I'm weary all the time
I'm tired and exhausted all the time
Every time
On every occasion
So weary all of the time
I'm tired all the time
When she went away
When my girlfriend left me
The blues walked in and then they met me
I became depressed and sad after she left
If she stays away
If my girlfriend doesn't come back
That old rocking chair's bound to get me
I'll be so lonely that I'll probably become senile
All I do is pray
All I can do is hope and pray
The lord above will let me
I hope God will help me
Just walk in that sun again
I just want to be happy again
Can't go on
I can't continue living like this
Everything I had is gone
I've lost everything that I had
Keeps raining all of the time
It's still raining and things are still bad
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management, S.A. MUSIC
Written by: Harold Arlen, Ted Koheler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Janette Walker
Liked Harold Arlen, a shame he didn't achieve greater prominence in his singing, very nice.
tommytimp
This is my favorite version. "The Music Goes Round and Round" says the end is one of the first recorded instances of electric piano. I wonder if it is or if it's a celesta.
Barry I. Grauman
Leo Reisman and his orchestra; Harold Arlen, composer/vocalist- recorded on February 28, 1933.
KYLE ERICKSEN
Best version
Brenda cx
like this version better (:
spacebuffalo
Is Harold Arlen singing on this?
Brenda cx
spacebuffalo si