What song does the Scarecrow sing to wish for a brain?

The Scarecrow sings “If I Only Had a Brain” to wish for a brain. In the 1939 film, Ray Bolger plays the Scarecrow, who believes he lacks intelligence and hopes the Wizard can give him a brain.

The song was written by Harold Arlen, with lyrics by Yip Harburg. Its melody began as “I’m Hanging On to You,” a song written for the 1937 Broadway musical Hooray for What! that was ultimately dropped. Harburg later supplied new lyrics for The Wizard of Oz.

The number is part of a shared musical idea: the Scarecrow sings about a brain, the Tin Man about a heart, and the Cowardly Lion about courage. A common mix-up is treating these as entirely separate songs; they are variations of the same musical composition, with different lyrics for each character.

The film’s released version contains three verses, while a longer dance sequence and additional material were cut for length. The deleted footage was later preserved in home-video extras and other Oz-related productions.