Who composed the music for "Over the Rainbow"?

Harold Arlen composed the music for “Over the Rainbow.”

Arlen was the composer, while Yip Harburg—whose full professional name was E. Y. Harburg—wrote the lyrics. Their partnership produced the song for MGM's 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, where Judy Garland performed it as Dorothy Gale. The song's melody and lyrics combine Dorothy's childlike hope with her wish to leave the troubles of Kansas behind.

Arlen later recalled that the melody came to him suddenly while he and his wife were driving near Schwab's Drug Store in Hollywood. He asked her to pull over and wrote the musical idea on manuscript paper. Harburg had supplied the central concept of a Kansas girl dreaming of a colorful place beyond the rainbow.

A frequent mistake is crediting the entire song to Arlen. He wrote its music, but songwriting credits distinguish composer from lyricist. Arlen and Harburg won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for their collaboration in 1940.