Over the Rainbow

With the marriage ofThe Wizard of Oz's most beloved song and the iridescent paintings of one of America's most beloved artists, comes Mary Tiegreen's beautifully designedOver the Rainbow, the fifth installment in Welcome's fabulous Art & Poetry series. Very few songs have taken hold of our hearts and imaginations the way "Over the Rainbow" has, stirring up wistfulness and a longing to be free. These lyrics, so evocative of light and color, have found thier perfect match in the paintings of Maxfied Parrish. These paintings seem to generate a light of their own, reflecting off the words on each page, and the result is a feeling of warmth and exuberance, and a sense that dreams "really do come true."

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was one of the most popular artists of the early decades of this century, with reproductions of his artwork finding their way into one quater of all homes in America. From 1895 onward, prints and paintings have been bestsellers on an unprecedented level.

E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (1896-1981) wrote more than 500 songs, many of them to the music of Harold Arlen, who was the composer for "Over the Rainbow." His voice was at once skeptical and optimistic, and his songs express plaintive yearning in a witty and memorable style.