Over the Rainbow and A Wonderful (Digital) World

This morning before we started a big department-wide meeting at work, this song was being played, and it drove me nuts. I love this version of “Over the Rainbow” and I knew I had heard it in a film or on a TV show, but I couldn’t remember where.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2Jt4WOxN8]

Thankfully, searches in iTunes and through Google reminded me fairly quickly that this had been used in LOST. I remembered how much I liked it, and listened to it again a couple of times.

So it was kind of eerie to read in the YouTube comments on this video tonight that it had been played at the end of the memorial service for Tim Russert earlier today. I hadn’t thought of this song for several months.

It’s also sad to discover a musician I really like and find out his name, only to realize he died 11 years ago at the age of 38. His name was unpronounceable: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. I guess that’s why his nickname was IZ. So while I can explore some of his music, but unfortunately there won’t be any more of it.

My, how things have changed in a generation…or actually just since about 2002. Formerly if you thought of a song you didn’t own and wanted to hear it, you called in a request on your local radio station, or had to drive to a music store and buy a full CD.

Now we can buy a single track for 99 cents on iTunes and hear it immediately…and some songs are available for free on YouTube.

So I think to myself: what a wonderful (digital) world.