It was in this month in 1978 that the wonderful song “Rainbow Connection” was written by the award
winning songwriters Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher.
Many people know, of
course, that the song originally was performed by muppet Kermit the Frog
(voiced by the late, great Jim Henson) in
the 1979 hit The Muppet Movie
(if you haven’t seen that movie, it’s another one of those
“Not to be missed” things to put on your list).
Williams and Ascher,
both in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, earned Oscar nominations for the
movie’s score and this terrific song, which often has been compared with “Over
The Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz exactly 40 years earlier. Both songs are beautiful, make up the opening scene of their respective movies, and reflect each singer's urge
to find something more in life.
"Rainbow Connection" has been recorded by hundreds of artists around the world – everyone
from Jason Mraz to Willie Nelson and Sarah McLaughlin to the Yale University
Whiffenpoofs and the Cast of “Glee.” The American Film Institute rated it the 74th greatest movie song of all time –
not bad for being sung by a frog.
Here's a version by the late Karen Carpenter, whose voice truly took every song
to its highest level. May you find your own rainbow connection in life and in your writers' moments.
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