Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

Somewhere Over The Rainbow - What A Wonderful World

I’m sure that almost everyone reading this has seen the video of Israel ‘IZ’ Kamakawiwo’ole. An enormous Hawaiian man strumming on what seems to be an absurdly small ukulele, singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ in a crystal clear, beautifully pitched voice. In fact, it’s a video that has been viewed over a billion times, and remains one of the most watched clips of all time. The song itself holds the record for most amount of time at number 1 on any chart, with 385 weeks in the top spot of Billboard’s digital music chart. But who was IZ, this huge man with a soft and gentle voice?

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole was a songwriter, a singer (called ‘The Voice of Hawai’i), an activist, and a flagbearer for the ‘Hawaiian Renaissance’. His parents worked as bouncers and a young IZ heard many of the central figures in Hawaiian music play the venues where they worked. He formed a band with his brother and cousin and started to play locally. A fellow musician tells the story of when he first heard IZ’s band (they were playing a graduation party) - he remembers it because the whole room fell silent when IZ started to sing. Some friends from university joined the band and they became the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, the latest in a line of acts that made up the Hawaiian Renaissance movement. 

This cultural movement was centred around re-discovering traditional Hawaiian identities and practices, and stood in opposition to the tourism-centric attitudes of the time. Music was a big part of the Renaissance, as artists combined traditional Hawaiian elements (like slack-key guitar playing) with contemporary pop motifs. You can detect an element of the open chord ‘slack-key’ style in Over The Rainbow. Beyond music, the movement triggered renewed interest in Hawaiian language, ancient Polynesian seafaring, ceremonial dance, and traditional agricultural practices that showed more respect for the land. IZ was steeped in the Hawaiian Renaissance. He actually wanted Hawaiian independence and he felt as if native Hawaiians had second-class status on the islands compared to tourists, using his music to promote awareness of these issues and to highlight Hawaiian culture. 

Sadly IZ suffered from obesity throughout his life. He died at the age of only 38 and is the only non-government official to be awarded a state funeral in Hawai’i. His funeral, and the scattering of his ashes in the ocean, was attended by over 10,000 people and apparently the whole day was punctuated by islanders honking the horns of their cars in honour of IZ. Scenes from the ceremonies feature at the end of the famous video (above). It’s quite a touching tribute and also one of the most early-noughties-vibe videos out there; it looks like it was edited together on PowerPoint. Anyway, beyond his amazing voice he was clearly much loved. I enjoyed finding out more about IZ’s music and getting some background to what was a silly video that I probably watched when I was about 10. Hope you enjoy.