Israel Kamakawiwo’ole/Jason Castro - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
April 9, 2008 · Print This Article
Jason Castro/Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
I never thought I’d be putting this song on the blog. But, when I realised even Simon Cowell isn’t too hard-hearted and cynical to be won over by a song’s charm, I reconsidered my position. Despite the obligatory American Idol warblings, I thought Jason Castro made a pretty good stab at the song.
His version of the chords are simpler than Brudda IZ’s - particularly since the intro is missed off - which makes it ideal for beginners. The strumming pattern varies throughout the song, but good starting place is:
Down, down (pause)
Up, down, up
Up, down, up
Up, down, up
All that for each chord.
To answer Julie’s question it’s an Oscar Schmidt ukulele. I’d guess it’s an Oscar Schmidt OU5. One thing it’s definitely not is a guitar. Bloody Paula Abdul.
A big thanks to Jeff for alerting me to this performance.
Isreal “sombody”? Simon Cowell’s meant to be huge in music… Isreal Kamakawio’ole was the big daddy of the uke! grrr….
A second Grrr… goes to the woman person. That’s like me saying she’s huge with an extra leg or something!
tsch!
I admit, I’ve been kind of fond of Jason so far this season, as I like his subtle, quiet style. When I saw him with uke in hand last night, my support was clinched. You know, if I actually voted on these things.
I support Al’s comment that Jason did a pretty good stab at the song with great results, do appreciate the link here. The Paula comment on Guitar is kind of funny, wonder if there is anyway to write her to get a corrected comment for next show?
How did I know Uke Hunt would have the tabs up for this simplified version when I started browsing the web this morning?
And it’s good to know what kind of ukulele it is, I didn’t recognize the head stamp.
Just last night I posted somewhat of a rant about this on the ezFolk forums.
I see that the thread has continued and included a link back to this page.
While I acknowledge that it’s an unusual and rather nice change of pace for the program, I still don’t want to poison my brain with any more of the “obligatory American Idol warblings” than it has already been exposed to.
Good luck to Jason anyway.
I’m with Howlin’ Hobbit on this one. I enjoyed the back porch comment from ezFolk and agree with you whole heartedly.
I don’t watch the program. But, I have seen enough clips of Paula Abdul to notice that she was looking rather sober last night and still she didn’t know that was a uke!?! Someone should get that girl some help.
As for the song, without the pipes to back it up I don’t see the point in even trying it. Castro did do it justice, though. And, I totally dig the Michael Franti style dread locks.
Olly, American Idol couldn’t care less if any of their judges know the first thing about music. Simon Cowell has a spot primarily because he’s an ass to the contestants, and he’s good at being an ass to the contestants. Of course, nine out of ten times he’s also right, but he’s been wrong before.
I really wish he’d played at least a slightly more complex version of this song. The actual version isn’t that difficult. Oh well, at least he had the voice needed to get the vocals right.
As far as Simon Cowell calling Bruddah Iz “Israel Somebody,” you must understand: English people cannot pronounce the Hawaiian language and they have the self-knowledge not to try. My Lancashire mom married an AIr Force mechanic from Lanai and none of her family could ever pronounce a word of the Hawaiian they had to talk about. Add the Andy Capp tendency to dismiss as trivial anything beyond one’s own abilities and you have the ingredients of a ruined evening.
The funniest minutes on BBC ever have been the back announce segments following blocks of Hawaiian music. Ian Wiccan had to come on stage at Ukefest 2004 in Santa Cruz and introduce a band from the Islands and he fled for the wings with a minor scandal on his hands.
It’s just laziness. Except for putting a more “v” sound to the “w” than we do in English and the use of the apostrophe (when spelling it in English) to indicate you should pronounce BOTH of the vowels, Hawai’in is a dead simple language to pronounce.
(As an off-topic aside… Al, I wish to goodness the software you use didn’t insist on inserting those damn escape slashes for the apostrophes (see my comment above). I often forget to delete them before posting. It’s a pet peeve of mine re: lazy programmers since it’s pretty easy to code around. Are there no Irish programmers? You’d think the O’Briens, O’Reillys, etc. would get as tired of their names being mucked with as I do and raise a fuss about it.)
Hey Bra!
Thanks for the site. You know, I have a question.
I’m listening to the Bradda Iz strumming on SWOTR/WAWW and he plucks a string… sounds like the G on the 1st and 3rd beat, just before he strums. It just sounds like an open G… but when in the next measure it’s pitched up a half note (or something) and I can’t get my uke to make the same note. I though it would be like you were fingering an A7, but it doesn’t sound right… and “yes”, I do have my uke tuned to GCEA. Is it because he’s using a Concert Uke instead of a Tenor, like I’m using? Thanks in advance for any advice!
Steve
Austin, TX
Olly: I don’t blame Simon for not knowing his name. I’m impressed that he’d heard of him - more than can be said for the other two jokers.
Alison: I must admit, I haven’t been following it. But I watched a couple of videos of Jason and he’s officially my favourite. Anyone covering Leonard Cohen on primetime TV gets my (also non-existent) vote.
Art: I doubt it very much. Thanks for mentioning the post all over the place.
Alowisney: You’re obviously psychic. Any racing tips?
Hobbit: Sorry about that. I noticed the \’ problem for the first time myself with wiwo’ole. Upgrading to WordPress 2.5 and updating the theme at the same time means it could be either (or a plugin not getting along with either). Whatever the problem, I’m far too dumb to fix it.
Lonna: I think ’sober’ is purely a relative term in this case. I have to disagree with you on the white-boy dreads. It’s always wrong. Has Newton Faulkner made it over there? Ginger dreads = very wrong.
MC Safety: I don’t mind him playing a simple version of the song. It must be incredibly nerve wracking playing live to a huge TV audience (particularly for amateurs). He mashes up the words a little as it is.
Steven: Oh, the joys of BBC announcers and foreign names. Football commentators have a hilarious tendency to over-pronounce foreign names.
Steve: I’ll have to give IZ’s version a proper look sometime. And throw all my rules on the fire.
Jason’s timing couldn’t have been better. Here in Hawaii we just finished up the Merrie Monarch Hula festival, a huge festival celebrating hula and all things Hawaiian. And then Jason goes and does this song by Bruddah Iz, as he’s affectionately known here…Iz was very popular, and this was his most popular song. I bet everyone in Hawaii will vote for him. We tried to. We couldn’t get through…
I think this just goes to show how little those three so called ‘judges’ know about music! If they can blunder like that after a performance they would have obviously known about beforehand they could have spent 5 seconds telling their assistants to write up a few simple notes for them… something like: “Paula, its a bloody Ukulele, not a guitar”…
If these people are a joke, just like the show in general!
does anybody know what kind of uke that is?
it sounds so beautiful im jealous
please let me know
I shouldnt say thats Jason Castro guy in the tittle hes just some american idol idiot, it should say iz, and whoever else originally wrote the song. Good song though but everyone on American Idol is a sell out loser.
Thank you Jason for keeping Bruddah Iz’s legacy alive. You did him and the state of Hawai’i right. You made us very proud! Mahalo nui loa.
apunt3s: It’s an oscar schmidt OU5.
Ryan and Kaleo: I’m with Kaleo on this one. Obviously he’s no IZ. But he does well with it and I’m sure plenty of people have discovered IZ and the joys of the ukulele because of it.
Is Jason using a pick in this song? Or, really, is it standard to use a pick when playing this song?
Thanks to anyone who can help!
I don’t think he’s using a pick. It’s best not to use one. IZ didn’t for his version of the song.
Something I found rather amazing is that this was Jason’s first time playing a ukulele. He’s played guitar for 2-3 years (not the same I know). But decided to learn to play ukulele for this song that week on Idol. I thought that was pretty brave and he did a terrific job.
Thanks for that, Amblin. I didn’t know that. He certainly did well for a first go.
[…] IZ/Jason Castro - Somewhere Over the Rainbow I woke up one morning to an email from Jeff telling me about this guy who had played the uke on […]
I’m new to this site. I have a baritone ukulele; I’m a beginner.
Saw Jason Castro and took the song to my voice/music teacher and I would really like to sing and play this song by “Bruddah Iz”. Loved the sound of the ukulele! And the song!
Saw the Oscar Schmidt OU5 concert Koa Ukulele by Washburn on ebay, new, and could not stop myself. It’s on the way.
How do I tune it and any recommended chord chartbooks? Is it a soprano? Or tuned like one? Wow, I know so little. But I’m in love with the uke!
Thanks
Congrats on buying your new uke, Skye.
The OU5 is a concert ukulele - which is just slightly bigger than a soprano. It’s tuned exactly the same as a soprano (GCEA). You can hear the tuning notes on this page (it’s the first one).
There are a whole heap of chord char books that you can get fairly cheap like this one
or this one
. Or there are plenty of places online you can find them like here.
Hey there
I was reading through this article and looking for the chords?? were they posted anywhere on the site am I just not seeing the wood for the Ukulele’s………..
Thanks
Hi Micheal. If you click where it says “Jason Castro/Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Chords)” or here:
http://ukulelehunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/somewhere.pdf