Hawaii, He Sang of Thee – – and People Listened

I can’t escape this song, the lullaby that once was an obscure tune and now has been used in commercials, TV. shows, and was my late boyfriend’s favorite after he was diagnosed with liver cancer in October.

I have only been able to listen to it once since he died this past New Year’s Eve. It’s just too haunting, too sad, too depressing.

Yet it seems it’s being incorporated into the TV. every time I turn it on and it’s been sneaked into a cereal commercial or something.

Ruben (my late boyfriend) and I used to listen to the song while holding hands dreaming of a cure for him, talking about the future, hoping. We had planned on going to Hawaii for two years before his diagnosis and talked about getting married there one day. Neither of us had ever been there.

A young engineer named Milan Bertosa once sat in his recording studio, waiting, according to legend.

Honolulu, HI, 2 a.m.

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, who at one time sang THE song live – “Over the Rainbow,” the Hawaiian version, leans into the microphone, says: “Kay, this one’s for Gabby,” and begins gently strumming the ukulele.

And then one afternoon Santa Monica, CA KCRW radio host Chris Douridas cued up the song as part of his program “Morning Becomes Eclectic” to cheer up listeners on a rainy day, research reveals.

Movie producer Martin Brest brought the rights to the song for use in his film “Meet Joe Black,” according to a recent article.

Producers bought the very same song for “Finding Forrester,” “Made,” “The Big Bounce,” and “50 First Dates,” for episodes of “ER” (when I first heard it back in 2002), “Providence,” “Charmed,” and “Party of Five,” according to reports.

San Francisco writer Jack Boulware is the co-founder of the Litquake literary festival and last year was working on Kamakawiwo’ole’s biography, states the article.

“Rainbow” came to personify Hawaii to the outside world, Boulware said.

Kamakawiwo’ole was born May 20, 1959 and died June 26, 1997 at the age of 38. His ashes were scattered at Maku Beach on July 12, 1997.

The “Over The Rainbow” song which smoothly segue ways into the singer’s own version of “What A Wonderful World,” Ruben’s second favorite song is on the 1993 album, “Facing Future.”

Can’t listen to “What A Wonderful World,” either any more – which I used to love to listen to before Ruben was sick.

Maybe one day.