{"id":1574,"date":"2024-01-26T23:05:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T23:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=1574"},"modified":"2024-01-26T23:05:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T23:05:51","slug":"most-people-dont-know-who-sang-it-but-youll-definitely-recognize-the-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=1574","title":{"rendered":"Most People Don\u2019t Know Who Sang It, But You\u2019ll Definitely Recognize The Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

His name was as formidable as his size \u2014 and Israel Ka\u02bbano\u02bbi Kamakawiwo\u02bbole lived accordingly.<\/p>\n

Kamakawiwo\u02bbole was the singer-songwriter behind the classic \u2018\u2018Somewhere Over the Rainbow\/What a Wonderful World,\u2019\u2019 a medley fashioned after the genteel, peaceful rhythms that fete island life.\"\"<\/p>\n

The song, released in 1993 as \u2018\u2018Over the Rainbow\/What a Wonderful World,\u2019\u2019 was featured on Kamakawiwo\u2019ole\u2019s album \u2018\u2018Facing Future\u2019\u2019 and became part of several TV programs and commercials; it was also included in music scores for the movies \u2018\u2018Meet Joe Black\u2019\u2019 and \u2018\u2018Son of the Mask.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

To Kamakawiwo\u2019ole \u2014 known popularly as Iz, Big Iz or The Gentle Giant \u2014 the entry was much more than a music bed. Its gentle tenor ukulele and Iz\u2019s lovely falsetto marked his music as the expression of native Hawaiian culture he felt was losing its leverage at the hands of the travel industry.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Iz recognized as early as age 11 that the modern music of Hawaii was anything but traditionally Hawaiian. What would eventually follow were four studio albums and four compilation entries, with \u2018\u2018Facing Future,\u2019\u2019 his most popular LP, achieving double-platinum status.<\/p>\n

All are infused with the sunny, meditative ukulele that fuels stories and anecdotes about life on the islands as reflected in the state motto. \u2018\u2018The life of the land,\u2019\u2019 it reads, \u2018\u2018is perpetuated in righteousness.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Obesity would take a toll on Iz\u2019s health; he weighed nearly 1,000 pounds when he died in June of 1997 at age 38.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018I guess this is gonna sound kind of weird, but I\u2019m not scared for myself for dying, because I believe all these places are temporary. This is just one shell, because we Hawaiians live in both worlds. It\u2019s in our veins.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n