We're off to See the Wizard

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"We're Off to See the Wizard" is one of the classic and most memorable songs from the Academy Award-winning film The Wizard of Oz. Composer Harold Arlen described it, along with "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead", as one of the "lemon drop" songs of the film.

The melody's first appearance begins with the Munchkins reciting and Judy Garland echoing "Follow the Yellow Brick Road!", which turns into a group vocal by the Munchkins (while Garland skips and dances along the road) and then segues into "You're Off to See the Wizard".

The song occurs as a vocal three more times in the film soundtrack, along with several short instrumental references in the underscore:

As a duet, sung by Ray Bolger and Ray Bolger
As a trio, sung by Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Buddy Ebsen
As a quartet, sung by Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Buddy Ebsen, and Bert Lahr

Although Jack Haley replaced Ebsen on-screen and in the Tin Man's solo recording of "If I Only Had A Heart", it was deemed unnecessary for the group vocal to be re-recorded, so the voice in the film as released remains Ebsen's. His voice can be detected by listening for the male voice enunciating the "R" in words like "Wizard", as Ebsen's regional accent emphasized the "R" much more strongly than Haley's did.

In The Wizard of Oz and Other Harold Arlen Songs, Shorty Rodgers re-worked the song as (in the words of Talkin' Broadway) "a high-energy, wild Latin dance extravaganza".

References

External links

[Sheet music cover for We're Off To See The Wizard] at the U.S. Library of Congress

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