Chip Minemyer: Somewhere over the rainbow connection

Jun. 16—In the song "Rainbow Connection," Kermit The Frog sings of the mystery of those colorful displays in the sky and ponders the promises they might hold.

"Why are there so many songs about rainbows ... and what's on the other side?" he wonders — as voiced by the late, great Jim Henson — in that song from 1979's "The Muppet Movie."

In the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," Dorothy (Judy Garland) sings of soaring "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" — where she believes "Skies are blue ... and the dreams that you dare to dream ... Really do come true."

During "Pride Month," rainbows are everywhere — on flags and T-shirts, displayed at festivals around the world and in our neighborhoods — a symbol of inclusion and the LGBTQ+ community.

Encyclopedia Britannica tells us that the connection between Pride and rain- bows can be traced to the Stonewall uprising in June 1969 — when bar patrons in New York rebelled against what they perceived as police brutality, in what is seen as the beginning of the organized gay rights movement.

EB reports that Gilbert Baker, an openly gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag in 1978.

The colors flew for the first time that summer at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade.

But each June, a debate takes flight over the colors' prominence at Pride events when others see the rainbow as a purely religious symbol — with links to the biblical account of Noah and the flood.

Truthfully, rainbows have enthralled and haunted us since the beginning of humankind.

But are rainbows really nothing more than sunlight dispersed by drops of rain — a chemical reality that only gains deeper meaning through human interpretation?

The Bible's book of Genesis contains the story of Noah, who gathers his family and two of every kind of animal onto a wooden ark to escape a flood sent by God to destroy a wicked world.

Genesis 9:13-15 says that after the floodwaters receded, God "set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ... Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life."

The Sumerian legend of Gilgamesh — called by historians one of the oldest stories ever written — predates the Noah story by about 3,000 years, and also includes a world- destroying flood and a rainbow as a symbol of a promise from above.

Various online sources offer these rainbow references across cultures and history:

—In Norse mythology, the colors are called Bifrost, a rainbow bridge that connects earth and Asgard, the realm of the gods. (See Marvel's "Thor" movies.)

—The Greeks connected rainbows to the goddess Iris, who carried messages from the gods on Olympus to their human subjects.

—And the website RainbowSymphony.com says "rainbow myths are a foundational part of many traditions of China," and that the rainbow is synonymous with the dragon — "as both dwell in the sky between heaven and earth."

The "rainbow bridge" has a deeply personal meaning for anyone who has lost a beloved pet.

And of course, in Irish traditions, a pot of gold awaits at the end of a rainbow — where it is guarded by a leprechaun. (And not always as joyful and friendly as the guy on the Lucky Charms cereal boxes.)

In his secondary research into the role of rainbows in culture throughout history, Miroslav Izdimirski, an assistant professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, reports:

"There was a widespread belief among the Slavs that if someone was exposed to certain forces, e.g., the rainbow, he/she would undergo a sex change. Serbs, Bulgarians, Slovaks and Western Ukrainians believed in that. ... The belief in Greek Macedonia was that if a boy passes under the rainbow, he would become a girl, and vice versa."

So what is the truth about rainbows — other than, as scientists say, they are formed from light bouncing out of raindrops at the precise angle of 42 degrees — and always in this prismatic order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet?

Was Kermit right in sing-ing: "Rainbows are visions ... But only illusions ... and rainbows have nothing to hide."

A little "Rainbow Connection" research shows that the song was co-written by Kenneth Ascher (whose musical credits range from John Lennon's "Mind Games" to Meat Loaf's "Bat Out Of Hell") and the amazing Paul Williams — who wrote a ton of hits, including for the Carpenters ("We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays") and Three Dog Night ("An Old Fashioned Love Song").

Williams describes the song as having "that down-home Americana comfort sound."

Over the 41/2 decades since it was released, versions have been recorded by a list of performers that includes Barbra Streisand, Gwen Stefani, Weezer, Willie Nelson, Johnny Mathis and The Dixie Chicks.

And as they were recording, perhaps they, too, observed that as the song progresses, Kermit The Frog becomes more hopeful — seemingly recognizing that his analysis is creating a form of paralysis, keeping him perched on a log in a swamp rather than out there exploring the world.

"I've heard it too many times to ignore it: It's something that I'm supposed to be.

"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me."

Perhaps we spend too much time debating and arguing about symbolism, and not enough time experiencing the diverse and beautiful treasures right there in front of us.

Let's get over the rainbow.

Chip Minemyer is the publisher of The Tribune-Democrat and The Times-News of Cumberland, Md. He can be reached at 814-532-5111. Follow him on Twitter @MinemyerChip.