Blows Up On iTunes – ‘The Double Rainbow Song’
What began as a simple expression of pure joy and beauty has become an Internet phenomenon and a lucrative new song. The effervescent, almost absurd, “Double Rainbow” video – which has over five million hits on YouTube – began to spread around this series of tubes home, night after Jimmy Kimmel on foot a few weeks ago. Shortly thereafter, the Gregory Brothers (who have also worked on “Auto-Tune the News,” another Web favorite) threw some of their favorite vocal correction technology on it and looped the original narration to create “The Double Rainbow Song.” And even though the tune has been available for free, it still managed to storm the iTunes singles chart late last week (it got as high as 74 on the chart, rubbing up next to perennial favorites like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”).
The track turns Yosemite Bear’s original statements of amazement (like “Wow, look at that rainbow!”) and turns them into a claw, a psychedelic dance floor. There is no real chorus, but is far enough in the kind of free-form R & B R. Kelly has developed (and proves that Auto-Tune is alive and well, as Yosemite Bear sounds sort of convincing as a singer with a little technology underneath).
The song was removed from the list on iTunes now, but there is still a big effort to get the sales figures in motion. And Yosemite Bear has lost an opportunity to expand, since its official website gives people a number of different shirt designs based on the video. This is double the original sky truly miraculous, as he has brought joy (and money) so many different people.
