Oh, What a Beautiful Morning Lyrics - Oklahoma

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Artist: Gordon MacRae
• Film Character: Curly McLain
• Album: Oklahoma! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Track #2
• Release Date: August 1, 1955
• Writers: Richard Rodgers (music) & Oscar Hammerstein II (song text)
• Arranger: Robert Russell Bennett  |  Conductor: Jay Blackton
• Recording Location: 20th Century-Fox Scoring Stage, Los Angeles
• Genre: Show tune • Cinematic orchestral
• Key: F major  |  Tempo: 90 BPM
• Length: 2 min 37 sec
• Instrumentation: Full Hollywood orchestra—silky strings, prairie-breeze woodwinds, mellow horns, celesta twinkles
• Mood: Radiant, pastoral, gently triumphant
• Label: Capitol Records  |  Matrix: SWAO-595
• Copyright © 1943, 1955 Rodgers & Hammerstein LLC

Song Meaning and Annotations

Step outside before the coffee hits and the prairie is already singing. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning bursts open like a cinematic sunrise: no overture preamble, no dance break—just Curly riding in on pure optimism. The orchestration billows, then pauses, giving Gordon MacRae room to unfurl those golden-baritone vowels. Rodgers plants the melody on the tonic and lets it climb a clean octave, as if the tune itself is “climbing clear up to the sky.” Hammerstein’s song text trades poetry for plain speech—corn and cattle, breezes and willows—yet every image glows like Kodachrome cornfields.

The emotional curve is refreshingly flat: nothing bad happens. That’s the point. On Broadway in 1943, audiences were rationing sugar and rubber; hearing a farmer’s brag that “everything’s goin’ my way” felt like a patriotic tonic. Ten years later Hollywood doubled down with 70-mm Technicolor, saturating the optimism until you could practically taste the alfalfa. MacRae sings with a casual grin, never pushing, as though good fortune is a neighbor he tips his hat to daily.

There's a bright, golden haze on the meadow

The repeated line acts like windshield wipers clearing morning mist—two swipes and the vista appears. Notice Rodgers’ sly pedal point in the bass: the harmony refuses to budge until Curly’s vision is fully in focus, then the chords finally roll forward.

The corn is as high as a elephant's eye

Hyperbole? Sure. But it’s also frontier bragging rights. The line scans like playground taunt, underscoring Curly’s boyish swagger.

Verse-by-Verse Snapshot

Opening Haze

Violins shimmer on tremolo, suggesting heat rising off dew. French horns answer with warm halos around each lyric phrase.

Cattle Tableau

The rhythm section stays hushed while muted trumpets “stand like statues,” mirroring the unmoving herd Curly observes. A single clarinet trill winks—just like that mischievous little brown maverick.

Earth’s Symphony

Here Rodgers layers pizzicato strings and piccolos; the breeze “busy” among trees is literally orchestrated. Listen for the willow motif: a descending woodwind chuckle that lands exactly when MacRae sings “laughin’ at me.”

Final Refrain

The orchestra swells to triple forte, then cuts to a solitary flute on “Oh, what a beautiful day”—a sunrise exhaled in one delicate breath before the film’s action kicks off.

Similar Songs

1. “The Sound of Music” – Julie Andrews
   Both songs open their respective films by greeting nature as partner and audience. Andrews spins alpine meadows; MacRae beams at cornfields. Harmonic language shares Rodgers’ trademark upward leap on the tonic, telegraphing wonder without a hint of irony.
2. “Morning Glow” – John Rubinstein (Pippin)
   Schwartz penned this 1972 anthem as a dawn of self-discovery. Like Curly, Pippin equates sunrise with possibility, though his minor-to-major shifts show unease beneath the optimism. Think of it as Curly’s wide-eyed descendant—same dawn, different decade.
3. “Good Morning” – Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds & Donald O’Connor (Singin’ in the Rain)
   Technicolor cheer meets intricate choreography. Where Curly’s tune strolls, this one tap-dances, but both celebrate the new day with infectious major-key hooks and lyrics that make even sleepless nights sound golden.

Questions and Answers

Why does the movie begin with this song instead of an overture?

Director Fred Zinnemann wanted audiences to share Curly’s first breath of daylight. Starting cold on the lyric pulls viewers straight into the story’s optimism.

Was this really the first Rodgers & Hammerstein collaboration?

Yes—Hammerstein wrote the opening stanza first, mailed it to Rodgers, who matched it with music in one sitting. The partnership launched on literal first-light imagery.

How many famous covers exist?

Hundreds—from Frank Sinatra’s lush swing to Willie Nelson’s folksy croon. The song even pops up in jazz sets by Ray Charles and John Coltrane.

What filming trick makes the on-screen sunrise so vivid?

Cinematographer Robert Surtees shot on Todd-AO 70-mm stock at magic hour, then dialed in graduated filters to exaggerate the “golden haze.”

Is the lyric “corn is as high as a elephant’s eye” scientifically accurate?

Not unless the elephant is kneeling. But theatrical hyperbole paints a bigger smile than statistics ever could.

Awards and Chart Positions

The single itself didn’t chart separately, but the Oklahoma! soundtrack spent 400 weeks on the U.S. album chart, hit #1 in 1956, and became the first LP ever awarded an RIAA Gold Record. It later reached double-platinum status—proof that one sunrise can sell a mountain of vinyl.

Fan and Media Reactions

“Play this at 6 a.m. and watch the commute feel like a joyride.” @PrairieAudiophile

“Gordon MacRae’s tone is smoother than freshly churned butter—these Lyrics practically levitate.” @OldHollywoodVinyl

“My toddler yells ‘Elephant’s eye!’ every time the song text hits that line. Instant family classic.” @DadOnBroadway

“Rodgers turns sunrise into an earworm; Hammerstein’s verses make me smell alfalfa through the speakers.” @ScoreStudy

“Still the greatest musical opening—one chord in and you’re grinning like it’s payday.” @CinemaSongbird