Optimistic Voices

"Optimistic Voices" is the name of both a song and the choir singing it, from the 1939 film classic The Wizard of Oz. The music is by Herbert Stothart & Harold Arlen and the lyrics are by E.Y. Harburg.

It is heard on the soundtrack when the group is saved from a sleeping spell in a poppy field as they approach the Emerald City. The song is a bouncy number sung by an offscreen female chorus.

The track breaks the fourth wall to some extent. When the song starts, the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) looks around, reacting to the music.

Action as the song occurs

As the song progresses, the whole group seems to hear it—they skip toward the Emerald City in time to the music.

After the verse, the underscore switches to the witch's theme, as the film cuts to the witch's castle, where she jumps on her broomstick and takes off for the Emerald City herself.

Cutting back to the entrance to the Emerald City, the group of four approaches the city gate. The verse of the song is reprised, and then is closed by a single line instrumental from "We're Off to See the Wizard" just as Dorothy (Judy Garland) rings the bell.