"Out of This World" is an American popular song composed by Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen

Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...

, with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer

John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...

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It was introduced in the film Out of This World (1945) by Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

 dubbing in for the voice of the main character played by Eddie Bracken

Eddie Bracken

Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...

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Alec Wilder describes the Arlen melody as creating a modal feeling (E-flat Dorian) that achieves an unearthly effect. It is unlike his other lyric ballads in that it is one of Arlen's most direct and deliberately unrhythmic melodies -- altogether a strong song with splendid support from the Johnny Mercer lyric.

Notable recordings

• June Christy
  June Christy
  June Christy , born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool...
  
   - Off-Beat
  Off-Beat
  Off-Beat is a 1960 album by American jazz vocalist June Christy, arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo.The tracks on this album were included in a 1997 double-CD re-issue under the title The Song Is June!.# “Remind Me”...
  
  (1960)
• Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
  
   - Out of This World (2000)
• John Coltrane
  John Coltrane
  John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
  
   - Coltrane
  Coltrane (Impulse! album)
  Coltrane is a 1962 studio album by jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. When reissued on CD, it featured a Coltrane composition dedicated to his hero "Big Nick" Nicholas which Coltrane would record later the same year with his Ellington collaboration Duke Ellington & John Coltrane.- Track listing...
  
  (1962)
• Ella Fitzgerald
  Ella Fitzgerald
  Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
  
   - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook
  Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook
  Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook is a 1961 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Billy May...
  
  (1961)
• Mel Tormé
  Mel Tormé
  Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
  
   - A Vintage Year
  A Vintage Year
  -Track listing:# "Whisper Not"/"Love Me or Leave Me" ,  – 4:17# "Out of This World"  – 5:11# "Someday I'll Find You"  – 2:52...
  
  (1987)