“Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” was originally recorded in a spur-of-the-moment demo session in 1988, and was done in a single take. At the time, copies of the recording were only made for Kamakawiwoʻole himself and recording engineer Milan Bertosa. Five years later, in 1993, Bertosa played the song for producer Jon de Mello while the two were completing work on Facing Future, and de Mello decided to include it in the album.