America (West Side Story song) America (West Side Story song) “America” is a song from the musical "West Side Story". Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein composed the music. In the original stage version, Anita – the most important female character after Maria and the girlfriend of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks – praises America while a fellow Puerto Rican immigrant, Rosalia, supports Puerto Rico. This version of the song deprecates the island and highlights the positive qualities of American life ("I’ll drive a Buick through San Juan/If there’s a road you can drive on"). The irony of this supposedly pro-American number,
Hawaii (Elmer Bernstein song) America 2001 before Baraquio became Miss America. The song was composed in F major and transposed in C major. Hawaii (Elmer Bernstein song) Hawaii (also known as I am Hawaii) was a 1966 theme song composed by Elmer Bernstein for the 1966 film of the same name. After the film's release, Mack David added lyrics to the song on October 1966. The song was subsequently covered by artists such as Don Ho (for the 1966 album, Tiny Bubbles) and Cathy Foy (in a medley with "Follow Me" from the 1962 film, "Mutiny on the Bounty"), the winner of the 1975