If I Only Had a Brain is a 1939 song written by Harold Arlen (music) and Yip Harburg (lyrics) for The Wizard of Oz. In the film the Scarecrow, played by Ray Bolger, sings it as he longs for a brain, later joined by the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion who want a heart and courage. The tune appears on the Wizard of Oz soundtrack and is a syncopated schottische in a vaudeville soft shoe style. It was originally written as I'm Hanging On To You for the 1937 Broadway show Hooray for What! but was repurposed with new lyrics for Oz; the film version included an elaborate dance sequence that was cut for length, and Bolger's original recording was more sedate before a later re-recording. A longer version exists and a previously thought lost take was found in 2009, and in 2011 the number also appeared in a stage musical adaptation with a reprise called If We Only Had a Plan.
