My Beloved Aloha Oe (夏威夷驪歌） (圖)

Nuuanu Pali (loosely translated as Cool Heights) Lookout is on

Pali Highway

in Oahu, which is 1186ft high overlooking the east coast.

There were two memorable but almost totally opposite historical events associated with this place.  One was very bloody and a totally guy external thing (大丈夫生又何幸，死又何懼!）and the other very romantic and a totally female internal thing (about feelings).

In 1795, Kamehameha pursued Oahu's warriors up to this very cliff, and fighting to the very end and the last breath hundreds Oahu warriors lost their lives here - many jumped off the cliff.  When the highway was built 50 years ago, workers found 800 sets of bones under the cliff.  Some say at night you can still hear the cries of these long-dead warriors coming from the valley below.

While I was viewing the site and paying respect to the brave souls on Xmas Day (06), I suddenly realized that the almost the most famous romantic song in the world, Aloha Oe, was also created right here.

"This song of farewell between two lovers is the most famous of Queen Lili'uokalani's compositions, written in 1878.  As they started their return trip to Honolulu on horseback up the steep Pali trail, the queen turned to admire the view of Kaneohe Bay. She witnessed a particularly affectionate farewell between Colonel James Boyd of her party and a lovely young girl from Maunawili. As they rode up the steep cliff and into the swirling winds, she started to hum this melody weaving words into a romantic song. At the top of the pali, a cloud hung over the mountain peak and slowly floated down Nu`uanu Valley. The queen continued to hum and completed her song as they rode the winding trail down the valley back to Honolulu. [Source: Jonathan Wong]

 

To listen to a midi version, follow this link: http://rosemck1.tripod.com/aloha-oe-1.mid

 

I’ve been in love with this song for God knows how long, and I particularly love the Hawaiian version.  The Hawaiian alphabet (piapa) contains only 12 letters: 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p, w).  It’s very easy to sing Hawaiian songs – just remember this: you need to pronounce every single letter!  I was able to sing my beloved Aloha Oe in Hawaiian!

 

Aloha Oe lyrics

 

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali
Ke nihi a`e la i kanahele
E uhai ana paha i ka liko
Pua `âhihi lehua a o uka

HUI:
Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace, a ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

`O ka hali`a aloha ka i hiki mai
Ke hone a`e nei i ku`u manawa
`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha
A loko e hana nei

HUI

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani
Nâ pua rose o Maunawili
I laila hia`ia nâ manu
Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

HUI