Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way to say Merry Christmas to you You can read a part of the song lyrics in Hawaiian (left) and translated to English. It asks the lord for a blessing of the land, it’s people, chiefs, and king. The lyrics of this song praise the Hawaiian Islands. Here we know that Christmas to be green and bright The new song He Mele Lhui Hawaii (The Song of the Hawaiian Nation) was composed in 1866 by queen Lili’uokalani. The sun will shine by day and stars at night Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way to send Merry Christmas to you The sun will shine by day and all the stars at night Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
That’s the island greeting that we send to you Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day The proof is in the pudding, so here are the lyrics: Unlike most music associated with the season, it lacks references to Santa Claus, reminders that it’s absolutely freezing outside, and any of the creepy pushiness of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” As The Atlantic points out, it actually comes off as sort of humblebrag. “Mele Kalikimaka” is set to an instrumental that’ll make you feel like you’re sitting under the warm Hawaiian sun. What are the lyrics to “Mele Kalikimaka”? So, what does “Mele Kalikimaka” mean? Allow us to explain. The last time you heard it was probably during that scene in Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold is fantasizing about putting in a pool. You probably won’t hear it blaring over the loudspeaker at your local supermarket as you make that last minute food run, which is actually what makes it great. “Mele Kalikimaka” is significantly less popular, and overplayed, than the other songs we just mentioned. The song was written in 1949 and sung by Bing Crosby, the same dude behind “White Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “It’s beginning to Look Like Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and more popular holiday jams.
One song largely absent from the discussion is “Mele Kalikimaka,” a delightful - albeit slightly white washed (an actual Hawaiian person probably should have been the one giving the world lessons in well, Hawaiian) - little ditty about spending Christmas in Hawaii. Should we listen to it? When is it OK to start? Is it actually making us crazy? Which songs are too creepy for radio play? You could even have your singers making fishy faces and swimming motions during the spoken parts between verses.As Christmas draws nearer, the debate surrounding seasonal music intensifies. Stream songs including 'Song of the Islands', 'Little Grass Shack' and more. Hula dancing, grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts, palm trees, tiki lamps, etc. Listen to 50 Hawaiian Songs: The Very Best Traditional Pacific Island Music with Ukulele & Steel Guitar for Your Luau, Beach or Summer Party by Various Artists on Apple Music. There are lots of movement and staging possibilities for this song. His technique was to hold one nostril closed with an index finger and tap the open nostril with his other index finger while humming the tune. well, it's another first for Music K-8 - "Hawaiian nose humming." Our very own John Riggio provided us with his virtuoso nose playing for this song. We made the accompaniment for this song sound very Hawaiian, complete with slide and acoustic guitars, bass and, of course, ukulele.
#HAWAII MUSIC LYRICS FULL#
Be sure to listen to the full performance track on the CD for this issue. For the dialog however, you will need two students who can say it correctly. First of all, we have broken the name into three sections: "humuhumu," "nukunuku," "apua'a." Secondly, just remember that each section is pronounced pretty much the way it looks: "who-moo who-moo," "new-koo new-koo," "ah-poo-ah'ah." Your singers won't have to actually sing the name all at once. You might think singing about the humuhumu could be tricky because of the long name, but the way we have set it to music makes it much easier than you might think. According to this version, the name literally means "fish that comes out of the water and sounds like a pig." We, of course, chose to go with this version. Another rumored reason for the name is that when it is caught and brought out of the water, it snorts like a pig. There are many interpretations of what this very long name means including "fish with a snout like a pig." Another translation says that the name means (loosely) a fish put together in pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, with a face like a pig. (It may also be our longest-ever one word title.) The humuhumunukunukuapua'a (we'll call it "humuhumu" for short) is the official state fish of Hawaii. This song marks our first-ever "Hawaiian" song.