Aloha ʻOe

For the 1915 film, see Aloha Oe (film).
Aloha Oe
Aloha Oe by William Smith and Walter K. Kolomoku
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Cover of "Aloha ʻOe", 1890  Play 
Queen Liliuokalani, 1908

"Aloha ʻOe" (Farewell to Thee) is Liliʻuokalani's most famous song and a common cultural symbol for Hawaii. The story of the origin of the song has several variations.[1] They all have in common that the song was inspired by a notable farewell embrace given by Colonel James Harbottle Boyd during a horseback trip taken by Princess Liliʻuokalani in 1877 or 1878 to the Boyd ranch in Maunawili on the windward side of Oʻahu, and that the members of the party hummed the tune on the way back to Honolulu. Different versions tell of alternate recipients of the embrace — either Liliʻuokalani's sister Princess Likelike Cleghorn or a young lady at the ranch.[2] According to the most familiar version of the story:

This tender farewell set Liliʻuokalani to thinking, and she began humming to herself on the homeward trip. Overhearing, Charles Wilson observed, "That sounds like The Lone Rock by the Sea," a comment with which Liliʻuokalani is said to have agreed. When the party paused to rest in an orange grove on the Honolulu side of the Pali, the others joined in the hummings, and the song was completed later at Washington Place.[3]

The Hawaiʻi State Archives preserves a hand-written manuscript by Liliʻuokalani, dated 1878, with the score of the song, the lyrics, Liliʻuokalani's English translation, and her note evidently added later: "Composed at Maunawili 1878. Played by the Royal Hawaiian Band in San Francisco August 1883 and became very popular." A 1913 score can be seen at the Levy Sheet Music Collection.[4]

Lyrics

Haʻaheo e ka ua i nā pali Proudly swept the rain by the cliffs
Ke nihi aʻela i ka nahele As it glided through the trees
E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko Still following ever the bud
Pua ʻāhihi lehua o uka The ʻāhihi lehua[5] of the vale
Hui: Chorus:
Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe Farewell to thee, farewell to thee
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers
One fond embrace, One fond embrace,
A hoʻi aʻe au 'Ere I depart
Until we meet again Until we meet again
ʻO ka haliʻa aloha i hiki mai Sweet memories come back to me
Ke hone aʻe nei i Bringing fresh remembrances
Kuʻu manawa Of the past
ʻO ʻoe nō kuʻu ipo aloha Dearest one, yes, you are mine own
A loko e hana nei From you, true love shall never depart
Tomago: Refrain:
Maopopo kuʻu ʻike i ka nani I have seen and watched your loveliness
Nā pua rose o Maunawili The sweet rose of Maunawili
I laila hiaʻia nā manu And 'tis there the birds of love dwell
Mikiʻala i ka nani o ka liko And sip the honey from your lips
Hui Chorus

Musicology

The song "The Lone Rock by the Sea", recalled by Charles Wilson as "The Rock Beside the Sea" and published by Charles Crozat Converse in 1857,[6] derives from a Croatian folk song, "Sidi Mara Na Kamen Studencu" ("Girl on the Rock").[7][8]

Musicologist Sigmund Spaeth noted that the first two measures of the melody of the chorus (which are arpeggiated IV-I chords) resemble[2] the chorus of George Frederick Root's 1854 song "There's Music in the Air,"[9] but measures 3 and 4 differ from it.

The same melodic motif begins the chorus of the popular song "Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" (1954).

In popular culture

In the Disney film Lilo & Stitch (2002), the song is sung briefly by the character Nani. It is sung again in Leroy & Stitch by Lilo, Stitch and Reuben to shut down the Leroy clones.[10][11] The song also appears on the soundtrack to the film's sequel Lilo and Stitch 2: Island Favorites.[12]

The song also plays in many episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, albeit in instrumental form.

"Aloha 'Oe" appeared in the scores of many of Warner Bros.' classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, as composer Carl Stalling's stock musical cue for Hawaii-themed gags. Usually instrumental, but Bugs Bunny actually sings one line of the refrain at the very end of Case of the Missing Hare.

In the Japanese anime Space Dandy (created in 2014), the eponymous main character is captain of a spaceship called the Aloha Oe.[13][14]

The Jack London short story Aloha Oe features the chorus of the song.[15]

When Jiang Zemin, then-Chinese President and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, arrived at Hawaii at the beginning of his state visit to U.S. in October 1997, he played "Aloha ‘Oe" with a Hawaiian lap steel guitar and invited then Hawaiian First Lady Vicky Cayetano to sing the song at a dinner with the presence of Governor Ben Cayetano. Jiang recounted that he used to frequently play this song when he was in college in 1940s.[16][17]

This song is also partially sung in the movie Train to Busan by one of the main character, which also happens to be essential to the ending of the movie.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Queen's Songbook, by Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani, Hui Hanai, Honolulu, 1999, pp. 38-39
  2. 1 2 Aloha Oe
  3. ↑ Kelsey, Theodore. 1927. "The Queen's Poem — 'Aloha ʻOe,' by Liliuokalani," Paradise of the Pacific 40: 4. Cited in The Queen's Songbook by Her Majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani. Hui Hanai, Honolulu, 1999. Dorothy Kahananui Gillett, text and music notation; Barbara Barnard Smith, Editor. Also, see Aloha Oe
  4. ↑ Aloha Oe. (Farewell To Thee). [English and Hawaiian]
  5. ↑ A Hawaiian flower (Metrosideros tremuloides)
  6. ↑ The Rock Beside the Sea. A Romanza.
  7. ↑ The Originals: Aloha Oe
  8. ↑ Sedi mara na kamen studencu
  9. ↑ "The Story of a Musical Life", pp. 254-255
  10. ↑ "Lilo and Stich Aloha 'Oe". wn.com. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Lilo and Stich Versions of Aloha Oe". History of Hawaii. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Lilo & Stitch 2: Island Favorites". All Music. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Green, Scott. "Figure Sculptor Makes "Space Dandy" Aloha Oe and QT". Crunchy Roll. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Green, Victoria. "'Space Dandy' Recap: A Merry Companion Is a Wagon in Space, Baby". The Celebrity Cafe. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  15. ↑ London, Jack. The Complete Short Stories of Jack London, Volume 1. Google Books. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "President Jiang Zemin of China". partners.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  17. ↑ StevenChangHZ (2012-04-19), 江澤民演奏夏威夷吉他[Jiang Zemin Playing Hawaiian Guitar], retrieved 2016-03-29
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