- Aloha ʻOe
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For the 1915 film, see Aloha Oe (film).
Cover of "Aloha ʻOe", 1890
"Aloha ʻOe" (Farewell to Thee) is Liliʻuokalani's most famous song and a common cultural Leitmotif for Hawaii. The song was inspired by a horseback trip she took in 1877 to the windward side of Oʻahu. After visiting the Boyd ranch in Maunawili, Liliʻuokalani witnessed a farewell embrace between Colonel James Harbottle Boyd and one of the young ranch ladies.
This tender farewell set Lili`uokalani 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 Lili`uokalani 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.[1]
The statue of Queen Liliʻuokalani, holding a copy of Aloha ʻOeHaʻaheo 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[2] 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 kaʻu ipo aloha Dearest one, yes, you are mine own A loko e hana nei From you, true love shall never depart Hui Chorus 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 lipo And sip the honey from your lips Hui Chorus Musicologist Sigmund Spaeth noted that the first two measures of the melody of the chorus (which are arpeggiated IV-I chords) resemble[3] the chorus of George Frederick Root's 1854 song "There's Music In The Air"[4], but measures 3 and 4 differ from it. The chorus of the popular 1954 song "Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" also begins with the same melodic motif.
The song "The Rock Beside The Sea" referred to was published by Charles Crozat Converse in 1857, and itself derives from a Croatian folk song, "Sedi Mara Na Kamen Studencu" (Girl On The Rock)[5]. Its melodic resemblance is to the first measure of Aloha `Oe, diverging from it after that.[6]
References
- ^ Kelsey, Theodore. 1927. "The Queen's Poem — `Aloha `Oe,' by Liliuokalani," Paradise of the Pacific 40: 4. Cited in The Queen's Songbook, by Her Majesty Queen Lili`uokalani. Hui Hanai, Honolulu, 1999. Dorothy Kahananui Gillett, text and music notation; Barbara Barnard Smith, Editor. Also, see Aloha Oe
- ^ A Hawaiian flower (Metrosideros tremuloides)
- ^ Aloha Oe
- ^ The Story of a Musical Life, pp. 254-255
- ^ The Originals: Aloha Oe
- ^ Tamburica 5 - Sedi Mara na kamen studencu
Categories:- Hawaiian music
- Dorothy Lamour songs
- 1877 songs
- Symbols of Hawaii
- Compositions by Liliuokalani
- Folk song stubs
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