How Does It Feel

"How does it feel to love someone, so much, and then it's gone? How does it feel? How does it feel?" This one line (from now on referred to as "the line" or "that line") has been playing in my head over and over and over again all week. I've been hearing it, singing it, humming it, and whistling it everywhere I go. It was so bad in fact that I purposefully listened to it on YouTube a few times, just so I could learn the lyrics to the rest of the song, in order to sing entire versus, rather than just that one line. I now have all the words memorized, but it still hasn't stopped me from singing the line repeatedly. 

It all started on Monday. I was listening to Pandora while working on a research paper and it was the last song that played before I fell asleep. That morning I woke up at 4:00 a.m. without having set an alarm, and continued working on my paper. The tune must've played in my head while I was sleeping because the first thing I did when I woke up was YouTube the song to listen to it... yeah, bad idea. By Wednesday morning it felt like I had that song from Barney "I love you, you love me..." stuck in my head. It was so irritating. Even now as I'm typing this post out I'm irritated by the fact that I keep singing it.

It's a good song, don't get me wrong. That's how it got fixed in my head in the first place. It's by The Green, a reggae band from Hawai'i, featuring Kimie, who's from the Big Island. Kimie Miner fell in love with music as a child and self taught herself to play the guitar and write music when she was 14 years old. She's toured the west coast and traveled around the world, living and recording in Jamaica, Hong Kong, Tahiti and Hawaiʻi. As for The Green, there are four core singers: Caleb Keolanui, JP Kennedy, Ikaika Antone, and Zion Thompson. Here's their biography if you'd like to read it. It's so well written that what I say in the following doesn't do it justice. Each of them is a songwriter and could very well be their own solo-aritist, but they choose to stick together instead. Caleb Keolanui and JP Kennedy are first cousins, while Ikaika Antone and Zion Thompson had previously worked together in the band Stir Crazy. When that broke up, the four of them created The Green. JP explained that they "wanted a name that didn't really point you in any direction. It's just a color, it makes you figure out what you want it to mean." The same can go for their music too. And for a lot of people, that "meaning" is weed... just saying. 

"How Does It Feel?" comes from their self-titled debut album The Green. This album hit top 10 on the Billboards' 2010 Year-End Reggae Chart, was honored as iTune's Reggae Album of the year, and won Best Reggae Album at Hawaii's 2011 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, which is amazing for a bands first album. 

Here are the lyrics to the song:

Guy:

I've been staring for so long

I said there's nothing there

I've been holding on so long

I said it's just not fair

As sure as the morning sun

In the morning time

It's like the ending of a book

Said it's closing time

How does it feel to love someone

So much and then it's gone

How does it feel

How does it feel

You got to tell me

How does it feel to love someone

So much and the it's gone

How does it feel

How does it feel

Girl:

We've been traveling this road

Together for so long

And it never it occurred to me

That one day i'd be traveling alone

Like a soldier in the battle

And I was the lady in waiting

I guess the waiting game is over

And my tears just won't stop vaining

How does it feel to love someone

So much and then it's gone

How does it feel

How does it feel

[2x's]

How does it feel when your reaching

But there's nothing really there

How should I feel when I keep giving

And there's nothing left to share

When this truth is all I have for you and

You don't want it you just don't want it

How does it feel when it's raining

And the sun don't seem to shine

How should I feel when all I know

I can't make up my mind

When your cards are on the table and you know you gotta

Walk away

Walk away

How does it feel (how does it feel) to love someone

So much (so much so so much) and then it's gone

How does it feel, How does it feel

You got to tell me you you got to (how does it 

feel) tell me, you got to tell me

Uh you got to (how does it feel) tell me, you got to tell me

How does it feel

Looking at the lyrics, you can plainly see that it's a break-up song. The line refers to losing the love of your significant other. But that line had a different meaning for me this week: losing the one that you love... 

My Uncle passed away on Wednesday (4/18/12)... He was only 49. I couldn't stop thinking about my cousins and my aunty... about how it felt to lose a father... a husband. How does it feel to love someone, so much and then they're gone? I can only imagine the heartache. It was a rough week. That line sang to my emotions. 

R.I.P. Uncle Paul. I love you.

Hawai'i '78

This past Friday I went on a hike with a friend of mine after class. On our drive there, this song came up on one of his CD's. It was a version sung by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's cousin, and I didn't really like it :P lol. Not saying it wasn't good, he sounded great. Itʻs just that most times, there's nothing like the original version (at least I'm pretty sure IZ was the original singer)... It was the version I grew up with, so naturally, I like it better. Anyway, for the rest of the day and for the rest of the weekend, I kept singing it. So I chose to write about it this week.

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole is one of the most famous Hawaiian singers to this day. He was born in Honolulu and was surrounded by music growing up. His Uncle, Moe Keale, was a well-known musician and his parents worked at a Waikiki bar where many Hawaiian music legends performed. When he was six, Israel learned to play the ʻUkulele after watching his mother, older brother, and uncle. He first performed publicly at around age eleven when he and his older brother Skippy were called up on stage by a band that played for tourists at their parents' workplace. In 1976, together with his brother Skippy, Israel formed a band with Jerome Koko, Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, and Sam Gray called the Makaha Sons of Niʻihau. They released multiple albums and became one of the most popular bands in Hawaii. Two years after Skippyʻs death, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole decided to launch a solo career. HIs first record, Ka ʻAnoʻi, became the most popular Hawaiian album of 1990. He became famous outside of Hawaiʻi when in 1993 he released his album Facing Future in 1993. His medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" was featured in several films, television programs, and advertisement commercials following its release. Throughout his life, IZ suffered from severe obesity. On June 26th, 1997 he died of weight-related respirator illness. Over 10,000 people attended his funeral, the wooden coffin lay at the Capitol building in Honolulu. He was the third person in Hawaiian history to ever be accorded this honor.

Iz was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian independence, both through is lyrics and his life. "Hawaiʻi ʻ78" from his album Facing Future, demonstrates that. The lyrics are so powerful. It talks about how much Hawaiʻi has changed since the days the Aliʻi ruled. Asking how the Kings, Queens, and Aliʻi of our past would react to the changes of our land. It shows Iz's beliefs and hopes he had for the people of Hawaiʻi: the life of this land is the life of the people, and that to care for the land is to care for the Hawaiian culture. The state motto of Hawaiʻi is a recurring line in the song, encompassing the meaning of Izʻs message: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono, The life/sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

Here are the lyrics:

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono ʻo Hawai'i 

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono ʻo Hawai'i 

If just for a day our king and queen 

Would visit all these islands and saw everything 

How would they feel about the changes of our land 

Could you just imagine if they were around 

And saw highways on their sacred grounds 

How would they feel about this modern city life? 

Tears would come from each other's eyes 

As they would stop to realize 

That our people are in great, great danger now 

How would they feel? 

Would their smiles be content, then cry 

Chorus: 

Cry for the gods, cry for the people 

Cry for the land that was taken away 

And then yet you'll find, Hawai'i. 

Could you just imagine they came back 

And saw traffic lights and railroad tracks 

How would they feel about this modern city life 

Tears would come from each other's eyes 

As they would stop to realize 

That our land is in great, great danger now. 

All the fighting that the King has done 

To conquer all these islands, now these condominiums 

How would he feel if he saw Hawai'i nei? 

How would he feel? Would his smile be content, then cry? 

(Repeat chorus) 

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono ʻo Hawaiʻi

Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono ʻo Hawaiʻi.

Ua hoʻopaʻa leo kēia mele i nā mau makahiki aku nei, a mau nō nā pilikia o ka ʻāina a me nā kānaka maoli. Hū ka minamina. 

Icky Sticky

I can't pinpoint exactly what song was stuck in my head this week, so this time I chose to write about a song that I like. I DID say in my very first post that I'd mostly likely write about songs fixated in my head, not only. So, all is well. Despite that fact however, this song DOES have a relation to this week: the other day I started humming the tune out of nowhere... I have no idea why... but it made me want to listen and watch the music video again... so I did... I know, cool story, bro.

Anyway, last semester, some friends of mine living at the dorms introduced me to "Icky Sticky" by Jgeek and The Geeks. (The above photo is from that music video.) I could not BELIEVE what I was seeing: a boy band with a mix of electro craze and Maori culture. It was like watching something out of a Lady Gaga video, with an indigenous touch to it. What's so funny is the fact that it worked. Maori's are already crazy! (In a good way) And the side of Maori culture they portray fits perfectly with that Lady Gaga type of style. Looking back at it now, I think it was the music video more so than the song that grabbed and held my attention the most. (Even though it is a pretty catchy song.) After that I watched their "Maori Boy" and "Taniwha" video, which further blew me away. "Taniwha" has got to be my favorite video/song from them, only because there's an even greater integration of Maori culture into both the lyrics and the video.

So, if I hadn't already made it clear. Jgeek and The Geeks is, as they dub themselves, a "Metro-Maori electro craze group" from New Zealand. There's not that much about them on the web. They're not very well known around the world and haven't released anything new since November 2011. The most I found was on the founder of the group: Jermaine Leef (a.k.a. Jgeek). Jermaine travelled around the world, interviewed famous people, spent 10 years on TV, worked with C4 and Disney, gathered a good understanding of western pop entertainment, then put it all together and brought in Maori culture to create the group. Their goal is to show people Maori culture in a new, fun, silly, and crazy way. And that, in my opinion, is exactly what they're doing.

It's unclear exactly how many "Geeks" there are, there's a different number of guys in all their videos and there's no list of the members anywhere. But here's a picture of some of them. The middle guy is Jgeek:

Now back to the song. The lyrics to "Icky Sticky" aren't that important. Jermaine said himself that when one of the producers played the tune, the words just came to him. "Don't ask me what they mean, just listen and laugh - we did!" So here they are: 

I've got some icky sticky love to give, c'mon

I've got some icky sticky love to give, c'mon

I've got some icky sticky love to give, c'mon

I've got some icky, icky, sticky sticky, icky icky, sticky sticky...

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

Cause number one, you best be good to me

And my number two, you've gotta be good to me

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

Cause...

Oh! Boom shaka laka I'm a pop vulture

Metropolitan of the maori culture 

Hey John Key look at moi, I'm the sophisticated Taniwha.

Ra ra ra, i'm a monster. 

Look at the maori Prime Minista, me! 

Fiddle diddy well i'm a stupid eh crack 

Watch out for me cause I'm a donkey head.

Icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

Cause I want you to set the pace

And I want you to lick my face

I've got some icky sticky sticky sticky sticky sticky

Some sticky icky icky icky icky icky icky

I've got some icky sticky love to give, some icky sticky love to give

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

I've got some icky sticky love to give, some icky sticky love to give

When you're licking up my... 

Icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

I've got some icky sticky love to give when you're licking up my face, see.

Cause I want you to set the pace

And I want you to lick my face

I've got some icky sticky love to give

I've got some icky sticky love to give

And here's the video:

I think what these guys are doing is awesome. Culture is a living, breathing, growing, thing. It changes... Just as Hawaiians have brought in 'Ukulele's and guitars into their music, so has this group brought in hip hop. It's contemporary Maori music, a modern day "Sudden Rush." (Yes, Sudden Rush had a different purpose and message, but that's all I could think of to compare it to.) They've incorporated new ideas into the music they make, it's all for fun, and I admire them for their creativity. I hope they pick up where they last left off one day, and create more songs and music videos in the future.

Kōke'e

This was without a doubt THE song of the week. I went to Kauaʻi for Spring Break(!) with one of my friends from High School, and I swear we could not stop singing it (Kōkeʻe is a place on Kauaʻi). That's what happens when you put two people together, who know every word to a song, in the right setting: theyʻll both sing it over and over again. We were both a part of the Kamehameha Middle School Kāpalama Nā ʻOpio Singers (choir) and "Kōkeʻe" was one of the songs we sang for BOTH our seventh and eight grade year. So we pretty much knew it by heart.

But before I get to the fun stuff, here's a little about the composer (whom I just learned about tonight): 

This song was composed and arranged by Dennis Kamakahi who is a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, a recording artist, and a music composer. He started off as a member of Nā Leo o Nuʻuanu in 1972 and his first recording was the album Ia ʻOe E Ka Lā Volume 1. From 1988-2004, he composed around 500 songs during with Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii, becoming one of Hawaiʻi's most prolific songwriters in Hawaiian language. Kamakahi launched his solo career in 1996, releasing his first slack key guitar CD Puaʻena among others that followed. In 2003 under his own recording label, Dennis Kamakahi Productions, he released an album with his son David, The Gift of Music - From Father to Son. In 2004, Kamakahi produced an album featuring his son entitled Paʻani. It was David's first attempt at a solo, and both father and son received Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards that year. At the 49th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2007, Kamakahi received his First Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album for the slack key guitar CD Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. In 2008 he received his second Grammy in the Hawaiian Music Category for his CD Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. In 2009, Kamakahi was nominated for a third Grammy, did not win an award, but did receive his first gold Grammy Nominee medal as a record producer. He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts as a member of the Sons of Hawaii and was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. Then in 2010, he was nominated and won his third Grammy for his CD The Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar 2 - Live in Maui.

...I did not know ANY of that, it's a good thing I'm using this assignment to learn a little more about the people who sing the songs that are constantly stuck in my head ('cause most of the time I don't even know who sings them)...... but now back to "Kōkeʻe" itself.

This song is a mele pana, or, as the title of the song suggests, a place song. It describes the beauty and atmosphere at the summit of Kōkeʻe, which over looks Kalalau valley and Waimea Canyon. It also talks about heading back East to the hot sun and calm sea of Poʻipū at Koloa. We visited every place the song talks about and coincidentally stayed in Poʻipū during our time on Kauaʻi. Here are the lyrics to the song, as well as some pictures we took that conveniently represent each description perfectly:

Kōkeʻe

Upu aʻe, he manaʻo i ka wēkiu o Kōkeʻe
I ka nani o ka ʻāina o ka noe poʻaiʻai
A thought recurs to the summit of Kōkeʻe
In the beauty of the land of the encircling rain

Kalalau

ʻO Kalalau, he ʻāina laʻa i ka ua liʻiliʻi.
Kalalau is the sacred land in the drizzling rain.

Waimea

ʻO Waimea, kuʻu lei aloha.
Never more, to say goodbye.
Waimea is my beloved wreath.
Never more, to say goodbye

Poʻipū

Hoʻi mai ana i kahikina i ka lā welawela
I ke kai hāwanawana i Poʻipū ma Kōloa
Returning to the east in the doubly hot sun
To the whispering sea at Poʻipū in Kōloa

Kōkeʻe

Mele au, nō ka beauty
I ka uka ʻiuʻiu i Kōkeʻe ua ʻike au i ka noe poʻaiʻai
I sing for the beauty
In the lofty uplands at Kōkeʻe I saw the encircling mist

The song really does represent these areas perfectly. It was hard not to think of the words as we surveyed each place. It's no wonder why we had it stuck in our heads the whole time :) 

Be Easy

This past week was hectic: midterms, papers, homework, meetings... I'm not even gonna get into specifics. What probably made everything even more difficult than usual, is the fact I went to Big Island the weekend before (where I did absolutely NOTHING school related.) So coming back to school after a (short) weekend of straight up cruising on an outer island, put me in a "do I really have to do this?" mood. I was on Spring Break mode and Spring Break doesn't even official start until tomorrow. It was all psychological; I was making it harder for myself than it actually was, so I seriously needed to "just relax, lay back, and be easy."

Which is exactly how "Be Easy" by Radical Something became this week's song. There have been so many times in my life where I think of or hear a word, and a song pops up in my mind. This time the word was "chill," which is pretty much the same as relax, so this song came to mind. Anyway, Radical something in general has some pretty chill songs, so I had their music on replay all week as I did my work for school.

My cousin introduced me to the group this past winter break. The first song I ever heard from them was "Sun Down" and is my favorite song from them. There are three members in the trio: 

Big Red, Josh Cocktail, and Loggy.

These guys have such great music. It's hard to pinpoint what their genera is. I'd say it's a mix between chill, hip-hop, pop, acoustic, reggae, rock, and alternative. All I could really find about them on the internet is that they knew each other awhile before they became a trio. Each were striving to become a solo artist when the world-renowned photographer Bruce Weber said they should form a group. As for their name, Loggy and Big Red wanted to be Radical _________. They knew they wanted to be something radical, so they became exactly that: Radical Something. They've released two Albums so far: We Are Nothing and No Sweat EP; and have a ton of singles that you can look up on Youtube.

Be Easy is a part of the album We Are Nothing (which is the album I had on replay all week). They paired up with song writer Kinetics (Jeremy "Kinetics" Dussolliet) and created the following lyrics:

Yeah

Feelin' fantastic...c'mon

Man a group like this you never could've expected:

Cocktail mixed with some Loggy and Kinetics

So just relax

Lay back and Be Easy

Take your time, let it go, live freely

And Be Easy (You know)

Palm trees, palm trees where we sit 'n' write

Strong drinks, strong drinks what we sippin' like

Their on me, on me cuz we're living right

And who's sayin' that some new love can't begin tonight?

Well I didn't, and neither did you

And only got essentials, yeah reefer for two

And now you got me goin' mental, ain't a thing I can do

You're sinking deeper in my chest as I'm thinkin of you

And so the sun melts with a unified brilliance

I find words to describe you in the millions

Sweet sublimals but your a villainous

A sweet criminal stealin' all my feelings for yourself

And watch the shadows stretch across the pavement

And when the coastline wonders where the waves went

My thoughts surface, crept up from the basement

Giving me a hint that you know im gunna take with

So just relax

Lay back and Be Easy

Take your time, let it go, live freely

And Be Easy

I watch the sun travel over the sky

See how long I can survive without a phone at my side

And in this moment I can flashback back to my youth

Imagine a BlackBerry and fathom an Apple as actual fruits

Speakin' of apples, I love the city I reside

But why these people kill themselves over their 9 to 5s?

All these items that are gilded aren't gold inside

How much lifestyle must you buy before you feel alive?

Those dreams covered in glitter couldn't be hollower

Even without a Twitter you're still considered a follower

So if I was starry-eyed, sorry, I apologize

I just hit up Loggy for a collie ride

And we took a pair of headphones from the east coast (Kinetics)

And a little Cali bud from the west (yo it's Loggy)

And stirred it up inside a cocktail (yeah)

And then we ended up with this...be easy

So just relax

Lay back and Be Easy

Take your time, let it go, live freely

And Be Easy (You know)

Lay back and be easy

Just take your time, let it go, live freely

Be Easy

Just relax, lay back, Be Easy

Take your time, let it go, live freely

The lyrics coupled with the following music, gives it a feel good vibe that just sang to my mood this week. So take it easy everybody, shoots.

This week's playlist:

Be Easy

Sun Down

Long Hair Don't Care

Lookin' For Love

Puppy Love

Radio

No Lovin'

Gonna Be Good

Come With Me

California

Freedom

We Are Radical

Wahine Holo Lio

It’s kind of a given that I’d write about a Song Contest song this week, since it was just this past Friday. With all the Song Contest statuses, pictures, videos, check-ins and songs streaming down my newsfeed, it was hard not to listen to 2011 songs and reminisce along with my class. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since one of the greatest nights of our lives… It still feels as though it just happened yesterday. For my readers who have never heard of Song Contest, feel free to read the following paragraph, for those of you who have, you may as well skip over it. 

The Kamehameha Schools Song Contest is a signing competition between classes, grades 9-12 at the Kapālama campus. It’s held at the Balisdell Arena, televised statewide, and streamed online nation wide each year. There are three different categories in this competition: Men’s, Women’s, and Co-ed, and each song is conducted by a student director. Grades 10-12 compete in all three categories while the freshmen compete solely in the Co-ed competition. The freshmen only sing one song because it’s their first year and they have to learn mass numbers as well. By mass numbers I mean school songs that all four classes open and close the competition with (the entire night is pretty much a performance.) After every song has been sung, something called Ho’ike begins while the scores from five judges (which change every year) are tallied up for the awards ceremony. Ho‘ike (to put it simply) is a hula production performed by selected students who have auditioned to be a part of it. It is just as much a part of Song Contest as the songs are, and just as much a big deal. It is also a GREAT distraction while everyone is waiting for the scores. There are six different awards/trophies: The Louise Aoe McGregor Award for Outstanding Student Director; the Richard Lyman, Jr. Trophy or the ‘Ōlelo Makuahine Award; The New England Mothers’ Cub or the Girls’ Competition Award; the George Alanson Andrus Cup or the Boy’s Competition Award; the Helen Desha Beamer Award for Best Musical Performance; and last but not least, the most important award, the Charles E. King Cup for the Combined Class Award. (This is the most important award because wining as a class is the most rewarding.)

Now the reason WHY last year’s Song Contest was one of the greatest nights of the ℅ 2011ʻs lives is because that year, my class won ALL SIX awards AND tied for the ʻŌlelo Makuahine Award WITH OURSELVES. That’s seven out of six awards; a clean sweep and more. We are the only class in the history of Kamehameha Song Contest that is able to say we won that many in a single night. It’s a feat that we are overjoyed and proud of. (And honestly just a tiny itsy bit surprised of.)

None of us expected to sweep. We didn’t want to go into the competition thinking like that. During rehearsals, whenever a teacher or administrator went up to talk to our class about one of our songs, we would hush them from saying anything that would jinx us (due to a previous experience our class had that I rather not mention). I honestly believe that we swept not only because we spent hours practicing each song, not only because it was our last Song contest, but because we dedicated our songs to a classmate who was (at the time) fighting cancer. His name was Keaton Wong. It’s no secret either; it was in the paper and all over Facebook after that night. So I have no problem sharing this with everyone. He motivated and unified our class that year by simply being there to sing with us. All the emotions we were experiencing that night came through our voices and into our songs, pushing us toward victory...

Okay, so I didn’t think I was going to go into the full story (in a nut shell) about Song Contest last year, but then again NONE of my posts so far have JUST been about the songs. They’ve been about everything that surrounds the song as well! So now to the point of this blog… 

Even though I believe that our senior Co-ed song, “E Maliu Mai” was THE most important performance we sang in our career, I can’t help but feel that “Wahine Holo Lio,” our Junior Co-ed song (which we did not win with) is my favorite. It originates from a chant composed to honor Queen Emma and her expertise as an equestrian. Here is a picture of her followed by the words to this song:

He wahine holo lio ʻoe la

Maluna o Kīnaʻu lio la

Ahe lio hula haole la

Pau nā holo ʻewalu la

Ka piʻina a ʻo Maʻemaʻe la

Oni ana o Emalani la

Haʻina mai ka puana la

No Emalani he inoa

You are a lady who likes to ride

On the horse named Kinaʻu

This horse does a strange dance

Called the figure eight step

Going up to Maʻemaʻe

Your ribbon flutters in the breeze

The story is told

To honor the name of Queen Emma

Huh, I didn’t realize our song only contained eight lines… our senior Co-ed song did too. There is, of course, more words to this chant, but these are the only lines we sang in our song… huh. Well I learned something new.

ANYWAY, I actually JUST discovered that this was my favorite Co-ed song this week in fact, because it’s pretty much been on replay for days leading up to this past Friday. I don’t know if I’m saying that just because I’ve missed it or what, but I always thought the arrangement was AMAZING(ly difficult, lol… which just made it more amazing!) The song's arranged as if there are multiple songs composed into one.

“Wahine Holo Lio” starts off with an eerie sort of tone, integrating the melody into the middle of it. The song then turns into a waltz that almost makes you want to get up and sway to the music. Then a horse comes trotting in (holo peki, holo peki), and the song changes into a country type of dance only for a moment, and then goes back to that eerie tone in the beginning. As the song comes to a closing, we sing as though we are mourning Emma’s death, but by the end we raise our voices to honor her name. The changes in “movement” throughout the song are similar to the changes in movement on a horse, which is what this song is all about. Everything about it has significance. Just listen to it and youʻll hear exactly what I’ve just described:

On a side note, hoʻomaikaʻi e ka papa o koʻu Kaikunāne, ka papa 2013, no ka lanakila ʻana i ka palapala hoʻokō no Nā Kāne, ka palapala hoʻokō no Ka Mele Huipū, a no ka pa'i a pa'i 'ana no ka palapala hoʻokō 'Ōlelo Makuahine. Hoʻomaikaʻi pū i ka papa 2012 no ka lanakila ʻana i ka palapala hoʻokō no Nā Wāhine, ka palapala hoʻokō Mele Lawelawe ʻOi Loa, a no ka paʻi a paʻi ʻana no ka palapala hoʻokō ʻŌlelo Makuahine. 


Congratulations to my brother’s class for winning MEN'S! CO-ED! and TYING FOR LANGUAGE!!! Congrats also to the class of 2012 for winning women's, best musical performance, and tying for language too. (And congrats to the the freshman director, though it's very unlikely anyone from that class will ever see this post.) You all deserved it :)