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Pulama: Music Page

The Song Within The Song - track 6a. E Ho'olana No Lokahi

(Pulama)
By: Jim Romano

from: The Song Within The Song

track 6-a . E Ho‘olana No Lōkahi   (James Romano)

 

E Ho‘olana No Lōkahi / E ‘Ilau Hoe Kākou 7:18 (James Romano)
Jim wrote these two songs for the annual canoe-blessing ceremony of the Lōkahi Outrigger Canoe Club of Petaluma, California. E Ho‘olana No Lōkahi (Launching for Lōkahi) uses chants to tell of the 1976 launching of the Hōkūle‘a, the double-hulled canoe that became the lodestar of the Hawaiian renaissance. On its maiden voyage, the Hōkūle‘a sailed from Hawai‘i to Tahiti, using only traditional methods of navigation. The chants used in the lyrics are: Ē Kia‘i, an invocation to the guardians and guides of the canoe-builders and crew, written by Mary Kawena Pukui; Kīauau, a traditional work chant used in pulling a canoe into the water; and Lolo ‘Ana, a traditional offering to the gods to keep the canoe safe upon the sea.

The second song, E ‘Ilau Hoe Kākou (“Let’s Paddle Together”), sings of gathering together with aloha for the sea and the canoe, and of working together as a whole.

E Ho‘olana No Lōkahi
 
E Kia‘i by: Mary Kawena Pukui
Kī auau and Lolo‘Ana: Traditional Hawaiian canoe chants
Music by: Jim Romano
Arrangement by: Jim Romano and Paula Kauapāulaukī Rudman

 

 

E Kia‘i  
E kīa‘i, e alaka‘i                                                                 
E ho‘ona‘auao                                                                                    
E ho‘olanakila                                                                    
A pae ka wa‘a                                                                                     
I ke kula                                                                                               
Me ka lanakila                                                                    
O guardian, O guide
Enlighten us         
Grant us victory
Guide the canoe safely
Back to shore
With victory
 
Kī auau
Kī auau, kī auau                                                                
Huki auau, huki auau                                                       
Kō auau, kō auau                                                              
Huki, huki                                                                                            
Ho‘omālō ke kaula                                                            
Mōkū ā ke kaula                                                                
Haul, haul
Pull on, pull on
Draw on, draw on
Pull, pull
Keep the rope taut
Keep the rope in position
 
Lolo‘Ana
E Mokūhali‘i, Kūpā‘aike‘e, Lea
Eia ka pua‘a                                                                            
He uku, he makana, he ‘alana                        
He mohai iā ‘oukou                                                             
Ua pa‘a ka wa‘a kaulua                                   
A he ho‘olana ‘ia, aku ana i ke kai 
E nānā pono loa ‘oukou                                                   
‘Amama, ua noa.                                                               
O Mokuhāli‘i, Kūpā‘aike‘e, Lea 
Here is the pig   
A payment, a gift, an offering         
An offering to you   
And ready to be launched upon the sea The canoe is sound
Watch over it long and well
It is finished; the kapu is lifted
 
E kia‘i, e alaka‘i                                                                  
E ho‘ona‘auao                                                                    
E ho‘olanakila                                                
O guardian, O guide
Enlighten us
Grant us victory