Nau mai taku manu

This is not a song; it is a speech of welcome to delegates from overseas.
But the imagery is wonderful.

Nau mai taku manu; Piki mai taku manu, He manu aha tenei ka tau? Kuaka marangaranga ki te tahuna, Korimako pae ki te kotaratara Piwaiwaka i kutia ai te mate Kotuku rerenga tahi. Nau mai i runga i te komuri aroha, I te ata hapara, i te korehutanga O te tai-awatea, I te kakarawiritanga o te maruahiahi I te pokerekerekeretangi i Parangia ai te ao-tu-roa I ahu mai koe e taku manu I te rapunga, i te kimihanga, I te hahautanga, ki manu o uta Ki manu o tai, Turia te marae e tamara ma, Whaikorero kae i te pa-uauatanga, I puta ai to ihu ki Rangiatea, I mau ai te puni wahine, Te tira taitama, Te kahui tara, Te teretere pumahara, E mara mako nga haere kia haeretia, Ko nga korero hoki te kai a te rangatira Heoi ano ra!

Welcome to our migrating birds! Wing your way hither, our guests! How may we fittingly portray you? As godwits alighting on a sandspit As bell birds assembled to sing As the fantail who unwittingly awoke death Or, a white heron of solitary flight? Welcome to those borne hither on the breeze of love, Winging your way in the pearly dawnlight, At the zenith of the noonday sun; In the descending gloom of the eventide; In the dark night Of a slumbering world. Already, you have searched, Explored, debated, With birds from inland And from the shore. Now take your stand on the marae. Share your concerns about the state of affairs, Let your wisdom lead us into the light, Let it be as a mantle over the assembly of women, the band of young people; Over the conclave of chiefs, The council of seers, To you who have elected to come, speak your minds, Wise speech is the food of chiefs, And so I rest my case!

Pūrua

Brannigan Kaa, Hone Kaa & Jo Paku, 2008 - Purua MP3

Karanga karanga

This has been put here at the request of Renate Greiner-Vetter of East Germany.
She and her friends are learning it to sing at the 60th birthday of the friend who loves Maori songs very much.

Te Taniwha i te Moana

I found this in Rikihana's book. It is certainly is different from the usual waiata about desire for an absent loved one!

Awhi mai ra e Hine

Southern, A Century of Maori Music, 2002

Kua Tipu ra hei Oranga

Putiputi Kaneihana

Tuini Ngawai

This is sung to the tune of the 1960 Jim Reeves' song "He'll have to go" and is well known on the East Coast

E Te Tau

He mihi ki te Kuaka

I think I'm way off the mark with my translation here. This chant has about three layers of meaning and I think I may have missed all three. Note that this is in my Pataka of unfinished work.

This northern tauparapara (welcoming call) invokes the image of the kuaka (godwit), a migratory bird whose visits to other lands, and regular return to the north signifies the importance of food resources in providing hospitality to visitors. The kuaka has been adopted as a symbol of the unity of the five tribes joined in the Muriwhenua claim. "When one comes (to the feeding grounds), all come."

Marama Pai

Sung by Daphne Walker and backed by Bill Sevesi (c. 1956?)
And recorded by the Howard Morrison Quartet in 1958.
Hawaiian music was glamorous in the 1950s, so Daphne and Bill introduced several Maori songs to the New Zealand public by using a steel guitar/ukulele Island-style backing. As a bonus, the records could also be sold in Samoa, Rarotonga, Tahiti and Hawaii.

Purea nei e te hau

Now has its own webpage Purea Nei

E te Atua

Formerly sung to the hymn tune "Majesty," but now usually sung to tune of 'Amazing Grace.'

E te Atua kua ruia nei O purapura pai. Homai e koe he ngākau hou Kia tupu ake ai E Ihu kaua a tukua Kia whakangaromia. Me whakatupu ake ia Kia kitia ai ngā hua A mā te Wairua Tapu rā Mātou e tiaki. Kei hoki ki te mahi hē O mātou ngākau hōu

O God there has been sown Your good seeds. You give a new heart to grow forth. O Jesus do not let them be lost. Let them be allowed to grow So that Thy fruits may be seen Through the Holy Spirit will we be protected So that we don't return to evil ways from our new hearts

Mō Maria

Written by Bishop Pompallier, first Catholic bishop, in Northland. He belonged to a French religious Order, the Society of Mary, which had special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, naming her as Queen of Heaven. He seems to have borrowed the tune from the famous Baptist hymn written in 1864, "Shall we gather at the river?"

The 19th century Catholic theology was that the angels in heaven honoured Mary as their Queen.

Mō Maria aianei o tatou waiata. Kia kaha rā tātou, kia nui te aroha Tēnā hoki ngā ahere e whakahonore ana ki te ratou rehina ki a Maria anō rā Aroha ki te Atua aroha ki a Maria i te rangi i te whenua āke tonu, āke tonu

For Mary now our songs. Let us be strong, let there be great love There also the angels giving honour to their queen to Mary Love God, love Mary in heaven and on earth for ever and ever.

Ngoi Ngoi

This now has its own web page Ngoi Ngoi

Tirama mai

[By Tommy Taurima]

Tirama mai to ataahua Kia rite tonu ki te pounamu e He wahine o whiti Ko koe ko Rongomaiwahine-e-e E noho mai ra, e hine Ki te rohe o Te Mahia e Tuupato ra, e hine Ko koe! - Ko Rongomai' e-e-e Minamina mai ra, e tama e Ki te toa nei o Kahungunu E mate ana koe mai i a wai? Aue, taukuri ko Rongomai' e-e-e Tihei winiwini, tihei wanawana Tihei oriori ana e Na te paua raru ana Tihei ko Rongomaiwahine-e-e

Radiant is your beauty just like greenstone. A woman of the sunrise That's you, Rongomaiwahine You live, my darling In the Mahia district. You be careful there You hear now - Rongomai! Does he want you so much - that lad with such courage, Kahungunu - that he would risk being drowned? Oh dear, alas, Rongomai! Carrying terror on his back Carrying a story of tribal origins also with the troublesome paua he carried to Rongomaiwahine

Tirama = candle-flame. So I guess "Tirama mai" would mean "to draw in
like a moth to a candle flame," but that is a bit too long for the translation.

Kahungunu was already married when he met the beautiful, intelligent and radiant Rongomaiwahine at Mahia. And she was married too. But he wanted her so badly that he dived off the rocks into the sea and went down deeper than anyone else dared to, to where the really big succulent paua (abalone) shellfish were. He brought them up by clamping them to his back and emerged from the depths with a couple of dozen shellfish all over him. Aagh! The monster from the deep!

But after Rongomaiwahine's husband had eaten that feed of paua, he slept so soundly, snoring and making such smelly farts, that Rongomai was forced to leave his side and go outside - where Kahungunu was waiting for her! And so a started a dynasty.

This information was put here in Dec 2008 for Lee Ataria, a Wairoa boy now living in the USA.

Tena ra koutou katoa

Tena ra koutou katoa! Haere mai e nga, haere mai e nga iwi; Tena ra koutou katoa! E te iwi, hui tonu ra; Tena ra koutou katoa!

Greetings to you all! We bid all people welcome; Greetings to you all! Oh ye people gathered here; Greetings to you all!

Tena koutou

 

Tena koutou! Tena koutou! Nga iwi e, Nga iwi e, Kua tae mai nei Kua tae mai nei I tenei ra; I tenei ra; Haere mai, Haere mai, Nga iwi e, Nga iwi e, Kia ora ra! Kia ora ra! Nga whanau e. Nga whanau e. Kua rongo hoki ahau, Kua rongo hoki ahau, Kua rongo hoki ahau, Kua tae mai koutou. Haere mai, Haere mai, Nga iwi e, Nga iwi e, Kia ora ra! Kin ora ra! Nga whanau e! Nga whanau e!

Greetings to you! The Maori people, Assembled here On this day; Welcome to all, Ye mighty tribes, Greetings to all! Family groups and all! Your arrival I have known, Your arrival I have known, Your arrival I have known, To this our gathering; Welcome again, Assembled tribes, Good health to all! To one and all!

 

Another version of this (Thanks Mereana)

Tena koutou (greetings)
E hoa ma (friends)
Kua tae mai nei (having arrived here)
I tenei ra (today) - can be replaced with I tenei po (this evening)

No reira ra (and so)
E hoa ma (friends)
Kia ora ra (greetings)
Koutou katoa (to you all)

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Haere mai e hoa ma!

A modernised version of a very old chant.

 

Haere mai e hoa ma! Nga iwi o te motu Ki runga Wharepunga e: Tenei te powhiri atu, A Wharepunga e, haere mai! A Wharepunga e, haere mai! Tahi, rua, toru, wha, Haere mai te manuhiri, haere mai, Haere mai! Haere mai te manuhiri, No runga te manuhiri, No raro te manuhiri, No te ti, no te ta, Hei ha! E haere mai!

Welcome ye many friends! And tribes throughout the land To Wharepunga, our marae; Hearken to the welcome, Of Wharepunga Welcome! Of Wharepunga Welcome! One, two, three, four, Welcome to our guests, thrice welcome! Welcome to our many guests, From the South ye have come, From the North ye have come, From hither! From thither! Hei! Ha! Welcome!

 

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Nga Tama Maori Tatou E

The music of this song is the popular "Happy Wanderer" which was originally a German folk tune. A glance at the accompanying words will reveal that this is a good example of using a European tune as a vehicle for words which bear no resemblance to the original.

This action song has been included because the actions are few and simple, the tune so well-known that it requires hardly any learning, and it has a good swinging rhythm. It can be quickly taught to a club, school or similar group and is ideal as an introductory piece to a bracket of numbers or to begin a concert, break-up ceremony, etc.

The first line can be easily altered to make the words appropriate to any specific group and a place name of local significance sub-stituted for "Wharepunga".

 

[Nga tama Maori*] tatou e O [Wharepunga] e. Kei te mihi atu nei Ki a koutou ra. E tama ma,(e tama ma …) E hine ma, (e hine ma …) E hoa ma, (e hoa ma …) Anei te aroha nui e tu atu nei. Kia kaha ra! Kia mau to aroha

We are [the Maori boys] Of [Wharepunga] This is our greeting To you all. To all the boys, To all the girls, To all our friends, This is an expression of our affection. Be strong! Abide in charity

• The words in square brackets may be replaced by "Te kura Maori ..." (the Maori school), or "Nga iwi Maori ..." (the Maori people).

E WAKA E

We give now a song of the Ngarauru tribe of the Taranaki Province. Legend tells of the founding of this tribe, who are descendants in the first instance of Turi, the commander of the Aotea canoe.

Turi's daughter, Taneroroa became pregnant and, craving dog's flesh, she asked her husband to kill a dog which belonged to her brother. The brother accused Taneroroa of theft and after a quarrel she moved with her people to the north side of the Patea River to found there the tribe known as Ngati Ruanui. The descendants of her brother, Turangaimua, became the Ngarauru tribe.

E Waka e was composed by the Ihupuku people of the Ngarauru tribe as a lament for their esteemed leader and chief, Rima Wakarua of Nukumaru.

Waka is an abbreviation of Wakarua. Rima Wakarua was the paramount chief of the Ngarauru at the time of his death, and at one time, chairman of the Taranaki Trust Board.

E Waka e! Kei whea ra koe? Tenei o, tamariki; E mahi nei, i nga mahi, Ki runga o te motu nei: Ka matua-koretia to iwi e, Ki runga o te motu nei.

Oh Waka! Where hast thou gone? Bereft are your many children: Alone, to continue the work, Throughout this fair land: Your tribe, forever fatherless, Upon this fair land of ours.

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PA MAI TO REO AROHA

This song originated from the Hastings area and was composed during the early part of World War II, as a song of encouragement to all tribes to enlist the services of their sons for war.

Pa mai to reo aroha, Ki te pa o [Hikurangi]; E nga iwi o Aotearoa, Haere mai, haere mai. Tiro ki nga hoia kua wehe nei, Aue! Te aroha me te mamae: Female Voices E nga iwi o Aotearoa, Male Voices Tahi miti toru e tai te marumaru Whare tapu teitei i te an korowhiti Both Kia kaha! Kia manawa nui!

Hearken! Your words of love are heard, At the pa of Hikurangi; (or any local place-name) O ye people of New Zealand, Welcome, thrice welcome. Behold the soldiers who have been parted from us, Alas! The pain and sorrow of it all: O ye people of Aotearoa, Be brave and of good courage!

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Waiata Poi

This now has it's own web page Waiata Poi

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Tangihia Key of D

by Mrs P Whatarau

Tangihia -weep,
Tangihia o tätou aitua - weep for our dead
Kua wehea atu rä - who have been separated
Ki te pö - to the night

Nö reira äwhinatia mai - Therefore give support to
Te kaupapa rä - the belief
Whakamaharatanga - Remember
Ki a rätou mä - them

Kia mau ki ö tikanga - Hold firm to your traditions
Me to reo Mäori - and the Maori language
Hei tauira mauri - as a living example
Ki te iwi aue - to the people, alas.

From WT Rikihana's Waiata Maori, song 181, (the first of three stanzas)

Maori Songs of New Zealand, CD 1999
Inia Te Wiata CD
Nga Reo O Mokoia - LP.
New Zealand's Maoris Unknown Earth CD
Warmth of the Maori, CD 1986
Maori Love Songs CD

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Maringi noa

Maringi noa ngä roimata - The tears flow unchecked
Mohou kua wehea nei - for you separated (from me)
Ka tangi tonu matou hia koe - we weep always for you
Kia hoki mai ano - to return again.
Maringi noa ngä roimata - The tears flow unchecked
Mohou kua wehea nei - for you separated (from me)

From WT Rikihana's Waiata Maori, song 41,

Maori Songs of New Zealand, CD 1999
Inia Te Wiata CD
Nga Reo O Mokoia LP
the Heritage of Maori Song CD 1985.

Thank you to Marge for the above three sets of lyrics.

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Tipu ra nga uri

Mereana sent this. She was looking for one line. A big thanks to Sam at Puukenga-Unitec for sending that last line.
Mereana's daughter sung this at school about 1986, to the tune of the Australian soap "Prisoner" (You used to bring me flowers)

1. Tipu ra nga uri
I roto i tenei ao
Te ao huri huri
Kia tupato ra

CHORUS
Kei te hotu te manawa
Nga roimata maringi
Mo te tamahine
Ko puawai i a koe

2. Kimihia te ora,
He mana mohau e
Kia kaha tonu
Ki to haerenga

CHORUS again

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Hangi tonight This now has its own webpage HERE

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Cheryl Moana Marie

In 1969, when John was still only 21, he accepted an invitation to represent New Zealand in the Rio De Janiero song festival. John wrote a song for this special occasion, "CHERYL MOANA MARIE" inspired by his younger sister with the same name. He later remarked of the event; "To be alone on stage singing to 80,000 excited Latin fans all waving their handkerchiefs, is the kind of experience I'll never forget".

Out of the songs entered in the festival from 42 countries, CHERYL MOANA MARIE was voted No.5. Later it became a top 50 hit in the U.S.A. No. 1 in New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii and was chosen by the UNESCO CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE for the World Book of Song. It sold over 1 million copies world-wide and was followed up with the release of another album titled "JOHN ROWLES SINGS CHERYL MOANA MARIE"

As a result of his success with this song, he was offered a contract to appear at "THE FLAMINGO HOTEL" in Las Vegas. With reports like "HE HAS A STRONG AND MEMORABLE VOICE, SEX APPEAL LIKE PRESLEY AND PLENTY OF SUPERSTAR POTENTIAL", word soon spread and the invitations and contracts poured in.

Bob Hope invited John to guest on his show and sing at at Houston with an audience of 68,000 people and performing with Bob Hope, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck. He also appeared on the "DAVID FROST SHOW" in New York, and was subsequently signed up by "DUKE KAHANAMOKU'S" in Waikiki, Hawaii.

Cheryl is John's sister, and after a 30 year break from University to raise a family, and fulfil work commitments assisting John's career, at the end of 2005 she completed a commerce degree. John is 59.

"Cheryl Moana Marie
Back home she's waiting for me
Cheryl Moana Marie
There on the shore
she waits so patiently
Cheryl Moana Marie

In a sleepy little town,
Where soft breezes blow,
There's a lovely little Maori miss
I used to know
Someday I will find my way
And I'll return from over the sea
To where my island sweetheart
waits for me.

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Pinepine te kura

I got an e-mail request. "My four year old daughter is learning Pene pene te kura at Kohanga reo."

This made me think it was a pre-schoolers' song about using a pen at school! But I have found "Pinepine te kura" is the very last song in McLean and Orbell's "Traditional Songs of the Maori." (published 1990 -a brilliant book) It is a long 59 line chant. McLean and Orbell include a translation, musical notation and explanatory paragraphs.

Pinepine te kura, hau te kura       The treasure is small, the treasure is famous

Whanake te kura i raro i Ararua     The treasure comes up from below Ararua

Ko te kura nui, ko te kura roa      The great treasure, the long treasure

Ko te kura o tawhiti, nä Tuhaepo!   The treasure from afar, of Tuhaepo

Tënei te tira hau,                  Here comes the traveller, 

tënei haramai nei                   who has just arrived

Ko Te Umurangi,                     It is Te Umurangi,      

Nä Te Whatuiapiti!                  descended from Te Whatuiapiti!

Nau mai e tama ki te taiao  nei!    Welcome, son, to this world

. . . and 50 more lines. There is now more about it on Te Ao Hou HERE

Play this MP3.

Footnote:- Awarua is associated with Hawaiki, where Tane, or Tiki, shaped the first man, and thus the land which men came from at birth, and returned to after their death.

"Kura" - treasure - was often used to describe cultural customs from Hawaiki, but here it refers to the new-born child.

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Moe Mai e Hine

Moe mai e hine          Sleep girl
i te moenga roa         the long sleep 
Raro i te rata          	beneath the rata tree
mokemoke a.             alone.

Ma te Atua             	May God
koe e tiaki mai e       keep you.  
Moe mai e hine          Sleep girl
i te moenga roa.         the long sleep.

Listen to this MIDI or listen to Kiri's 30 sec MP3 sample

Austrian tenor Richard Tauber recorded this tune with the original words from an 1827 German folk-song.

Ach, wie ist's moglich dann, dass ich dich lassen kann; hab dich von Herzen lieb, das glaube mir! Du hast die Seele mein so ganz genommen ein, dass ich kein' Andre lieb, als dich allein.

Alas, how can it happen, that I let you go; I love you from my heart, do believe me! You have won my soul completely, so that I don't love anyone else but you.

Our thanks to Bertram Kottmann for the translation of this song. All three verses are HERE

Tauber started making gramophone records in 1922, so this was probably on sale here in NZ by 1925. MP3 of Tauber singing Moglich Dann

Tauber was very popular, and this was a very singable tune, but German songs were not popular here just after WW1, with 10% of all young NZ males killed by the war with Germany, and another 10% shell-shocked, so that 20% of young NZ women were deprived of male partners.

So I guess the Pakeha and Maori communities both devised their own words to this tune.

Thus these "Fairy Glade" lyrics were used with the Moglich Dann tune and published in the Dominion School Song Book (1930). It was a great song for kids; I remember singing it at school in about 1947.

"Deep in the forest, I know a fairy glade There in the cooling shade, sweet 'tis to lie Softly a streamlet sings, peace to the heart it brings Clouds drift on silver wings, far o'er the sky. But in the moonlight, seek not that fairy dell None may escape the spell, who thither stray By music's magic sound, lulled into dreams profound, 'Neath that enchanted ground, sleep they for aye.

And also in 1930, the Rotorua Maori Male Quartette (sic) recorded Moe Mai e Hine in Sydney at the Columbia Recording Studio to the same Moglich Dann tune.

Nau mai

Nau mai e ngaa iwi (Welcome everybody)
Haere mai raa (come, gather here)
Mauria mai to aroha (bring your love here)
Me te aawhina (and your support.)
No reira e ngaa iwi (Therefore everyone)
Haapainga raa (bestir yourselves)
a koutou tamariki e (and your children.)

Tukituki rawhitia to ari (Get rid of every excuse)
Aawhina to taiahia (grasp your fighting staff)
(This is a metaphor meaning "give your total support")
Kia kaha ra ( be strong.)
No reira e ngaa iwi (Therefore everyone)
Haapainga raa (bestir yourselves)
a koutou tamariki e (and your children.)

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Ka Panapana

This is a classic women's haka of welcome. This version of the words was the work of Sir Apirana Ngata for the great memorial hui at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria, when the parents of Lieutenant Moana Ngarimu received their son's posthumous Victoria Cross. Note the topical reference to Hitler. (From Armstrong, Maori Games and Hakas, 1964)

A ra ra! Ka panapana, A ha ha Ka rekareka tonu taku ngakau Ki nga mana ririki i pohatu whakapiri Kia haramai te takitini, Kia haramai te takimano, Kia paretaitokotia ki Rawhiti! Hi! Ha! He mamae, he mamae! A ha ha! Ka haere, ka haere taku powhiri Ki te Tai Whakarunga! Hoki mai, hoki mai taku tinana! Ka haere, ka haere taku powhiri Ki te Tai Whakararo! Hoki mai, hoki mai taku tinana! Kia huri au ki te tai whakatu a Kupe Ki te tai o Matawhero i motu mai! E ko Hitara ki roto ki aku ringa, Kutia rawatia kia pari tona ihu! Hi ha! Auahi ana! Kss! Kss hei! Kia whakanga hoki au i ahau I aue! Hei!

Lo, it is throbbing! A ha ha! My heart is throbbing delighted With the common people, like stones stuck together Who have come in their multitudes Who have come in their thousands And alighted upon the Eastern sea. Hi! Ha! Alas, there is a multitude of pain! My call of welcome goes out To the Southern Sea! But alas comes back to me! My words of welcome go out To the Northern Sea! But again come back to me! So I turn to the sea which Kupe raised up To the sea which breaks at Matawhero! There is Hitler within my embrace, Where I will crush him and break him! Hi! Ha! It is fitting! Now let me pause and rest awhile Down, down to the ground

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I Runga o Nga Puke

This is now on its own web page. I Runga o nga Puke

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Ko Maui tikitiki a taranga

Ko Maui tikitiki a taranga Nana i kawe mai te ahi Ka tangohia te maikuku e mura nei Tineia a Maui ki te wai. Aue, aue e Mahuika Te maminga a Maui e Whiua whiua ra te kapura Ko roto ki te ngahere. E rere e Maui Ki te rangi e. Anana he kukupa koe. Tawhirimatea, tukua mai Te ua nui Weto ai nga mura nei. Aue, aue e Mahuika. Kua ngaro tau kapura, e Haunga i te korakora E huna nei Roto te kaikomako e.

It was Maui tikitiki a taranga who brought fire here. The burning fingernail was plucked out and extinguished by Maui with water. Alas, alas Mahuika the trickery of Maui. thrown, thrown was the fire into the forest. Fly, Maui. fly into the sky behold you are now a pigeon Tawhirimatea sent down the great rain to extinguish these flames. Alas, alas Mahuika your fire has been lost except for the spark that has been hidden in the kaikomako tree.

(Composed by Te Oka of the Ma Wai Hakona Maori Association culture group)

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Māku

This now has its own web page Maku e Mihi.