iNEW
ZEALAND
FO LK * SONG |
Po
Atarau / Haere Ra / Now is the Hour |
---|
Now is the hour, when we must say goodbye. Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea. While you're away, oh please remember me. When you return, you'll find me waiting here.
In
1913, Palings published Swiss
Cradle Song by "Clement Scott". This was a piano
piece (a music score of seven large folio pages)
consisting of about 8 variations the 16-bar theme shown
below. Palings sold 130,000 copies of Swiss Cradle
Song; several thousand of these would have been
sales in New Zealand.
|
This
is the hour, for us to say goodbye.
Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea.
Do not forget, but, remember me.
When you return, you'll find me waiting here.
I love you dear, but duty calls you now How I will miss you, when far, far away. God guard you dear, and guide you safely home, When you return, you'll find me waiting here.
Kua tae mai te wa, he we he nga mo tatou |
This was published in 1935,
with the first verse of Maewa's version, a Christian
version of the Ratana Te Iwi verse, and then the Po
Atarau verse with a crying sea bird replacing the
moonlit dream.
1. |
|
The first and last verses became extremely popular, and Maewa Kaihau claimed that all the words and tune were her own work. But Palings soon claimed copyright for the tune, and Maewa Kaihau's words were not copyrighted until 1928, by Robertson's Publishers, a company that was later taken over by Lewis Eady which was in turn taken over by Charles Begg & Co. More recently Dick Grace has claimed most of the words as the work of his family.
In
those days before radio and before locally-made
recordings, the the lyrics of this song were probably
being changed constantly according to circumstance and
memory, and Kaihau's genius was to mold a version whose
words could be understood and appreciated by both the
Maori and British communities.
Says researcher Angela Annabell
"Perhaps the chief factor contributing to the success of Now is the Hour as a representative New Zealand song is its reflection of the Maori/English amalgamation fundamental to the national fabric."
Over the next 25 years Haere Ra became a favourite as the last waltz at dances, and was sung an the wharfside to farewell friends and troops on departing steamships. I remember hearing Haere ra, te manu tangi pai sung on the wharf in Wellington in about 1948 (I was a 7-year old) when the Wanganella was pulling out, and everyone on the wharf was holding streamers with the passengers lining the rails (JA).
The song was recorded by Ana Hato 1927, Ernest McKinlay c1928, and George Nepia c1935, all of which included English and Maori words, although there are minor variations in the text.
In July 1947, Gracie Fields sang her version on a BBC radio programme, and around the same time recorded it for English Decca with fantastic success.
Gracie Fields did not include the Sunset glow passage in her version. It seems that the Sunset glow bridge -words and music - were composed by Dorothy Stewart. Hence her share in the copyright.
(Also at about this time Albert Saunders died. He comes into this story later. Or should he be at the beginning?)
Now is the hour, when we must say goodbye. Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea. While you're away, oh, then, remember me. When you return, you'll find me waiting here. Night o'er the valley is creeping. Birds cuddle down in their nest Soon all the world will be sleeping. Soon you'll be sailing far across the sea. While you're away, oh, then, remember me. When you return, you'll find me waiting here. |
Crosby's version was probably released and distributed after Fields' version had already made an impact in America. Around Christmas 1947, because of industrial action in the US, it may have been difficult to distribute US-made recordings, including the distribution of Crosby's Now is the Hour. This is probably why in January 1948 a planeload and shiploads of Fields' version were sent to the US to satisfy demand for the tune. And that is how Gracie Field's version was as successful as Bing's in America at that time. Several million copies of the record were sold.
Bing Crosby's Now is the Hour entered the Top Ten charts on 5 Feb 1948. It was No. 1 or 2 from 28 Feb to 29 May. It stayed on the Top Ten charts until 3 July 1948. (23 weeks). It was Bing's 42nd and last single to reach the top of the pop charts.
Peter Downes, a retired Radio NZ executive producer, says that although Albert Saunders was on the music staff of Palings as an arranger and composer, his compositions were mostly dance tunes (like the Mad Pranks Foxtrot) or military marches (like the Comet March, commemorating the coming of Halley's comet), all vastly different from the type of composition listed for Clement Scott.
This is not to say that they weren't one and the same person, says Mr Downes. Saunders could have used the pseudonym for his piano solos and more romantic pieces in order to differentiate between the two very different composing styles.
Albert Bokhare Saunders/Clement Scott lived in Moree in Northern NSW,
Other
Maori Songs - Main
Song List - Home
Published on the web Sept 19, 2001, revised Nov 28
2001, revised Oct 2006, revised and reformatted 2021