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A key song from the Dalvanius Prime/Ngoi Pewhairangi stage musical Poi - E! Hei konei ra Ka hoki au Ki te kainga e Tena te wa Ka kite ano Tatou i a tatou a katoa Na te aroha I piri ai Te rongo māu Ki te whenua. Ka tipu te pono Ka tipu te pono Ma te tika. Farewell I will come back to the village one day That will be the time once again to see all of you. The spirit of love has been firmly fixed by what I have heard from you in this place where I was born. May the fact of that grow May the truth of that grow And become a guiding truth. Poi E - The Musical PATEA FREEZING WORKS, September 1982. in the small South Taranaki town of Patea. For several months rumour has been rife - their jobs are on the line. The Vesty owned Patea Freezing Company is closing. Today all the workers share their last day on the Number One Chain. Outside the Works gates the workers, including childhood sweethearts Jay and Gabrielle, make their last defiant stand. PARIROA MARAE, PATEA. A farewell church service has been called by the tribal elders to bless workers who are leaving Patea to start life anew. Each family member is given a 'Ruakura', feathers of peace and love. PAKIRIKIRI MARAE, TOKOMARU BAY. The ex-freezing workers from South Taranaki visit Tokomaru Bay on a research tour and meet Ngoi Ngoi Pewhairangi. They compare their work schemes and initiatives to those of the local populace. KING'S CROSS, SYDNEY. Six months has passed, Gabrielle (now nicknamed Gabby) is living in Sydney's red light district. In Jay's absence she has began working as a prostitute and has acquired a passion for drugs. ON TOUR IN BRITAIN. The family and friends of Jay and Gabby have become overnight pop sensations as the Patea Maori Club. They play concerts in Britain where the pop song Poi E is released. GABBY'S APARTMENT, KING'S CROSS. Gabby shares an apartment overlooking the Cross. Jay arrives back from a surfing holiday. Gabby entices him to sample a little 'devils food'. PARIROA MARAE, PATEA. A radio DJ announces that for the first time an all Maori language record 'Poj E' has reached No.1 on the New Zealand Top 40. Jay and Gabby's engagement is announced to the whanau, but Jay and Gabby have their own celebration with a little 'devils food'. The effect of the drugs and alcohol cause the lovers to hallucinate. The Marae, the last Bastion of all things tapu and sacred to the tribe has been desecrated. Jay and Gabby are attacked by their flying tipuna (ancestors). GABBY'S APARTMENT, KING'S CROSS. Friends call on Gabby to find she has been violently beaten by drug-crazed Jay. Supported by her friends she makes a last minute plea to him, but her pleas fall on deaf ears and she chooses to leave him. SYDNEY HOSPITAL. Jay is in a drug-induced coma with Gabby by his side. Uncle Ted, Jay's sister Letty and Gabby's uncle Dalvanius have flown from New Zealand to be with their mokopuna. Jay loses battle for his life and the Doctor pronounces him dead. PARIROA MARAE. The whanau gather for the tangi of their beloved grandchild. At the farewell speech Uncle Ted farewells Jay and Gabby's families and friends, and also the audience. The songs of Poi-E, the Musical 1. E Pa To Hau 2. Ko Aotea 3. Taranaki Patere 4. Parihaka 5. Nga Ohaki 6. Ngakau Maru 7. Hei Konei Ra 8. Ngoi Ngoi 9. He Tangata Tini Hanga 10. E Papa Waiari 11. Aku Raukura 12. Poi E 13. Haeremai 14. Kua Makona 15. Paikea 16. Anei Ra Recording History 1985 Hei Konei Ra released on the B side of the 45 disk E Papa, and won awards for Top Group and Top Male Vocalist. 1986 Hei Konei Ra released as a song on the Poi E LP album. 1996 Released on the Poi E CD. Ngoi Pewhairangi and the Patea Maori Club Ngoi and Dalvanius This is a song in praise of Ngoi Pewhairangi from Tokomaru Bay, a renowned writer of traditional Maori songs. Ngoi assisted show-business entertainer Davanius Prime by writing the lyrics of the upbeat pop Maori song 'Poi-E," and this was recorded with great gusto under Dalvanius's direction by the Patea Maori Club. When Poi-E went to the top of the New Zealand charts it greatly raised the morale in Dalvanius's small town of Patea where the local freezing works (slaughter house) had closed and put hundreds out of work. Dalvanius expanded Poi-E into a folk musical based on events after the closing of the freezing works. The musical included the song 'Ngoi Ngoi.' The ex-freezing workers took this show on a successful tour to Britain. Another song called He Konei Ra I don't know anything about this song. Can anyone tell me? Hei konei ra Tenei te wa ki ahau Kei te haere I tenei ra E noho ra Waiho koe ki muri Te aroha nui e Mahara mou tonu Ki ahau Toro mai to ringa Kia harirutia Kia kaha kia tatou Aroha e Farewell It is time for me to go I am leaving today Goodbye You are remaining My love bubbles up I will remember you Forever Stretch out your hand to me To shake in farewell And strengthen our ties Of love Kiwi Songs - Maori Songs - Home Placed on this website on 1 Jan 2008, modified for narrow screens, Nov 2021