NEW  ZEALAND
FOLK * SONG
Hokihoki Tonu Mai
  Paraire Tomoana?  c. 1900

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This was originally the lament of young Maori women whose husbands or lovers
had died. In WW2 it adopted the 'Little Brown Jug' tune and became a song of hope that sons and lovers going off to battle in Europe again would return safely this time.

Click here to play an old recording of this song (with chords E A B).




D Hokihoki G to-D-nu mai e
A Te wairua D o te tau
Ki te awhi G Re-D-inga
Ki A te-D-nei kiri e.

Ka pinea G koe D e ahau
Ki A te pine o D te aroha
Ki te pine2 G e D kore nei
A E D waikura e.

   Again and again he returns,
the spirit of my beloved
from Reinga,1 for an embrace
with this skin of mine.

You are pinned to me
with the closeness of love
with a closeness/pin2 that will never
rust away.

1 Reinga

Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of the North Island, is the jumping-off place of the spirits, where the souls of Maori dead return to their ancestors in Hawaiiki.

2 Pi-ne

The old Polynesian word for 'close' is 'pine' pronounced "pee-ney" and it was also the name Maori gave to the European pin used to attach a flower on one's dress at the breast.

Versions

1840s. A Ngati Maniapoto woman named Hema composed Moe Hurihuri, after her European husband Spencer was drowned. The Ngati Maniapoto schooner he was the master of went down during a crossing from Kawhia to Sydney.

Ki te makau ra, e moea iho
E awhi reinga ana i raro ra
Ka hewa au, e koro, kai te ao, i. 		To the dear one, who only in dreams
comes to embrace me in spirit land
Often I thought, dearest one, it was in the flesh


1912. Alfred Hill wove this song into his composition "Waiata Maori."
"Miss Buckman is going to sing a typical Maori love song, specially composed for her by Alfred Hill. As I have had the pleasure of hearing her sing this, I think that both in the vocal and instrumental passages of this song will fairly startle her audience. The words of the song are as follows:
Come lovely brown-eyed creature
Flax-robed and dark in feature,
Come and chant thy plaintive lay.

And thou stern dusky Maori,
Sturdy as thine own kauri,
Dance, then, thy wild weird dance,
Shake thou the earth—come.

Come, lovely brown-eyed creature,
Flax-robed and dark in feature,
Come and chant thy quaint lay,
List! the maiden croons a song,
 
Hoki hoki tonu mai
Te wairua o te tau,
Ki te awhi Reinga
Ki tenei kiri e te tau,

’Tis a song of love, sad and tender,
Ki to awhi Reinga ki tenei kiri e.

With flashing eye and lolling tongue,
With gesture wild and fierce grimace,
The warrior, leaping into the air,
Shouts his defiant song—
Kamate kamate kaora kaora
Kamate kamate koara koara
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru
Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra
Hupane hupane
Hupane kapane whiti te ra, Ha!

Again is heard the song of love
Hoki hoki tonu mai
Te wairua o te tau
Ki te awhi Reinga
Ki tenei kiri e te tau.

Tis a song of love, sad and tender
 Ki to awhi Reinga
Ki tenei kiri e te tau.
Aue! Aue!

1919. Clarence Elkin collected a Hokihoki tune with descending triple notes. This was probably the original tune, but it soon mutated to rising triplets

1924. These lyrics, with herea in the second verse, were published in "Maori Music" by Johannes Andersen, accompanied by the rising tune at the top of this webpage.

Hokihoki tonu mai
Te wairua o te tau
Ki te awhi Reinga
Ki tenei kiri, e au.

Ka herea koe e au
Ki te here o te aroha
Ki te here e kore nei
E matara, e au.

Taku whaka-taka-riri
Ki te Mate ngau kino
Tipao rawa koe
Ki toku raukura, e au

    

Again and again he returns,
the spirit of my beloved
from Reinga, for an embrace
with this skin of mine.

Oh if I could bind you
with the bond of love
with a bond that could never
be loosened.

My anger
bites deep, O Death,
as you wander away
with my plume, my life's breath.


1927. The song was first recorded by Ana Hato on a Parlophone 78 disc, using the 1924 rising tune and pinea in the second verse.

1930 A version with four extra verses was collected by James Cowan and published in "The Maori: Yesterday and Today."
Hokihoki tonu mai
te wairua o te tau
Ki te awhi-Reinga
ki tenei kiri - e!

I tawhiti te aroha
e pai ana e te tau.
Te paanga ki te uma
mamae ana, e te tau!

He moenga hurihuri
te moenga i wharepuni,
Huri atu, huri mai,
ko au anake, e te tau.

He pikinga tutonu
te pikinga Hukarere;
Na te aroha
ka eke ki runga - e!

Aikiha ma e
mau mai to uma,
Maku i here
ka tino pai rawa - e!

Ka pinea koe e au
ki te pine o te aroha,
Ki te pine e kore nei
e waikura - e!

   

Oft does the spirit of my love
Return to me
To clasp in the spirit-world
This form of mine

Before love snared me
I was alway fine;
Now lies in my breast
a sweet pain, always, O my love!

Restless is my sleep
In the dormitory
I turn this way, that way,
I am lonely, O my love!

Far, far above me rise
The heights of Hukarere
Yet love will
Uplift me there.

A clean white hanky
On your breast
I'll tie it there
It'll look so smart!

I'll pin you to me
With the pin of love,
with the pin that never
rusts!

 

1940, the Little Brown Jug tune

Twenty two years later, in 1940, women started singing Hokihoki to the tune of the cheerful drinking song Little Brown Jug. I understand this tune was first used by Mr. Henry Stowell  ("Hare Hongi" Stowell, b.Waimate North 1859, f. J. S. Stowell (an engineer), m. Huhana (Nga Puhi). Worked 3 years surveying in the north, during which time he studied Maori language and tribal lore, and was admitted to the whare wananga)

The sons of those who had returned from World War 1 were volunteering to go away and fight in World War 2, and their mothers changed the tune and gave the words a new interpretation of the words to give themselves the hope that their sons would return home from this new war in Europe.

Again and again he touches me!
The spirit of my beloved
will return from the land of the dead
to hug me!


In 1939 Glenn Miller had made the 1869 Appalachian song Little Brown Jug world famous with a popular swing arrangement - "Ha, ha, ha, you and me, little brown jug, don't I love thee."

Little_Brown_Jug

And the tune of this drinking song is now usually used when singing Hokihoki Tonu Mai.

Those who sing this revved-up version of Hokihoki may sometimes ask themselves "Are we honouring those soldiers who died in World War One? Are we respecting those who grieved heart-brokenly for their loved ones?"

At a tangi, there is a period of several days of mourning, and then when the grief is all expressed, there is a time of happy singing to raise the mood of mourners before they go home again.

A similar process seems to have occurred here. Woman who had lost their lovers in World War One mourned for them, and then, when their grief was all expressed, they found other men who would help them raise the children that would carry on the life of their hapu to the next generation.

This change of mood has also occurred with Hoea Ra te Waka Nei, now sung prettily as Come O Maidens, and the WW2 song Tomo Mai e Tama Ma, now Howard Morrison's revved-up Hoki Mai e Tama Ma.

Photo courtesy Steven Pinker

Paraire Tomoana
Paraire Tomoana was born in Hawke's Bay in about 1875. Composer, publisher, Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Te Whatu-i-apiti leader. His secondary education was at Te Aute College, alongside of Apirana Ngata and Peter Buck. He was prominent in the Young Maori Party.

Despite having been born with a club foot, Paraire excelled in sport, representing Hawke's Bay in tennis, cricket and hockey, and for more than 10 years was the undefeated champion at the NZ Maori golf tournament. Appointed All Black coach in 1904.

He married twice. His first marriage had ended by 1912. The following year he married Kuini Ripeka Raerena (Ryland) aged 19. Paraire courted her by singing an early version of Pökarekare Ana to her and her Ngati Porou elders. They had four sons and four daughters, as well as an adopted son from Tomoana's first marriage.

During WWI helped raise funds for the Maori Soldiers' Fund by organising a song and dance group (Te Poi o Heretaunga) which performed at Wellington, Trentham and Auckland, including his compositions Hoea Ra Te Waka Nei, and E Pari Ra - the famous tangi for soldiers lost in battle. His songs reflected the modern European 'action song' style, moving away from the ancient chant rhythm of waiata and patere.

As well as composing action songs, Paraire was an accomplished writer and translator, a commentator on ancient waiata, and was well versed in Maori history and lore. Paraire was a remarkable man because he did so many things and did them comprehensively. He was not a dabbler.

One of Paraire and Kuini's sons, Flight Sergeant Tomaturangi Te Tomoana, was killed in action over Europe in 1943, age 29. He was in the 149th Squadron, RNZAF. A daughter Ringahora Heni Ngakai Ybel Tomoana, of Ngati Kahungunu, married Wi Huata, a priest and military chaplain, on 17 July 1947, at Waipatu.


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Published on the web 1 Sept, 2005
Overhauled Nov 2018,
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