(no subject)

There's this song called "Ku'u Lei Momi" (which means "my precious pearl lei"--the lei usually represents a loved one, not an actual lei.) That's the traditional name for it, but it's usually better known as "Ka'ena."

In Hawaiian it goes like this:

Aia i Ka`ena ku`u lei momi
I ka ho`opulu `ia i ka ehukai
Kou maka onaona ka`u i aloha
Kou leo kani hone hone i ke kula

Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
Aia i Ka`ena ku`u lei momi"

And the translation:

There at Ka`ena is my pearl lei
Moistened by the spray of the sea
Your gentle sweet eyes are mine to love
Your sweet voice heard on the plains
Tell the refrain
There at Ka`ena is my pearl lei "

In Hawaiian poetry you're always paying heed to the kaona, which means the hidden meaning. Often the hidden meaning is sexual in nature, and sometimes it's very subtle, sometimes not subtle at all, but playfully obvious.

In this song, though, you'd have to actually do some research on the place name to learn (what I suspect is) the story of the mele. Ka'ena was the place on O'ahu where the dead souls would leap into the next world. (In Hawaiian lore, when you died, you would leap off the Westernmost tip of whichever island you were from. If you were a bad soul, you wouldn't leap, but would stay there, discontent. Which is why the Sheraton Maui is haunted.)

Anyway, this version is sung by Danny Couch, and--though I only like two songs on the entire CD--I can't seem to stop listening to this one. It's perhaps a leap of my own to just assume that the story is about someone who has died, but it was something in his voice that made me look it up in the first place. The melody is beautiful but it sounds mournful, like he's looking for her.

And sometimes there are songs that stay with me when I'm worried about something, or about losing someone (which I briefly was this past two weeks,) which, no matter how beautiful, will always remind me of that worry. (A few years ago, at Christmas, it was "Guardian Angels" by, oh, one of the tenors, god help me I can't remember which one.) Actually, something about this melody reminds me of this, and brings the same person and the same worry to mind.

And then I'm like, what the hell am I doing this for? Stop listening to it, put the MP3 down and back away slowly. Go to a party tomorrow, get your groove on, come back and listen to it again when you're not tired and fuzzyheaded and sick. I'm like, you know everything's okay, why are you busting out crying, moron?

Then I remember that today is the date when someone who meant a lot to me lost someone who meant a lot to him. It's weird how you can remember a date and not remember it at the same time. Oddly this makes me feel better, because it reminds me that this thing has already happened and has nothing to do with anything that's going on now.

But I'd love for some of you to hear this song. You know how you find a song and you just want other people to get it? And maybe they don't, but you want them to try, anyway. When he sings the ha'ina (that's the chorus of most Hawaiian mele, the part that says, "now my story is told," and sort of invites a reply,) his voice is like "ping!" a garrott tipped wire through your chest.

Or something like that.

Anyway, my friend Donna is getting married next september, and last night all the bridesmaids (myself included,) the maid of honor (my good friend Casse,) the flower girl, and bride's mother all went out to get fitted for our gowns. We had a great time choosing styles and colors. Not so great getting measured (when did my ass get so wide?! I used to be 36-27-35 and now I'm...not...) but it was still fun. Casse and I drove together, and we listened to music and sang all the way there and back. Donna chose the first dress she tried on, and she looked beautiful in it.

For kicks, and maybe just to freak ourselves out, Casse and I each tried on a wedding gown, too.

( And Johnny Fontaine is going to sing at my wedding! )

Well, tomorrow's the Halloween party. I hope it's going to be as awesome as I'm expecting and I don't have any, uhh, cotume malfunctions. Today at work I went as a bluejay. Clever, if I do say so myself. Only one person got it on the first guess, though.

Dance class tomorrow first, though. That should prove challenging.

Anyway, in case I don't get a chance to say so before Sunday, I hope everyone has a most awesome Halloween. Dress up, go out, do something awesome and exciting. Have fun, everyone!

(no subject)

There's this song called "Ku'u Lei Momi" (which means "my precious pearl lei"--the lei usually represents a loved one, not an actual lei.) That's the traditional name for it, but it's usually better known as "Ka'ena."

In Hawaiian it goes like this:

Aia i Ka`ena ku`u lei momi
I ka ho`opulu `ia i ka ehukai
Kou maka onaona ka`u i aloha
Kou leo kani hone hone i ke kula

Ha`ina `ia mai ana ka puana
Aia i Ka`ena ku`u lei momi"

And the translation:

There at Ka`ena is my pearl lei
Moistened by the spray of the sea
Your gentle sweet eyes are mine to love
Your sweet voice heard on the plains
Tell the refrain
There at Ka`ena is my pearl lei "

In Hawaiian poetry you're always paying heed to the kaona, which means the hidden meaning. Often the hidden meaning is sexual in nature, and sometimes it's very subtle, sometimes not subtle at all, but playfully obvious.

In this song, though, you'd have to actually do some research on the place name to learn (what I suspect is) the story of the mele. Ka'ena was the place on O'ahu where the dead souls would leap into the next world. (In Hawaiian lore, when you died, you would leap off the Westernmost tip of whichever island you were from. If you were a bad soul, you wouldn't leap, but would stay there, discontent. Which is why the Sheraton Maui is haunted.)

Anyway, this version is sung by Danny Couch, and--though I only like two songs on the entire CD--I can't seem to stop listening to this one. It's perhaps a leap of my own to just assume that the story is about someone who has died, but it was something in his voice that made me look it up in the first place. The melody is beautiful but it sounds mournful, like he's looking for her.

And sometimes there are songs that stay with me when I'm worried about something, or about losing someone (which I briefly was this past two weeks,) which, no matter how beautiful, will always remind me of that worry. (A few years ago, at Christmas, it was "Guardian Angels" by, oh, one of the tenors, god help me I can't remember which one.) Actually, something about this melody reminds me of this, and brings the same person and the same worry to mind.

And then I'm like, what the hell am I doing this for? Stop listening to it, put the MP3 down and back away slowly. Go to a party tomorrow, get your groove on, come back and listen to it again when you're not tired and fuzzyheaded and sick. I'm like, you know everything's okay, why are you busting out crying, moron?

Then I remember that today is the date when someone who meant a lot to me lost someone who meant a lot to him. It's weird how you can remember a date and not remember it at the same time. Oddly this makes me feel better, because it reminds me that this thing has already happened and has nothing to do with anything that's going on now.

But I'd love for some of you to hear this song. You know how you find a song and you just want other people to get it? And maybe they don't, but you want them to try, anyway. When he sings the ha'ina (that's the chorus of most Hawaiian mele, the part that says, "now my story is told," and sort of invites a reply,) his voice is like "ping!" a garrott tipped wire through your chest.

Or something like that.

Anyway, my friend Donna is getting married next september, and last night all the bridesmaids (myself included,) the maid of honor (my good friend Casse,) the flower girl, and bride's mother all went out to get fitted for our gowns. We had a great time choosing styles and colors. Not so great getting measured (when did my ass get so wide?! I used to be 36-27-35 and now I'm...not...) but it was still fun. Casse and I drove together, and we listened to music and sang all the way there and back. Donna chose the first dress she tried on, and she looked beautiful in it.

For kicks, and maybe just to freak ourselves out, Casse and I each tried on a wedding gown, too.

( And Johnny Fontaine is going to sing at my wedding! )

Well, tomorrow's the Halloween party. I hope it's going to be as awesome as I'm expecting and I don't have any, uhh, cotume malfunctions. Today at work I went as a bluejay. Clever, if I do say so myself. Only one person got it on the first guess, though.

Dance class tomorrow first, though. That should prove challenging.

Anyway, in case I don't get a chance to say so before Sunday, I hope everyone has a most awesome Halloween. Dress up, go out, do something awesome and exciting. Have fun, everyone!