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Old 11-13-2007, 02:54 PM
M2d M2d is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: california
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Default Re: Songs with cool stories behind them

ipo lei manu

the lyrics (in hawaiian), translation and back story are at this link.
cliff notes version is that Queen Kapi'olani wrote this song for her husband, King Kalakaua after he set sail to California in 1890. The King died in San Francisco and never heard this song.

It's a very beautiful love song and now is a considered a standard in Hawaiian music. it's sung in the upper range of the male register, between normal and falcetto, which gives it a haunting longing quality to it.
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