Hawaii: Hawaiian HUG Lullaby

Hawaiians think they live in paradise. They’re right! These islands brim over with natural beauty. The language of the hula beautifully embodies the swaying palms, the mountains thrusting into the sky, and the easy ways of the sea turtles. Find a good snorkel spot—there are many here—and you enter a whole new world of wild color and gentle shapes.

I’ve made a point of listening to a good deal of Hawaiian music. It too captures the beauty of the islands. Tempos are generally as relaxed as the way of life is here. More vowel-rich even than Italian, Hawaiian is perfect for singing. And Hawaii boasts generations of great singers. Nothing is forced by traditional Hawaiian vocalists, but the best ones have a range that reaches from the bottom of the sea way up into the clouds. Effortlessly taking big jumps in melodies (octaves and sixths, especially), Hawaiian singers move seamlessly into their head tones or falsetto voices. They yodel, in effect, but nothing sounds pushed.

Hawaiian vocal harmonies are really cool too. There is a churchy quality to the sound, not unlike what Paul Simon heard in Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Male and female vocal groups both have that four-part sound, but there is often also a touch of the Andrews Sisters. Plus the whole cowboy (“paniola”) thing is there too. (Apparently a couple of Hawaiian cowboys won a big rodeo in Wyoming shortly after the turn of the twentieth century.) Christianity, Gene Autrey, and the US Navy—Hawaiian musicians took it all in, and made something enduringly beautiful of often unfortunate cultural conflicts.

Hawaiian music tends to be slow of tempo, tender of sentiment, and surprisingly complex of harmony. The best of it stretches out the country-style harmonies, perhaps because the ukulele is itself tuned to a sixth chord! My favorite Hawaiian songs have wide-ranging melodies, from-the-heart lyrics, tight vocal harmonies, ukuleles mating in the mix with lap-steel and slack-key guitars, and a polish on the product that shines like a koa wood oar.

As Jan and I travel around, I'm interested in hearing and perhaps collecting lullabies, particularly ones that might be sung by fathers. There is a pretty famous “Hawaiian Lullaby” that Iz and Keali’i Reichel did. It’s more about the island than a baby—so I took a shot at making one of my own. (See below.)

Jan wrote the lyrics (with a few tweaks from me). Wish I had time to stay and record it. Certainly I can’t do it justice as a vocalist, but I’ve heard several cats who could. Maybe I’m just not relaxed enough—yet!