Here are the lyrics of some mele (songs) dear to the heart of the people of Hilo. Feel free to learn them and join in!
In this blast from the past, we found a video that Kumu Leilehua made for her haumāna to practice with for a Lei Day celebration at the Palace Theater in Hilo. This is the choreography Kumu Leilehua’s grandmother used for a program at the Hilo Women’s Club in the 1930s. You can learn it and join in the group hula!
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai`i
Red Hawk, 1927
F Gm
Land of the flowers, of flow’ry bowers
C7 F
In her gay dress she appears
F D7 Dm G7
A sweet happy maid, may her dress never fade
G7 C7
As she carries this day thr’u’ the years
Land of green mountains, gardens and fountains
Beaches of white shining sand
Where each one I see has a smile just for me
And holds ready a welcoming hand
F C7
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai`i
C7 F
Garlands of flowers ev’rywhere
D7 G7
All of the colors of the rainbow
G7 C7
Maidens with blossoms in their hair
F C7
Flowers that mean we should be happy
C7 F
Throwing aside our load of care,
A7 D7 G7
Oh! May Day is Lei Day in Hawai`i
C7 F
Lei Day is Happy Day out there!
We also found the choreography for Hilo, My Home Town, that Aunty Hazel Carter Yuen taught her. Aunty Hazel was one of Hilo’s early Lei Day queens!
Hilo, My Home Town
By Hazel Carter Yuen
D7 G7 C D7 G7 C
C
Come along, join the throng
C
Visit my Aloha Land
C G7
Take a train, or a plane
G7
Travel any way you can
C
See the smiling faces
C7
Of the many races
F
You’ll be smiling too
D7
You will want to linger
D7
Learn to do the hula
G7
Make some whoopie too
G7 C
Start the day, wear a lei
C
And a colored mu`umu`u
G7
Hear the crowd sing aloud,
G7
“Aloha nui to you!”
G7 F
For there’s no place on earth
F C A7
Where friends prove their worth
A7 D7 G7 C
More than Hilo, my home town
Oh, there’s no place on earth
Where friends prove their worth
More than Hilo, my home town!
Hilo March
Joseph Kapaeau Ae`a
C C C C
C C7 F C
`Ike hou ana i ka nani a`o Hilo
C F C D7 G7
I ka uluwehiwehi o ka lehua,
C C7
Lei ho`ohihi
C7 F C
Hi`i a ka malihini
C F A D7 G7 C
Mea `ole i ke kono a ke aloha
Hawai`i Aloha
Rev. Lorenzo Lyons
E Hawai`i e ku`u one hānau e
Ku`u home kulaīwi nei
‘Oli nō au i nā pono lani e
E Hawai`i, aloha ē
Hui:
E hau`oli nā ` ō pio o Hawai`i nei
`Oli ē! `Oli ē!
Mai nā aheahe makani e pā mai nei
Mau ke aloha, no Hawai`i