|
This song originated in the Hastings area and was composed during the early part of World War II, as a song of encouragement to all tribes to enlist the services of their sons for war.
|
(All) Titiro
ki nga hoia kua wehi nei Tahi miti toru e Tae te marumaru Whare tapu teitei Te ao korowhiti ...Kia kaha! kia manawanui! |
(All) Look
at the soldiers departing from us First one then later three weapons as a protection for the lofty sacred house known throughout the world ...Be strong! be patient! |
The
above version is from the 1960 book, Maori Action Songs written by
Alan Armstrong and Reupena Ngata.
The lyrics and comments below are from the 1992 book Waiata Maori
by Toby Rikihana.
| Pä
mai tö reo aroha Ki te pä o Hikorangi E ngä iwi o Aotearoa Haere mai, haere mai. Tae te marumaru Whare tapu teitei Te ao korowhiti Titiro ki nga hoia kua wehi nei Aue! te aroha me te mamae E nga iwi o Aotearoa Kia kaha! kia manawanui! | Your
voice of love reaches the army base of (..whatever is nearest) People of new Zealand Come hither, come hither. as a protection for the lofty sacred house known throughout the world Look at the soldiers departing from us Alas! the love and the pain. To the people of New Zealand, Be strong! be patient! |
Rikihana says in his book Waiata Maori that the precise meaning of the Tahi miti chant unknown, but that one informant told him it could be a "waiata whaiwhaiä," a chant used to cast a spell which keeps enemies away. (Whaiwhaiä = Mäkutu)
Rikihana also draws attention to a longer, and therefore older, version of the "Tahi miti" chant in another song, Haere mai E ngä iwi e.
| Haere
mai, haere mai E ngä iwi e haere mai Ki runga o te marae Hui mai tätou katoa E hine mä, e tama mä Hapainga to mana Mäori e Kia rewa runga rawa I a ha hä E ngä iwi e Haere mai, haere mai. Tae te marumaru Whare tapu teitei Te ao korowhiti Tenei au e te tü hawerewere Te ao wahine Rürü täwhai täwhai |
Welcome, welcome all the tribes welcome onto the courtyard all of us gathered here. Young women, young men uplift your Maori prestige to float on high I a ha ha All the tribes Welcome welcome. as a protection for the lofty sacred house known throughout the world This be I standing alert noticed by all women and all things tremble. |
I do not like the way pop versions of Pa Mai exploit this song, like the much-played 1999 version by Maisey Rika. She sings it in a meaningless pretty-pretty way, and omits the chant for protection against enemies.
Play this 144 K MP3 pop version of Pa Mai, by Maisey Rika.
This
is a song which whanau sang with huge pride, and great grief, as their fine
young sons departed to war. Those proudly supporting their boys' departure
knew very well that many of them would be mutilated or killed. I feel it
could be sung with much more dignity.
This is performed as an action song. The traditional actions can be found
in the recently reprinted book, Maori Action Songs, 2002, by Armstrong
and Ngata.
I've long suspected that Pa Mai is to a "borrowed" tune. Many of the Maori songs originating from the beginning-to-just-after WW2 usually seem to use melodies borrowed from either big/dance bands or country/western artists. However, I've always presumed Pa Mai was probably set to a [let's call it] Hawaiian-style song. Pure guesswork though! It's just that the tune itself screams "Hawaiian guitar" -- to me it's so redolent of the lap steel instrumental-based compositions of the 30s, rather than the melody sweep a tunesmith would conjure up for a vocalist.
Song List - Other Maori Songs - Home Page made March 2th 2005, for Jim Moriarty, for his Te Rakau production of Te Hokowhitu a Tu.