The bridge in this song is a metaphor for the social structure which keeps different cultures in any country joined together. Deane (Dean) Waretini Jr. was the first to sing it.
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Taku aroha - i aue, i aue - Ki nga pou1 o te piriti Äki, pakia mai rau E nga tai2 kaha ra e Pukepuke, i aue Nga roimata e aku kamo I rite ki te ngaru Whati3 mai, whati mai I waho e, whati mai. | My
concern -truly, truly - is for the pillars of the bridge. pounded, beaten, a hundred times by the strong tides there rising and falling, oh. The tears in my eyes are like the waves, welling up, and spilling over here, while outside, (the waves are also) breaking. | |
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Spoken "My concern is for the piles4 of the bridge, constantly pounded by the strong tides. The tears well up in my eyes They are like the waves that break without." | ||
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...e nga tai kaha ra e Pukepuke, i aue Nga roimata e aku kamo I rite ki te ngaru Whati mai, whati mai I waho e, whati mai. | ...
by the strong tides there rising and falling, oh. The tears in my eyes are like the waves, welling up, and spilling over here, while outside, (the waves are also) breaking. |
Footnotes
- Pou = supporting posts, poles, piles, pillars. This word is most commonly heard in reference to the main supports holding up the roof in a Maori meeting house.
- Tai = tides. So this is a bridge in coastal waters, across a river estury, as at Paramata, or across a harbour, as at Auckland.
- Whati = waves breaking = rising up and splashing all about.
- Piles. When Deane Jr recorded this, he spoke it with a slurred L, which sounds like he is speaking about the powers of the bridge. This has confused some people.
Tune samples
Listen to Dennis Marsh sing it, night-club style, similar to how Deane Waretini Jr. originally sang it MP3 236 Kb
This is highly compressed. Dennis Marsh's singing of this song on his millennium 2000 CD, "Out of New Zealand," sounds even better.
Deane Waretini, Senior and Junior
Deane Waretini of Rotorua and his cousin Ana Hato were perhaps the most famous Maori singers of the mid-20th century. Their 1930s-40s recordings of European-influenced songs in Maori had a traditional quality, with a distinctive note of lament.
Adrian Waretini was the youngest son of Deane, and he had moved from Rotorua to Christchurch in his late teens as a labourer. He was 21 when his dad died in 1967, and suddenly realized what he had lost. So he started singing his dad's songs to try and get close to his dad in spirit. He became one of the big names in the Maori showbands of the 1970s.
"You sound just like your dad," people said, and started calling him Deane also (or Dean Waretini).
George Tait was a cousin of Adrian/Deane Jr, on the farm next to the Waretini's at Rotorua. He wrote the lyrics of Te Piriti for him to sing, using the tune of Nino Rosso's trumpet tune "Il Silencio."
The bridge George Tait wrote about is a metaphorical one, connecting different cultures.
The maori word Pou is usually used for the posts or poles which are the main supports holding up the roof in a Maori meeting house. And the meeting house is also a symbolic building representing the crouching protective body of the iwi.
So the message of the song is that the social structures which keep different cultures in any country joined together must have strong foundations.
My thanks to Mr Waretini for providing this information.
Other Maori Songs - Main Song List - Home
Published on the web 15 October 2004