One day I saw a Facebook status update from my friend Kama Hopkins, noting that he was on the Pali Highway and it was raining. I thought to myself, “why the heck is he updating his Facebook status while he’s driving?”. I wrote a single verse (verse 5 below) to tease him about it and to remind him not to do such dangerous things (turns out he was stuck in traffic at the time and not speeding down the road). Within about 15 minutes I had 7 verses and posted it on Facebook. About a day later Kama sent an audio recording of the song, which is attached (scroll all the way to the bottom of the text to click on the player application). Too much fun.
| E ku‘u hoa pūnaewele, ‘eā | My network friend |
| Hāpai ‘ia kou inoa ‘eā | Your name has been mentioned |
| Kainō ua kama‘āina, ‘eā | It seems that we are acquainted |
| Wahi a nēia Puke Alo, eā | According to this Facebook thing. |
| He mau hoa like paha, ‘eā | Perhaps we have similar friends |
| Hele i ke kula ho‘okahi, ‘eā | Went to the same school |
| A launa ma kehahi ‘ano, ‘eā | Or met in some other way |
| Pehea lā ho‘i ka pilina, ‘eā? | How indeed are we connected? |
| Pi‘i mau a‘e ka heluna, ‘eā | A numbers keep climbing |
| Ma ka pahu ‘ula‘ula, ‘eā | in the red box |
| He memo hou nō ho‘i, ‘eā | A new message |
| ‘Akahi nō a hiki mai, ‘eā! | has just been received! |
| Hiki pū mai he makana, ‘eā | A gift has also arrived |
| Kohu mea ‘ono ka ‘ikena, ‘eā | Which looks like a cake |
| He ki‘i wale nō na‘e, eā | But is just a picture |
| I hiki ‘ole ke ‘ai ‘ia, ‘eā | Which cannot be eaten |
| Mai ho‘ololi i ke kūlana, ‘eā | Don’t change your status |
| Ke kalaiwa i ke alanui, ‘eā | When driving the road |
| O hālāwai auane‘i, ‘eā | Or you might meet |
| Me ka ulia ka‘a, ‘eā | With a little fender bender |
| Lohea ka leo o ka moa, ‘eā | The sound of the rooster is heard |
| Kūpina‘i i ka pilipuka, ‘eā | Reverberating in the darkness before dawn |
| Ua aha ‘ia nā hola, ‘eā? | What happened to the time? |
| Lilo i ka hana lapuwale, ‘eā | It was lost in worthless activity |
| Pio wale iho ke ku‘ina, ‘eā | The network connection has just dropped |
| I hea ku‘u lawe lima, ‘eā? | Where is my mobile phone? |
| Ha‘ina ‘ia ka puana, ‘eā | Let the story be told |
| Ku‘u mau hoa Puke Alo, ‘eā | Of my FaceBook friends. |
“Facebook Hula” © 2009 Keola Donaghy, 4/20/09
Audio recording © 2009 Kama Hopkins
Sung to the melody of “Hilo Hula” (‘Kaulana mai nei ‘o Hilo, ‘eā…’)
Aloha e Keola!
Uiha! E ho”o”aka”aka ana kau mele ia”u! He ka maika”i loa kau mele!
Mahalo,
Julia