Ku`u Hoa Hololio - by Alice Namakelua

 

Nani wale no `oe e ku`u ipo
Ku`u hoa hololio
O ke ahiahi

Ko hainakâ nui
Lei `â`î
He pulelo ha`aheo a`i ka makani

O ka mâkinikela ko`u mâhalo
Me na kêpâ kanikani
O ke kâma`a

Kau mai kou lei ia waioleka
Haku`ia a u`i me
Ka `iwa`iwa

Puana kou nani e ku`u ipo
Ku`u hoa hololio
O ke ahiahi

 

Alice Namakelua

 

How beautiful you are, my sweetheart
My companion with whom I ride horseback
In the evening

Your kerchief with large cross-stiching
Worn as a lei
It flutters proudly in the wind

I admire the martingale
And the jingling spurs
On the boots

Your lei of violets is there to be seen
Made pretty with
Maidenhair fern

My story is told for your beauty, my sweetheart
My companion with whom I ride horseback
In the evening

 

Source: "Aunty Alice Namakelua’s Lifetime Hawaiian Compositions"- The composer was thinking of the young boys and girls horse back riding in Hamakua and Laupahoehoe when she wrote this song Aug.15, 1957. This mele won 2nd prize in the May, 1962, Board of Parks and Recreation Song Contest at the Ala Wai clubhouse. Recorded by Kahauanu Lake Trio "Hawaiian Style" album, 1964