"Kaulana Na Pua" (Famous are the Flowers) - The Makaha Sons

A stirring 1893 song about Hawaiian independence.

I went to Hawaii for the first time a few years ago to speak.

After that, I began listening to Hawaiian music. I don’t speak Hawaiian but the melodies were soothing, and I could write to them.

I tend to write to music without lyrics, or with lyrics not in English. So I expanded my Hawaiian music playlist.

Along the way, I had to stop writing one day when I heard the gorgeous Kaulana Na Pua. Listened to it over and over.

I researched the piece.

Kaulana Na Pua was written to protest U.S. annexation of the islands and in support of the overthrown queen, Liliʻuokalani. The Royal Hawaiian Band was asked to sign an oath of allegiance to the U.S. The band refused and asked a local songwriter to write them a song expressing their protest. It is also known as “The Stone-Eating Song,” for the lyrics proclaiming band members’ disdain for the Americans’ money, preferring instead to eat the rocks of the land.

There are several stunning versions of this song.

My favorite, though, is by The Makaha Sons, (2001, see above) a pioneering group formed in the 1970s’ resurgence of Hawaiian-language music.

The band went through many personnel changes. One of its original members was Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole — who would go on to a crossover career (with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wonderful World”) before his death in 1997.

Enjoy “Kaulana Na Pua” - a great song, and its story.

Kaulana Na Pua (Hawaiian lyrics, English below)

Kaulana nā pua aʻo Hawaiʻi
Kūpaʻa mahope o ka ʻāina
Hiki mai ka ʻelele o ka loko ʻino
Palapala ʻānunu me ka pākaha

Pane mai Hawaiʻi moku o Keawe
Kōkua nā Hono aʻo Piʻilani
Kākoʻo mai Kauaʻi o Mano
Paʻapū me ke one Kākuhihewa

ʻAʻole aʻe kau i ka pūlima
Maluna o ka pepa o ka ʻenemi
Hoʻohui ʻāina kūʻai hewa
I ka pono siwila aʻo ke kanaka

ʻAʻole mākou aʻe minamina
I ka puʻukālā a ke aupuni
Ua lawa mākou i ka pōhaku
I ka ʻai kamahaʻo o ka ʻāina

Mahope mākou o Liliʻulani
A loaʻa e ka pono o ka ʻāina^[a]
Haʻina ʻia mai ana ka puana
Ka poʻe i aloha i ka ʻāina

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Kaulana Na Pua (Famous Are the Flowers)

Famous are the children of Hawaii
Ever loyal to the land
When the evil messenger comes
With his greedy document of extortion.

Hawaii, the land of Keawe answers,
The bays of Pi’lani help.
Kauaʻi of Mano lends support,
All are united by sands of Kakuhihewa.

Fix not a signature
To the paper of the enemy.
With its sin of annexation
And sale of the people's civil rights.

We value not
The government's hills of money,
We're satisfied with the rocks
The wondrous food of the land.

We support Lili’uokalani
Who has won the rights of the land.
The story is told
of the people who love the land.