Originally written as a “mele inoa” or chant in honor of the Queen, the song’s composer or originator is in dispute, with several possibilities as to who actually penned the words and for what occasion. It was said to have been written the night before the Queen’s birthday and sung to her early the next morning by Naha Hakuʻole, one of her descendants, along with Mary Adams Lucas and Mrs. Auld. It was the Queen, however, who set the words to a tune by Carlo Bosetti that was popular in the late nineteenth century. The places mentioned in “Makalapua” are sites on Oʻahu, and wind names associated with Oʻahu, since this was the island of her birth. (Moon Kauakahi)

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ʻO Makalapua ulumāhiehie

ʻO ka lei o Kamakaʻeha

No Kamakaʻeha ka lei na Liʻawahine

Nā wāhine kīhene pua.

 

Haʻihaʻi pua kamani paukū pua kī

I lei hoʻowehiwehi no ka wahine

E walea ai i ka waokele

I ka liko (i) o Maunahale.

 

Hui:

E lei hoʻi, e Liliʻulani ē

E lei hoʻi, e Liliʻulani ē.

 

Lei Kaʻala i ka ua a ka nāulu

Hoʻoluʻe ihola i lalo o Haleʻauʻau

Ka ua lei kōkōʻula i ke pili

I pilia ka mauʻu nēnē me ke kupukupu.

 

Lei aku i nā hala o Kekele

I nā hala moe ipo o Malailua

Ua māewa wale i ke oho o ke kāwelu

Nā lei kāmakahala o ka ua Waʻahila.

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*Compiled by Michael-Thomas Foumai. Digitally published for the Hawaiʻi Symphony Sheraton Starlight Series on June 4-6 2021.