Hi'ilawe by Sonny Chillingworth | Hawaiian Classic Mēle

Details
Title | Hi'ilawe by Sonny Chillingworth | Hawaiian Classic Mēle |
Author | Hawaiian Slack Key |
Duration | 6:05 |
File Format | MP3 / MP4 |
Original URL | https://youtube.com/watch?v=byIuKEmNKW8 |
Description
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Behind the track: 🎵
A true Slack Key standard closely associated with Sonny's beloved friend and frequent playing companion, Pops Gabby Pahinui (1921-1980), Hi'ilawe poetically discusses a love affair that took place in the beautiful Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Waipio was for many centuries home to a thriving Hawaiian community at the foot of Hi'ilawe and Waio'ulu, two spectacular waterfalls. The mele describes the visit to Waipi'o of a young lady from Puna. No Puna ke 'ala i hali 'ia mai(a fragrance was brought from Puna), the song says, noho i ka wailele a'o Hi'ilawe (to linger at Hi'ilawe). Apparently this visit provoked some gossip, as the song also makes reference to chattering birds from which the young lady wishes to escape.
"I first learned Hi'ilawe," Sonny says, "when I was a kid on Moloka'i. This is the song that really turned me on to Slack Key, when I heard Gabby's version on an old 78. That was beautiful. His voice was high then. We didn't have electricity on Moloka'i, but we had one of those old Victrolas with a crank. I had that record going, you know, playing and playing. And then my grandfather came in. He listened to it. At first he liked it. Than at one part where Gabby made a mistake in his Hawaiian, he grabbed that record - I thought he was gonna grab the whole Victrola - and he threw it out the window. Oh, I tell you, I was sick. Then he said, in Hawaiian, you know, 'Gabby, it's ia Hi'ilawe, not a'o Hi'ilawe.' Course, Gabby didn't care, he sang the words right or wrong. It sounded good anyway."
At 15, Sonny visited Honolulu, where his mother took him to meet Gabby at a gig. Sonny couldn't go inside, so his mother brought Gabby outside to hear her son play. "He must have liked what he heard," Sonny says, "'cause he went back in and came out with his guitar. We played all night. That was really an honor. After a few more years, we started to play together. I loved the man. Nobody else did what Gabby did. There are so many stories, so many."