After a quick detour on changing ukulele strings, today we go from a phone pole on the prairie to a moonlit beach on the north shore of Kauai — my favorite island in Hawaii. I’ve been working on the Bob Nelson song from 1974, Hanalei Moon. This is considered hapa haole music — mainly English lyrics with a few Hawaiian words. The genre developed in the early 20th century when using the Hawaiian language was frowned upon. The Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance revived the language in the 1970s, and while the hapa haole genre fell out of favor it has come to be appreciated again.

I’ve heard Hanalei Moon numerous times strummed on a ukuele with a vocalist singing the melody. It’s beautiful, and I found it in a Hawaiian songbook I was given at Christmas. It’s the first Hawaiian song I’ve learned and definitely a different style than what I’ve played to this point. Here are the lyrics:

When you see Hanalei by moonlight
You will be in heaven by the sea
Every breeze, every wave will whisper
You are mine, don’t ever go away
Hanalei, Hanalei moon is lighting beloved Kauai
Hanalei, Hanalei moon, aloha no wau i a o wai
Hanalei moon

Feel free to sing along with the melody while sipping a fruity drink:

Coming up next is a song Roberta Flack made famous in 1973…