R. O. pre-K.

A few weeks ago my family and I went to Honolulu, Hawaii. I had to go for work because we were holding a special meeting there, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to take my wife and daughter to an island paradise. Since none of us had ever been to Hawaii, that’s exactly what we did! Here are a few songs to give you the feel of what we experienced in Hawaii.

“Holiday In Waikiki”, The Kinks
From the album Face to Face
Written by R. Davies, 1966
“Holiday In Waikiki” lyrics

In a way, at first I felt like the person in this song who won a trip to Hawaii. Not only did we stay in the Waikiki section of Honolulu, but we also discovered that even a tropical paradise such as Hawaii could be a little cheesy. Don’t get me wrong, a bad day in Hawaii is better than a good day in New Jersey, but strangely enough, they both have things in common!

“Diamond Head”, The Ventures
From the compilation Walk-Don’t Run
Written by A. Vescovo, L. Ritz, J. Ackley and B. Wilson, 1968
(This song is an instrumental, it has no lyrics)

Diamond Head is a very famous landmark on the island of O’ahu. It is an extinct volcano that you can walk into and then up the side of. When you get to the top, you have a fabulous view of Honolulu and the coast of O’ahu. Never mind the view, it was really cool being inside a volcano without having to worry if it would erupt!

“Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)”, Spike Jones And The City Slickers
From the compilation The Spike Jones Anthology
Original melody and lyrics written by Prince Leleiohoku, sometime in the 1860’s
This version written by R. Freed, J. Noble, and Leleiohoku, 1946
“Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)” lyrics

One night we went to a luau. It was a lot of fun, combining both traditional Hawaiian music and dances with lots of goofy jokes, kind of like this song. It was originally written by one of Hawaii’s princes and later made extremely silly by Spike Jones.

“Aloha ‘Oe”
From the album All the Best from Hawaii - 20 Great Favorites
Written by Queen Lili’uokalani, 1877
This is an instrumental version, but here are the lyrics that go with it

This song was also written by Hawaiin royalty; Queen Lili’uokalani, the last reigning Queen of Hawaii. It is probably the most famous traditional Hawaiian song ever. We knew we had gotten used to island life when it would just pop into our heads while walking down the beach.

“Yellow Submarine”, The Beatles
From the album Revolver
Written by Lennon/McCartney, 1966
“Yellow Submarine” lyrics

On our next to last day, we went out in an actual submarine! It was totally cool; we saw tons of fish, a few turtles, and some sunken ships and crashed planes that had been turned into coral reefs. As we dove down into the ocean we couldn’t help but sing this song.

“Vacation Island”, Kid Koala
From the album Some of my Best Friends are DJs
“Vacation Island” lyrics

Of course, after we forgot our cares and were nice and relaxed, it was finally time to come home. Booooooo! We want to go back, there’s still so much to see; waterfalls, active volcanoes, the Banzai Pipeline, pineapple fields, ‘Iolani Palace, black sand beaches and more. Some day we’ll go again…