Anthony Peters
______
Fairfield, Ca 94533
(707) 330-_____
Dear ______,
I would like to submit my paper "Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: Hawaii's Biggest Ambassador" for publishing considerations. The paper is around 10 pages long and is publication ready. I feel that my paper is perfect for your publication since it ties Hawaii's most famous artist with globalization.
The article focuses on Israel's importance in spreading Hawaiian music to the world through his music. With emphasis on its use in the media and its current success overseas.
So far, readers have been very positive about it. I wrote the essay hoping to help spread knowledge of Hawaiian music and to open people up to it.
Thank you for your consideration.
Anthony Peters
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Final essay rough draft
Through out the world one name has become synonymous with Hawaiian music, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Even after his untimely death in 1997, Kamakawiwo’ole lived on through his music giving the Native Hawaiians a source of pride, and non-islanders a sense of hope for the future.
Growing up in Northern California as a working class white kid, I look about as close to a Hawaiian as I do to a native Iraqi. However, this did not stop my father’s side of the family from indoctrinating me with a pride of being Hawaiian. In all honesty, I am 1/16th Hawaiian and aside from a little bit of Native American inherited from my mother; the rest of me is pure European. At first look, I appear to be your average white male oppressor; my skin tone is light, my hair blonde, and my credit score is decent. However, as I previously stated I have a fierce loyalty to the Hawaiian people.
My grandparents migrated from Hawaii in the early 1960’s looking to pick up work and support my five uncles and aunties. As they moved here, they brought a lot of the culture of Hawaii with them. They regularly held luaus (Hawaiian feasts) with the Hawaiian club, spoke pidgin that is a mixture of Hawaiian, English, Tagalog, and Portuguese, but most importantly they brought the music of the islands with them.
Some of my earliest memories of my grandmother are riding in the car with her as Aunty Genoa’s silky soprano voice drifted out of the speakers. I don’t know if I was able to fully realize it at the time, but looking back at it, my grandmother was helping to plant a seed of what it was like back on the islands. Now, as I am getting older and am starting to see how cultures are starting to blend together, I am beginning to understand Hawaiian music’s role in sharing the Hawaiian culture with the rest of the world.
When Christian missionaries began to settle on the islands and try to convert the Native Hawaiians, Hawaiians began to write music based on the hymnals of the missionaries. Until that time, Hawaiian music was primarily chanting with few if any instruments. After Hawaiian music began to infuse the music of the missionaries with the story-songs of their culture, modern Hawaiian music was born. The most famous song of this time is the Queen Liliuokalani penned “Aloha Oe.”
Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and a direct descendant of King Kamehameha the Great. Queen Liluokalani gave great emphasis to music during her reign and wrote many songs that were popular across the islands. However, it is “Aloha Oe” that has lived on through the years. “Aloha Oe,” was written as a farewell between lovers in 1878 combining the melodies of the song “The Rock Besides the Sea” and “There is Music in the Air.” Originally sung in Hawaiian, “Aloha Oe” has evolved into a combination of both Hawaiian and English as many artists perform the chorus in Hawaiian and the verses in English.
Most people may think that Hawaiian music is more like the theme song from Hawaii 5-0, since that song is probably the best example of a song representing a place. Those people are very wrong in my opinion. Though Hawaiians have adopted the song as a sense of pride with the University of Hawaii performing the song at halftime of a lot of football games, it is not indicative of the Hawaiian music genre. The Hawaii 5-0 theme song is more representative of the surf rock genre of the 1960’s with its fast beats and electric guitar solos. The reason the original producers of the show may have used this song is the relationship of surfing and Hawaii. Surfing was first made popular in Hawaii and many people from the mainland began to surf after having seen it on the islands. And since many surfers in Southern California were adopting a Polynesian lifestyle, it could have been easy to confuse the surf rock sound of Southern California and that of the islands.
Now, Hawaiian music can most easily be indentified by the unmistakable sound of the ukulele. The ukulele, which is the unofficial instrument of the islands, is the most recognizable piece of the Hawaiian music genre. The very sound of the ukulele instantly transports the listener to Hawaii. Through the years, the media has combined the sounds of the Ukulele with images of a white sandy beach in Hawaii. These combinations of image and sound have come to define how the American public sees Hawaii.
Another element of Hawaiian music is the use of the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian music is one of the few places where the Hawaiian language is still used. Though a lot of Native Hawaiians can speak Hawaiian, most only use some key phrases or speak pidgin when talking to people from the Mainland. Kamakawiwo’ole regularly sang songs completely in Hawaiian. “Panini Pua Kea” is a song about a lover among flowers. The entire song written in Hawaiian is a beautiful song that is full of emotion that transcends any language barrier. Other songs of Kamakawiwo’ole featured both English and Hawaiian being used together. In Kamakawiwo’ole’s song “E ala E” both languages are used in a protest song crying out for a free Hawaii.
Other elements of Hawaiian music are keyboards, drums, a bass guitar, and guitar. These elements are not completely needed but are usually seen in most bands. Kamakawiwo’ole ‘s original band, the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, employed a standup acoustic bass, a six-string guitar, a 12-string guitar, and a ukulele. This set up has been copied by many other Hawaiian music acts.
With instruments and a language that is unique to Hawaii, Hawaiian music has become a way for Hawaiians to take pride in their culture and for Hawaiians that were raised on the Mainland to connect with their ancestors. In an emailed conversation between my cousins and myself, this was very apparent, as they all seemed to have the same feeling toward the music. My cousin, like myself, were raised here on the Mainland and have only been to Hawaii on vacations, however, in spite of this one thing that was apparent was that they all felt closer with their Hawaiian heritage thanks to the music of the Islands.
My cousin Burnadette sums up this feeling best, “They sing of the beauty of my homeland – the birth place of my family and the resting place of so many of my ancestors, including my father. Being Hawaiian is a special gift that has been given to me by my ancestors and by my God. I love listening to the music and knowing that those artists love everything Hawaiian as much as I do.”
My cousin Jennifer, who has four children of her own, explained how she uses the music to instill the pride that was given to us by our grandparents. “Being Hawaiian is important to me, and introducing my children to our Hawaiian music brings the same smile and enjoyment to their faces, as it did for me as a child. Even though I started Kira, Jasmine, and Kaylee in Hula lessons when they were only 4 or 5, it made them feel important inside. They love telling people they are Hawaiian, and we have always made sure that our homes and cars are filled with Hawaiian memorabilia whether with Leis, wind-charms, grass skirts, or music, anywhere and everywhere represents our culture.”
While Native Hawaiians feel a connection with their ancestors through the music, Americans have come to sense a feeling of being on the islands. Through the years, Hawaiian music has become a way for Americans to feel as though they are on the Islands. It can be heard in movies, television shows, Youtube videos, and Hawaiian Bar-b-que restaurants. Each time the music is used it evokes the feelings of being on the island, a fact that is not lost on producers in Hollywood.
When producers of television and movies set a show in Hawaii they usually try to incorporate Hawaiian songs to help set the scene, and the artist that Hollywood goes to the most is Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Kamakawiwo’ole’s music has been used in many different forms of media. From movies like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” to television shows like “Cold Case,” his music has been used to help the viewers suspend belief and invest in the characters being in Hawaii.
Even when movies aren’t set in Hawaii, Hawaiian music has been used to convey feelings of happiness and closure. In the 2000 Sean Connery movie “Finding Forrester,” Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” was used during the end credits. The end credits showed the title character playing basketball through the window of his mentor’s apartment. I was left feeling relaxed and had a sense of closure with the hero’s journey.
This brings me to the most interesting examples of Hawaiian music in popular culture, which is the rising popularity of posting homemade music videos on Youtube. On Youtube Hawaiians are expressing their pride for their heritage through the meshing of music and video clips. In a video made by Youtube user Hokoluni78, paintings of ancient Hawaiian life and pictures of modern Hawaii are shown as the song “Hawaii ’78” is played in the background. The result is a haunting three minutes, which mixes the pride that Hawaiians feel with the uncertainty of the American influence on Hawaiian culture.
Thanks to globalization Americans aren’t the only ones that are finding meaning in Kamakawiwo’ole’s songs. Right now, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is the number one downloaded single in Germany. The world is getting smaller and people in Europe who may have only seen Hawaii in movies or on the internet are now beginning to feel what its like to be in Hawaii and live that way of life through the music of the islands.
Over the last few years Europe has fallen in love with the song. It has been used in commercials for cars, the Norwegian lottery, and a body spray. In 2004, Lynx, a body spray company much like Axe, ran a commercial featuring “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In the commercial, a couple wakes up from a presumed one night stand and begin retrieving the clothes that they had stripped off during their tryst from across the city. Though the commercial implies that if you wear their product you will increase your chances of wooing women into your bed, I feel that the use of Israel’s song was used to convey the feeling of hope that someone has after they meet somebody new. The hope that this new person is going to be the one that helps erase the stresses of the world that everything is going to be all right. If a product gave me a chance to feel what was implied I would definitely spend my money on that product.
In 2006, the European car manufacturer Peugeot made a commercial that also includes “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Unlike the Lynx commercial, which implies new found love, Peugeot implies a long lasting love. The commercial begins in a junkyard with a man watching a car get demolished into a cube. After the car has been destroyed the man takes the cube back to his garage. After a moment or two of staring at it, the man begins to wipe the car down with a rag. The next scene shows him with the cube walking around town with it in a Radio Flyer red wagon. Walking in the streets like he is driving, it is easy for the viewer to understand that this man is holding onto his most prized possession. The common thread through the commercials is love. Love for someone new and love for someone (or something) that has been in someone’s life for a long time.
This brings me back to the overall feeling of Kamakawiwo’ole’s and Hawaiian music in general, which is a sense of happiness and contentment. The tempo and soothing sounds of the ukulele takes the listener on a sonic trip to paradise, whatever that paradise may be. For someone like me, paradise might be sitting on a beach on the island of Kauai with my girlfriend. Other people might think that paradise is skiing in Aspen. Whatever the paradise might be, songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Aloha Oe” are able to allow people to reach it in their minds.
With the use of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in commercials in Europe, the popularity of the song has been exploding over the continent. A few years ago, a German record producer named Wolfgang Boss bought the rights to the song and released it as a single in Germany, the result was something that nobody saw coming. The song was released in the fall of 2010 and in a stunning eight weeks it had gone platinum, selling more than 300,000 copies and reaching number one on the Top Singles list. A month later France followed suit and the song also took over the number one singles spot.
Now, what is it about a 70-year old song written after the Great Depression, made famous by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” and covered by a dead 400-pound Hawaiian that is enchanting Europe over a decade after his death? In 2008, much of Europe was caught in the global financial crises, which saw every economy take a hit. In 2010 when the song was released in Germany, the German economy began to turn around and climb back in. Germans were being filled with hope and optimism. So when, the song was released Germans latched on to both the lyrical message and the musical feelings of hope. They felt as though all the bad times were behind them and that they could achieve anything they could dream of. The song captured the heart of Germany so much that on top of it becoming the all time most downloaded song, beating out the likes of Lady Gaga and Shakira, “Somwhere Over the Rainbow” also won the ECHO award for “Hit Song of the Year.”
Growing up in Northern California as a working class white kid, I look about as close to a Hawaiian as I do to a native Iraqi. However, this did not stop my father’s side of the family from indoctrinating me with a pride of being Hawaiian. In all honesty, I am 1/16th Hawaiian and aside from a little bit of Native American inherited from my mother; the rest of me is pure European. At first look, I appear to be your average white male oppressor; my skin tone is light, my hair blonde, and my credit score is decent. However, as I previously stated I have a fierce loyalty to the Hawaiian people.
My grandparents migrated from Hawaii in the early 1960’s looking to pick up work and support my five uncles and aunties. As they moved here, they brought a lot of the culture of Hawaii with them. They regularly held luaus (Hawaiian feasts) with the Hawaiian club, spoke pidgin that is a mixture of Hawaiian, English, Tagalog, and Portuguese, but most importantly they brought the music of the islands with them.
Some of my earliest memories of my grandmother are riding in the car with her as Aunty Genoa’s silky soprano voice drifted out of the speakers. I don’t know if I was able to fully realize it at the time, but looking back at it, my grandmother was helping to plant a seed of what it was like back on the islands. Now, as I am getting older and am starting to see how cultures are starting to blend together, I am beginning to understand Hawaiian music’s role in sharing the Hawaiian culture with the rest of the world.
When Christian missionaries began to settle on the islands and try to convert the Native Hawaiians, Hawaiians began to write music based on the hymnals of the missionaries. Until that time, Hawaiian music was primarily chanting with few if any instruments. After Hawaiian music began to infuse the music of the missionaries with the story-songs of their culture, modern Hawaiian music was born. The most famous song of this time is the Queen Liliuokalani penned “Aloha Oe.”
Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and a direct descendant of King Kamehameha the Great. Queen Liluokalani gave great emphasis to music during her reign and wrote many songs that were popular across the islands. However, it is “Aloha Oe” that has lived on through the years. “Aloha Oe,” was written as a farewell between lovers in 1878 combining the melodies of the song “The Rock Besides the Sea” and “There is Music in the Air.” Originally sung in Hawaiian, “Aloha Oe” has evolved into a combination of both Hawaiian and English as many artists perform the chorus in Hawaiian and the verses in English.
Most people may think that Hawaiian music is more like the theme song from Hawaii 5-0, since that song is probably the best example of a song representing a place. Those people are very wrong in my opinion. Though Hawaiians have adopted the song as a sense of pride with the University of Hawaii performing the song at halftime of a lot of football games, it is not indicative of the Hawaiian music genre. The Hawaii 5-0 theme song is more representative of the surf rock genre of the 1960’s with its fast beats and electric guitar solos. The reason the original producers of the show may have used this song is the relationship of surfing and Hawaii. Surfing was first made popular in Hawaii and many people from the mainland began to surf after having seen it on the islands. And since many surfers in Southern California were adopting a Polynesian lifestyle, it could have been easy to confuse the surf rock sound of Southern California and that of the islands.
Now, Hawaiian music can most easily be indentified by the unmistakable sound of the ukulele. The ukulele, which is the unofficial instrument of the islands, is the most recognizable piece of the Hawaiian music genre. The very sound of the ukulele instantly transports the listener to Hawaii. Through the years, the media has combined the sounds of the Ukulele with images of a white sandy beach in Hawaii. These combinations of image and sound have come to define how the American public sees Hawaii.
Another element of Hawaiian music is the use of the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian music is one of the few places where the Hawaiian language is still used. Though a lot of Native Hawaiians can speak Hawaiian, most only use some key phrases or speak pidgin when talking to people from the Mainland. Kamakawiwo’ole regularly sang songs completely in Hawaiian. “Panini Pua Kea” is a song about a lover among flowers. The entire song written in Hawaiian is a beautiful song that is full of emotion that transcends any language barrier. Other songs of Kamakawiwo’ole featured both English and Hawaiian being used together. In Kamakawiwo’ole’s song “E ala E” both languages are used in a protest song crying out for a free Hawaii.
Other elements of Hawaiian music are keyboards, drums, a bass guitar, and guitar. These elements are not completely needed but are usually seen in most bands. Kamakawiwo’ole ‘s original band, the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, employed a standup acoustic bass, a six-string guitar, a 12-string guitar, and a ukulele. This set up has been copied by many other Hawaiian music acts.
With instruments and a language that is unique to Hawaii, Hawaiian music has become a way for Hawaiians to take pride in their culture and for Hawaiians that were raised on the Mainland to connect with their ancestors. In an emailed conversation between my cousins and myself, this was very apparent, as they all seemed to have the same feeling toward the music. My cousin, like myself, were raised here on the Mainland and have only been to Hawaii on vacations, however, in spite of this one thing that was apparent was that they all felt closer with their Hawaiian heritage thanks to the music of the Islands.
My cousin Burnadette sums up this feeling best, “They sing of the beauty of my homeland – the birth place of my family and the resting place of so many of my ancestors, including my father. Being Hawaiian is a special gift that has been given to me by my ancestors and by my God. I love listening to the music and knowing that those artists love everything Hawaiian as much as I do.”
My cousin Jennifer, who has four children of her own, explained how she uses the music to instill the pride that was given to us by our grandparents. “Being Hawaiian is important to me, and introducing my children to our Hawaiian music brings the same smile and enjoyment to their faces, as it did for me as a child. Even though I started Kira, Jasmine, and Kaylee in Hula lessons when they were only 4 or 5, it made them feel important inside. They love telling people they are Hawaiian, and we have always made sure that our homes and cars are filled with Hawaiian memorabilia whether with Leis, wind-charms, grass skirts, or music, anywhere and everywhere represents our culture.”
While Native Hawaiians feel a connection with their ancestors through the music, Americans have come to sense a feeling of being on the islands. Through the years, Hawaiian music has become a way for Americans to feel as though they are on the Islands. It can be heard in movies, television shows, Youtube videos, and Hawaiian Bar-b-que restaurants. Each time the music is used it evokes the feelings of being on the island, a fact that is not lost on producers in Hollywood.
When producers of television and movies set a show in Hawaii they usually try to incorporate Hawaiian songs to help set the scene, and the artist that Hollywood goes to the most is Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Kamakawiwo’ole’s music has been used in many different forms of media. From movies like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” to television shows like “Cold Case,” his music has been used to help the viewers suspend belief and invest in the characters being in Hawaii.
Even when movies aren’t set in Hawaii, Hawaiian music has been used to convey feelings of happiness and closure. In the 2000 Sean Connery movie “Finding Forrester,” Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” was used during the end credits. The end credits showed the title character playing basketball through the window of his mentor’s apartment. I was left feeling relaxed and had a sense of closure with the hero’s journey.
This brings me to the most interesting examples of Hawaiian music in popular culture, which is the rising popularity of posting homemade music videos on Youtube. On Youtube Hawaiians are expressing their pride for their heritage through the meshing of music and video clips. In a video made by Youtube user Hokoluni78, paintings of ancient Hawaiian life and pictures of modern Hawaii are shown as the song “Hawaii ’78” is played in the background. The result is a haunting three minutes, which mixes the pride that Hawaiians feel with the uncertainty of the American influence on Hawaiian culture.
Thanks to globalization Americans aren’t the only ones that are finding meaning in Kamakawiwo’ole’s songs. Right now, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is the number one downloaded single in Germany. The world is getting smaller and people in Europe who may have only seen Hawaii in movies or on the internet are now beginning to feel what its like to be in Hawaii and live that way of life through the music of the islands.
Over the last few years Europe has fallen in love with the song. It has been used in commercials for cars, the Norwegian lottery, and a body spray. In 2004, Lynx, a body spray company much like Axe, ran a commercial featuring “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In the commercial, a couple wakes up from a presumed one night stand and begin retrieving the clothes that they had stripped off during their tryst from across the city. Though the commercial implies that if you wear their product you will increase your chances of wooing women into your bed, I feel that the use of Israel’s song was used to convey the feeling of hope that someone has after they meet somebody new. The hope that this new person is going to be the one that helps erase the stresses of the world that everything is going to be all right. If a product gave me a chance to feel what was implied I would definitely spend my money on that product.
In 2006, the European car manufacturer Peugeot made a commercial that also includes “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Unlike the Lynx commercial, which implies new found love, Peugeot implies a long lasting love. The commercial begins in a junkyard with a man watching a car get demolished into a cube. After the car has been destroyed the man takes the cube back to his garage. After a moment or two of staring at it, the man begins to wipe the car down with a rag. The next scene shows him with the cube walking around town with it in a Radio Flyer red wagon. Walking in the streets like he is driving, it is easy for the viewer to understand that this man is holding onto his most prized possession. The common thread through the commercials is love. Love for someone new and love for someone (or something) that has been in someone’s life for a long time.
This brings me back to the overall feeling of Kamakawiwo’ole’s and Hawaiian music in general, which is a sense of happiness and contentment. The tempo and soothing sounds of the ukulele takes the listener on a sonic trip to paradise, whatever that paradise may be. For someone like me, paradise might be sitting on a beach on the island of Kauai with my girlfriend. Other people might think that paradise is skiing in Aspen. Whatever the paradise might be, songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Aloha Oe” are able to allow people to reach it in their minds.
With the use of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in commercials in Europe, the popularity of the song has been exploding over the continent. A few years ago, a German record producer named Wolfgang Boss bought the rights to the song and released it as a single in Germany, the result was something that nobody saw coming. The song was released in the fall of 2010 and in a stunning eight weeks it had gone platinum, selling more than 300,000 copies and reaching number one on the Top Singles list. A month later France followed suit and the song also took over the number one singles spot.
Now, what is it about a 70-year old song written after the Great Depression, made famous by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” and covered by a dead 400-pound Hawaiian that is enchanting Europe over a decade after his death? In 2008, much of Europe was caught in the global financial crises, which saw every economy take a hit. In 2010 when the song was released in Germany, the German economy began to turn around and climb back in. Germans were being filled with hope and optimism. So when, the song was released Germans latched on to both the lyrical message and the musical feelings of hope. They felt as though all the bad times were behind them and that they could achieve anything they could dream of. The song captured the heart of Germany so much that on top of it becoming the all time most downloaded song, beating out the likes of Lady Gaga and Shakira, “Somwhere Over the Rainbow” also won the ECHO award for “Hit Song of the Year.”
Monday, May 2, 2011
Final outline
Final outline
I. Intro
A. Through the years Hawaiian music has developed from an isolated cultural staple to an international phenomenon.
1. Hawaiian music first came about on an island far removed from most forms of western music.
2. Through the years it has been accepted in both America and is currently gaining popularity in Europe.
B. Hawaiian music is seen as a soothing a relaxing genre that signifies an easy and simple life full of hope.
C. No group or artist in the Hawaiian genre represents these ideas more than Israel Kamakawiwi’ole.
1. Kamakawiwi’ole is easily the most recognizable figure in the Hawaiian music scene both for his songs and his physical appearance.
2. Kamakawiwi’ole’s cover of Judy Garland’s classic “Somewhere over the rainbow” has reached the top of the popular charts both domestically and internationally.
II. Body
A. Hawaiian music is defined both domestically and internationally as an acoustically performed style of folk music that often incorporates the native Hawaiian language.
1. Since the majority of Hawaiian music is made on the islands of Hawaii, some bands can be mistakenly labelled in the Hawaiian music genre just from being there.
2. In the 1960’s many people mistook the Hawaii 5-0 theme song as being an example of Hawaiian music since the show was the only source of Hawaiian culture that most Americans had.
B. Hawaiian bands and artists are often comprised of an acoustic guitar, either an electric bass or an acoustic bass, keyboards, a slack-key guitar, slide guitar, and a ukulele.
1. Hawaiian bands do not need all of the aforementioned instruments; some artists have as little as just a ukulele.
C. Hawaiian music first developed in the 1800’s when Native Hawaiians began to mix their traditional chants with the hymnals of the missionaries from the mainland.
1. Hawaiian music is viewed as a source of cultural pride by Native Hawaiians and has been since the late 1800’s.
2. Queen Liliukani, the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was one of Hawaii’s first great songwriters penning the popular “Aloha Oe” which is one of the most popular songs of Hawaiian music.
3. In the 1970’s the band, the Makaha Sons of Nihau, began to really define the modern Hawaiian band combining both traditional Hawaiian music and western styles.
4. In the late 80’s Israel Kamakawiwi’ole of the Makaha Sons of Nihau persued a solo career and became the single biggest artist in Hawaiian music.
5. Kamakawiwi’ole’s cover of “Somewhere over the rainbow” has become the greatest example of the blending of Native Hawaiian music and western music.
D. Hawaiian music means different things to different people.
1. For people of Hawaiian ancestry, Hawaiian music is a source of pride and a connection to a history of a people whose nation was taken from them.
2. For Americans, Hawaiian music has been used as a symbol of the Hawaiian Islands.
a. Songs by Hawaiian artists have been used in movies that are set in Hawaii to help the viewing audience feel the laid back vibes of the islands.
b. Kamakawiwi’ole’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” has been used in movies that weren’t set in Hawaii as a way to represent peace and harmony at the end of the hero’s journey.
3. For international audiences, the song has come to represent hope at the end of a financial crisis, which saw most of the world’s economies almost crippled.
III. Conclusion
A. Though Hawaiian music may have begun on a remote island thousands of miles away from the American mainland, it has become a representation of hope and peacefulness the world over.
I. Intro
A. Through the years Hawaiian music has developed from an isolated cultural staple to an international phenomenon.
1. Hawaiian music first came about on an island far removed from most forms of western music.
2. Through the years it has been accepted in both America and is currently gaining popularity in Europe.
B. Hawaiian music is seen as a soothing a relaxing genre that signifies an easy and simple life full of hope.
C. No group or artist in the Hawaiian genre represents these ideas more than Israel Kamakawiwi’ole.
1. Kamakawiwi’ole is easily the most recognizable figure in the Hawaiian music scene both for his songs and his physical appearance.
2. Kamakawiwi’ole’s cover of Judy Garland’s classic “Somewhere over the rainbow” has reached the top of the popular charts both domestically and internationally.
II. Body
A. Hawaiian music is defined both domestically and internationally as an acoustically performed style of folk music that often incorporates the native Hawaiian language.
1. Since the majority of Hawaiian music is made on the islands of Hawaii, some bands can be mistakenly labelled in the Hawaiian music genre just from being there.
2. In the 1960’s many people mistook the Hawaii 5-0 theme song as being an example of Hawaiian music since the show was the only source of Hawaiian culture that most Americans had.
B. Hawaiian bands and artists are often comprised of an acoustic guitar, either an electric bass or an acoustic bass, keyboards, a slack-key guitar, slide guitar, and a ukulele.
1. Hawaiian bands do not need all of the aforementioned instruments; some artists have as little as just a ukulele.
C. Hawaiian music first developed in the 1800’s when Native Hawaiians began to mix their traditional chants with the hymnals of the missionaries from the mainland.
1. Hawaiian music is viewed as a source of cultural pride by Native Hawaiians and has been since the late 1800’s.
2. Queen Liliukani, the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was one of Hawaii’s first great songwriters penning the popular “Aloha Oe” which is one of the most popular songs of Hawaiian music.
3. In the 1970’s the band, the Makaha Sons of Nihau, began to really define the modern Hawaiian band combining both traditional Hawaiian music and western styles.
4. In the late 80’s Israel Kamakawiwi’ole of the Makaha Sons of Nihau persued a solo career and became the single biggest artist in Hawaiian music.
5. Kamakawiwi’ole’s cover of “Somewhere over the rainbow” has become the greatest example of the blending of Native Hawaiian music and western music.
D. Hawaiian music means different things to different people.
1. For people of Hawaiian ancestry, Hawaiian music is a source of pride and a connection to a history of a people whose nation was taken from them.
2. For Americans, Hawaiian music has been used as a symbol of the Hawaiian Islands.
a. Songs by Hawaiian artists have been used in movies that are set in Hawaii to help the viewing audience feel the laid back vibes of the islands.
b. Kamakawiwi’ole’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” has been used in movies that weren’t set in Hawaii as a way to represent peace and harmony at the end of the hero’s journey.
3. For international audiences, the song has come to represent hope at the end of a financial crisis, which saw most of the world’s economies almost crippled.
III. Conclusion
A. Though Hawaiian music may have begun on a remote island thousands of miles away from the American mainland, it has become a representation of hope and peacefulness the world over.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Anthony Peters
April 1, 2011
English 4
Prof. Stein
Global Island: Hawaiian Music’s impact on the global music scene
Growing up around my father’s family, I learned to appreciate Hawaiian music. Through the music of Melveen Leed and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole my family taught me to be proud of my Hawaiian heritage. At family functions Hawaiian music would be played while my grandmother made traditional Hawaiian food and all my aunties and uncles discussed what it was like back on the Islands. I remember feeling left out that I was born on the mainland and not Hawaii. For me and the rest of my cousins that were raised in California, Hawaiian music was a way for us to feel like we were apart of the Islands.
Hawaiian music serves as the folk music of the Hawaiian Islands. When Christian missionaries began to settle on the islands and try to convert them, Hawaiians began to write music based on the hymnals of the missionaries. Until that time, Hawaiian music was primarily chanting with few if any instruments. After Hawaiian music began to infuse the music of the missionaries with the story-songs of their culture, modern Hawaiian music was born.
Now, Hawaiian music can most easily be indentified by the unmistakable sound of the ukulele. The ukulele, which is the unofficial instrument of the islands, is the most recognizable piece of the Hawaiian music genre. The very sound of the ukulele instantly transports the listener to Hawaii. Through the years, the media has combined the sounds of the Ukulele with images of a white sandy beach in Hawaii. These combinations of image and sound have come to define how the American public sees Hawaii. Some Hawaiian artists only perform with a ukulele. Jake Shimabukuro who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii is a solo artist who only performs with a ukulele
Another element of Hawaiian music is the use of the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian music is one of the few places where the Hawaiian language is still spoken. Though most Native Hawaiians can speak Hawaiian, most only use some key phrases or speak pidgin which is a mix of Hawaiian slang and English. In that way, the music of the islands has become a way for the Hawaiian language to stay alive.
Other elements of Hawaiian music are keyboards, drums, a bass guitar, and guitar. These elements are not completely needed but are usually seen in most bands. One of the most popular bands of the 1970’s in Hawaii were the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, employed a standup acoustic bass, a six-string guitar, a 12-string guitar, and a ukulele.
Hawaiian music through the years has become a way for Hawaiians to pass down the pride of being Hawaiian from generation to generation. Most songs of the genre glorify the Hawaiian culture and put the culture on display for the world to see. Having listened to these ideas growing up, I definitely believe that they had a direct impact on the way I view myself and my heritage. They made me proud to be Hawaiian and proud of all things Polynesian. I am not the only one that feels this way, my brothers also feel this way. To the point that we all share a Hawaiian inspired tattoo.
In America, Hawaiian music has come to represent the easy and slow pace of life in Hawaii. Whether it’s a scene on a beach and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “White Sandy Beach” is playing in the background or if it’s his cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as the lead character of a movie has found inner peace. Hawaiian music is used to reflect the relaxation of being on the islands.
Living on an island where the average temperature hovers between 82 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit, the natives tend to take life a little slower. A construction job that would normally take around two months to complete on the mainland takes about four or five months in Hawaii. Hawaiians feel no rush when it comes to life. Every day is a lazy summer’s day for them. This take on life is reflected in the music of the islands with its slow tempos and laid back feel. American popular culture has recognized this wrinkle in the genre and has used it to portray life on the islands.
Movies that are set in Hawaii often use Hawaiian music to help the viewer suspend belief and become apart of the movie. Most Americans never listen to Hawaiian music on the mainland and couldn’t name one Hawaiian artist. However, when they show up on the islands for a vacation it’s all they hear. So, it becomes easy for them to feel like they are back on the islands as soon as they hear Hawaiian music since there are no other places they have heard it. The music becomes synonymous with a Hawaiian vacation almost by default. And since Americans vacation to Hawaii to relax and get away from the troubles of their normal lives, their time on Hawaii equates with stress free feelings. When you look at it in that light it becomes easy to see why movie and television producers use the Hawaiian music genre to take people on an imaginary trip to Hawaii.
Through globalization American pop culture has seeped through to the global consciousness. Middle class white kids in France are break dancing on the street corners; Iraqis are learning English by from metal bands like Lamb of God and Metallica. Every where you go in the world now cultures are sharing their ideas with each other through their art and the Hawaiian music scene is no different. Right now, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is the number one downloaded single in Germany. The world is getting smaller and people in Europe who may have only seen Hawaii in movies or on the internet are now beginning to feel what its like to be in Hawaii and live that way of life through the music of the islands.
Though Hawaiian music has been around the global music scene for decades, it never became a heavy hitter until Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” hit the radio waves. Israel took an authentic American classic and made it into a Hawaiian staple. Thanks to its use in films like Finding Forrester, Meet Joe Black, and 50 First Dates, the song entered the American popular culture and soon after that it entered the global consciousness.
Over the last few years Europe has fallen in love with the song. It has been used in commercials for cars, the Norwegian lottery, and a body spray. In 2004, Lynx, a body spray company much like Axe, ran a commercial featuring “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In the commercial, a couple wakes up from a presumed one night stand and begin retrieving the clothes that they had stripped off during their tryst from across the city. Though the commercial implies that if you wear their product you will increase your chances of wooing women into your bed, I feel that the use of Israel’s song was used to convey the feeling of hope that someone has after they meet somebody new. The hope that this new person is going to be the one that helps erase the stresses of the world, that everything is going to be alright. If a product gave me a chance to feel what was implied that he felt through the song I would definitely spend my money on that product.
In 2006, the European car manufacturer Peugeot made a commercial that also includes “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Unlike the Lynx commercial which implies new found love, Peugeot implies a long lasting love. The commercial begins in a junkyard with a man watching a car get demolished into a cube. After the car has been destroyed the man takes the cube back to his garage. After a moment or two of staring at it, the man begins to wipe the car down with a rag. The next scene shows him with the cube walking around town with it in a Radio Flyer red wagon. Walking in the streets like he is driving, it is easy for the viewer to understand that this man is holding onto his most prized possession. The common thread through the commercials is love. Love for someone new and love for someone (or something) that has been in someone’s life their whole life.
This brings me back to the overall feeling of Hawaiian music which is a sense of happiness and contentment. The tempo and soothing sounds of the ukulele takes the listener on a sonic trip to paradise, whatever that paradise may be. For someone like me, paradise might be sitting on a beach on the island of Kuai with my girlfriend. Other people might think that paradise is skiing in Aspen. Whatever the paradise might be, songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Aloha Oe” are able to allow people to reach it in their minds.
With the use of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in commercials in Europe, the popularity of the song has been exploding over the continent. A few years ago, a German record producer named Wolfgang Boss bought the rights to the song and released it as a single in Germany, the result was something that nobody saw coming. The song was released in the fall of 2010 and in a stunning eight weeks it had gone platinum, selling more than 300,000 copies and reaching number one on the Top Singles list. A month later France followed suit and the song also took over the number one singles spot.
Now, what is it about a 70-year old song written after the Great Depression, made famous by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” and covered by a dead 400-pound Hawaiian that is enchanting Europe over a decade after his death? In 2008, much of Europe was caught in the global financial crises which saw every economy take a hit. In 2010 when the song was released in Germany, the German economy began to turn around and climb back in. Germans were being filled with hope and optimism. So when, the song was released Germans latched on to both the lyrical message and the musical feelings of hope. They felt as though all the bad times were behind them and that they could achieve anything they could dream of. The song captured the heart of Germany so much that on top of it becoming the all time most downloaded song, beating out the likes of Lady Gaga and Shakira, “Somwhere Over the Rainbow” won the ECHO award for “Hit Song of the Year.”
The success of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is just one instance of globalization’s impact on Hawaiian music, as many cultures are beginning to cover Hawaiian music. Both “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the Queen Liliuokalani penned “Aloha Oe” have garnered covers by the likes of Elvis Presley, Tia Carrere, Johnny Cash, the cast of Glee and many others. The fact that someone of the caliber of Johnny is covering “Aloha Oe” shows exactly how influential Hawaiian music is becoming. “Aloha Oe” was written by Queen Liliuokalani in the 1800’s and has since become one of the unofficial anthems of the islands. What makes the song so special is that Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and is a direct descendant of King Kamehameha the Great, who unified the islands of Hawaii. So, to cover that song in some ways gives respect to the Native Hawaiians and their culture.
The best cover of “Aloha Oe” in my opinion is Johnny Cash’s cover on his album American VI: Ain’t No Grave. Cash takes one of the most traditional Hawaiian songs and turns it country. With his deep voice he completely takes the song and makes it his own. What made it really eerie was the fact that this was the last song on the final album that he recorded before he died. With that hindsight it becomes very apparent that Cash knew he was on his way out when he made the record and may have chose this song as a way to say goodbye to his fans and the world.
April 1, 2011
English 4
Prof. Stein
Global Island: Hawaiian Music’s impact on the global music scene
Growing up around my father’s family, I learned to appreciate Hawaiian music. Through the music of Melveen Leed and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole my family taught me to be proud of my Hawaiian heritage. At family functions Hawaiian music would be played while my grandmother made traditional Hawaiian food and all my aunties and uncles discussed what it was like back on the Islands. I remember feeling left out that I was born on the mainland and not Hawaii. For me and the rest of my cousins that were raised in California, Hawaiian music was a way for us to feel like we were apart of the Islands.
Hawaiian music serves as the folk music of the Hawaiian Islands. When Christian missionaries began to settle on the islands and try to convert them, Hawaiians began to write music based on the hymnals of the missionaries. Until that time, Hawaiian music was primarily chanting with few if any instruments. After Hawaiian music began to infuse the music of the missionaries with the story-songs of their culture, modern Hawaiian music was born.
Now, Hawaiian music can most easily be indentified by the unmistakable sound of the ukulele. The ukulele, which is the unofficial instrument of the islands, is the most recognizable piece of the Hawaiian music genre. The very sound of the ukulele instantly transports the listener to Hawaii. Through the years, the media has combined the sounds of the Ukulele with images of a white sandy beach in Hawaii. These combinations of image and sound have come to define how the American public sees Hawaii. Some Hawaiian artists only perform with a ukulele. Jake Shimabukuro who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii is a solo artist who only performs with a ukulele
Another element of Hawaiian music is the use of the Hawaiian language. Hawaiian music is one of the few places where the Hawaiian language is still spoken. Though most Native Hawaiians can speak Hawaiian, most only use some key phrases or speak pidgin which is a mix of Hawaiian slang and English. In that way, the music of the islands has become a way for the Hawaiian language to stay alive.
Other elements of Hawaiian music are keyboards, drums, a bass guitar, and guitar. These elements are not completely needed but are usually seen in most bands. One of the most popular bands of the 1970’s in Hawaii were the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, employed a standup acoustic bass, a six-string guitar, a 12-string guitar, and a ukulele.
Hawaiian music through the years has become a way for Hawaiians to pass down the pride of being Hawaiian from generation to generation. Most songs of the genre glorify the Hawaiian culture and put the culture on display for the world to see. Having listened to these ideas growing up, I definitely believe that they had a direct impact on the way I view myself and my heritage. They made me proud to be Hawaiian and proud of all things Polynesian. I am not the only one that feels this way, my brothers also feel this way. To the point that we all share a Hawaiian inspired tattoo.
In America, Hawaiian music has come to represent the easy and slow pace of life in Hawaii. Whether it’s a scene on a beach and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “White Sandy Beach” is playing in the background or if it’s his cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as the lead character of a movie has found inner peace. Hawaiian music is used to reflect the relaxation of being on the islands.
Living on an island where the average temperature hovers between 82 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit, the natives tend to take life a little slower. A construction job that would normally take around two months to complete on the mainland takes about four or five months in Hawaii. Hawaiians feel no rush when it comes to life. Every day is a lazy summer’s day for them. This take on life is reflected in the music of the islands with its slow tempos and laid back feel. American popular culture has recognized this wrinkle in the genre and has used it to portray life on the islands.
Movies that are set in Hawaii often use Hawaiian music to help the viewer suspend belief and become apart of the movie. Most Americans never listen to Hawaiian music on the mainland and couldn’t name one Hawaiian artist. However, when they show up on the islands for a vacation it’s all they hear. So, it becomes easy for them to feel like they are back on the islands as soon as they hear Hawaiian music since there are no other places they have heard it. The music becomes synonymous with a Hawaiian vacation almost by default. And since Americans vacation to Hawaii to relax and get away from the troubles of their normal lives, their time on Hawaii equates with stress free feelings. When you look at it in that light it becomes easy to see why movie and television producers use the Hawaiian music genre to take people on an imaginary trip to Hawaii.
Through globalization American pop culture has seeped through to the global consciousness. Middle class white kids in France are break dancing on the street corners; Iraqis are learning English by from metal bands like Lamb of God and Metallica. Every where you go in the world now cultures are sharing their ideas with each other through their art and the Hawaiian music scene is no different. Right now, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is the number one downloaded single in Germany. The world is getting smaller and people in Europe who may have only seen Hawaii in movies or on the internet are now beginning to feel what its like to be in Hawaii and live that way of life through the music of the islands.
Though Hawaiian music has been around the global music scene for decades, it never became a heavy hitter until Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” hit the radio waves. Israel took an authentic American classic and made it into a Hawaiian staple. Thanks to its use in films like Finding Forrester, Meet Joe Black, and 50 First Dates, the song entered the American popular culture and soon after that it entered the global consciousness.
Over the last few years Europe has fallen in love with the song. It has been used in commercials for cars, the Norwegian lottery, and a body spray. In 2004, Lynx, a body spray company much like Axe, ran a commercial featuring “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” In the commercial, a couple wakes up from a presumed one night stand and begin retrieving the clothes that they had stripped off during their tryst from across the city. Though the commercial implies that if you wear their product you will increase your chances of wooing women into your bed, I feel that the use of Israel’s song was used to convey the feeling of hope that someone has after they meet somebody new. The hope that this new person is going to be the one that helps erase the stresses of the world, that everything is going to be alright. If a product gave me a chance to feel what was implied that he felt through the song I would definitely spend my money on that product.
In 2006, the European car manufacturer Peugeot made a commercial that also includes “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Unlike the Lynx commercial which implies new found love, Peugeot implies a long lasting love. The commercial begins in a junkyard with a man watching a car get demolished into a cube. After the car has been destroyed the man takes the cube back to his garage. After a moment or two of staring at it, the man begins to wipe the car down with a rag. The next scene shows him with the cube walking around town with it in a Radio Flyer red wagon. Walking in the streets like he is driving, it is easy for the viewer to understand that this man is holding onto his most prized possession. The common thread through the commercials is love. Love for someone new and love for someone (or something) that has been in someone’s life their whole life.
This brings me back to the overall feeling of Hawaiian music which is a sense of happiness and contentment. The tempo and soothing sounds of the ukulele takes the listener on a sonic trip to paradise, whatever that paradise may be. For someone like me, paradise might be sitting on a beach on the island of Kuai with my girlfriend. Other people might think that paradise is skiing in Aspen. Whatever the paradise might be, songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Aloha Oe” are able to allow people to reach it in their minds.
With the use of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in commercials in Europe, the popularity of the song has been exploding over the continent. A few years ago, a German record producer named Wolfgang Boss bought the rights to the song and released it as a single in Germany, the result was something that nobody saw coming. The song was released in the fall of 2010 and in a stunning eight weeks it had gone platinum, selling more than 300,000 copies and reaching number one on the Top Singles list. A month later France followed suit and the song also took over the number one singles spot.
Now, what is it about a 70-year old song written after the Great Depression, made famous by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” and covered by a dead 400-pound Hawaiian that is enchanting Europe over a decade after his death? In 2008, much of Europe was caught in the global financial crises which saw every economy take a hit. In 2010 when the song was released in Germany, the German economy began to turn around and climb back in. Germans were being filled with hope and optimism. So when, the song was released Germans latched on to both the lyrical message and the musical feelings of hope. They felt as though all the bad times were behind them and that they could achieve anything they could dream of. The song captured the heart of Germany so much that on top of it becoming the all time most downloaded song, beating out the likes of Lady Gaga and Shakira, “Somwhere Over the Rainbow” won the ECHO award for “Hit Song of the Year.”
The success of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is just one instance of globalization’s impact on Hawaiian music, as many cultures are beginning to cover Hawaiian music. Both “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the Queen Liliuokalani penned “Aloha Oe” have garnered covers by the likes of Elvis Presley, Tia Carrere, Johnny Cash, the cast of Glee and many others. The fact that someone of the caliber of Johnny is covering “Aloha Oe” shows exactly how influential Hawaiian music is becoming. “Aloha Oe” was written by Queen Liliuokalani in the 1800’s and has since become one of the unofficial anthems of the islands. What makes the song so special is that Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and is a direct descendant of King Kamehameha the Great, who unified the islands of Hawaii. So, to cover that song in some ways gives respect to the Native Hawaiians and their culture.
The best cover of “Aloha Oe” in my opinion is Johnny Cash’s cover on his album American VI: Ain’t No Grave. Cash takes one of the most traditional Hawaiian songs and turns it country. With his deep voice he completely takes the song and makes it his own. What made it really eerie was the fact that this was the last song on the final album that he recorded before he died. With that hindsight it becomes very apparent that Cash knew he was on his way out when he made the record and may have chose this song as a way to say goodbye to his fans and the world.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
outline
Global Island: Hawaiian music’s impact on the global
I Intro
A. What started out as a way for native Hawaiians to keep their culture alive has spread through the world and is now filtering into the imaginations of other nations.
B. Hawaiian music is generally accepted in United States popular culture as a musical interpretation of the Hawaiian culture.
1. The history of Hawaiian music began when the native Hawaiians began to write music based on the hymns of the missionaries.
2. Hawaiian music over the years has become a way to pass down the pride of being Hawaiian from generation to generation.
C. The same way that Hawaiian music in the U.S. have become a way for Americans to connect in the islands, citizens of other countries who may have never been to Hawaii are discovering the culture of Hawaii through its music.
II. Body
A. America has come to embrace Hawaiian music as a way to connect with the Islands even if they live on the mainland.
1. Though many people feel that the theme song for Hawaii 5-0 better represents Hawaii, it is more indicative of surf rock.
B. Through various movies and television shows, Hawaiian music has shown the culture and world view of Hawaiians to America.
1. Movies like Finding Forrester and 50 First Dates have introduced Hawaiian music into the mainstream.
2. Through these movies America has seen how Hawaiians view the world and how laid back they are.
C. As Hawaiian music has been introduced to the world, it has been accepted and has yet to be changed because though people have started listening to it they haven’t started to play it in their own genres.
D. Hawaiian music is starting to pop up in foreign commercials and continuing the feelings of relaxing and calmness that America feels when it listens to Hawaiian music.
1. Commercials in England have featured IZ’s song “Over the Rainbow” in a soothing and relaxing way.
2. On youtube, multiple Hawaiian music videos have comments that are left by people from Europe that talk about how much they love Hawaiian music.
E. Even though many Europeans may have never been to Hawaii, they are beginning to understand exactly how calming and relaxing Hawaiian music can be.
III. Conclusion
B. Through their music, Native Hawaiians have introduced the world to the history and culture of a once secluded nation.
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