If you have a moment - go on YouTube and try this song:

Little Grass Shack, by Kaleo Naea

And this one is a 103 yr-old man called Bill Tapia, singing the same song

Little Grass Shack, Bill Tapia

Now you have listened to the song -

- what were the old Hawaiians saying?

"Ko-mo mai no-ka-u-a i-ka-ha-le we-la-ka-hao!"

Need a little help in pronouncing Hawaian? This story may help you to at least remember, if not understand, what they were saying on the beach at Ho-nau-nau.

Perry Como, a lot of years back, was as well-known as Frank Sinatra as a "crooner" - a singer of romantic songs with lush string orchestra backing. Although this story has been vigorously denied by his family, I do believe it.

Following a long hard day at the recording studio and looking forward to a glass of Kahlua and coke, Perry arrives home. Como's distraught Papuan bride greets her husband at the front door with bad news - they have run out of Kahlua, and also!! their car, a silver-grey metallic-finish Lexus SC430 has been stolen by two strange men who arrived on a Harley-Davidson while he was gone! In excited Pidgin English she burst out with:

"Como my! No Ka'ua! He car Harley We lack car - How?"

Let's have a closer look at what she was trying to say.
"Como my!1 No Ka'ua!2 He car3 Harley! We lack car - How?4"

What she really meant:
1. "Como my!" In other words, "Como, my husband!"
2. "No Ka'uah!" "There is no Kahlua". She cannot pronounce the "L" in
"Kahlua".
3. "He (his) car (was a) Harley!" Never having seen a motorcycle in her
village until she was 23, she calls all motor vehicles "car".
4. "How?" - In other words, "How will we travel - now our car is gone?" -
forgetting they left the Porsche Boxster in the garage!

Many years later, in Hawaii, Como related the tale of his former wife, and the famous words found their way into a song, which the Hawaiians sang as:

"Ko-mo mai no-ka-u-a i-ka-ha-le we-la-ka-hao"


Well, now you know, and thanks for staying with me on this. It all started because I joined a ukulele group! Do you play the uke? You should!

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Here is a link to another blog, of some dear friends of ours, and another ukulele player:

Chris and Rani, of Ladybug