Insider Info

Aloha Hawaii: I wrote "Aloha Hawaii" back in the early 70's when, as half of the music duo Hall and Peterson, I was living in Kaneohe on Oahu and performing nightly in Kahala. Back then, much of Kaneohe's neighboring town, Kailua, was a beautiful jungle, Waikiki was a beach town and old Hawaiian culture was present everywhere.

We were taught reverence for the sacred heiaus and stories of the great battle at the Nu'uanu Pali as well as tales of Mano the shark and Pele the Goddess of Fire, who sometimes roamed the earth diguised as a woman with long white hair (the White Lady) as she tested the aloha spirit of strangers, often with a hungry dog at her side.

The Islands were steeped in tradition and natural beauty and, even then, I worried what might happen when more "progress" came to the islands. Would oil be spilled in those pristine waters? Could that beautiful blue sky ever by marred by the smog of the mainland, by smoke in the sky?

In those days, Joni Mitchell had just released a song which included the lyric, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I hoped they would never do the same to the islands I'd grown to love, but the passing of time has not been kind.

We've indeed paved paradise. Waikiki is now "Rodeo Drive meets Spring Break" and the jungles that I knew in Kailua are gone and replaced with streets, homes, stoplights and parking lots.

With the recent devastating wildfires in Lahaina on the Island of Maui, I revisited this old song of mine and thought, "Maybe it's time to dust it off and play it again."

So here it is. I'll get off my soapbox now and invite you to listen to this brand new version and recording of "Aloha Hawaii."

Hawaii, you are still beautiful, and we still love you. Aloha, Hawaii.

The Recording: My goal was for this recording to be simple and to flow like ocean waves upon the shore.

When I mentioned to my daughter, Tess, that I was going to record this song, I asked her what instrument she might like to hear on it (along with, of course, my acoustic guitar, "Angel.") She replied, "Well, it's about Hawaii, so maybe it should have an uke?" And so it does.

After recording guitar, bass, ukulele and vocals, I thought I was done but I kept hearing a flute part in my head as I drove around in my car listening to the track.

I'm not a very good flutist, so I was thrilled to learn that I could actually play the part I had imagined, so I recorded it.

In my head, the flute part sounded great but in the real world it was actually a little too busy so I cut quite a bit out and simplified it. Then I cut some more, and some more, and some more.

I then played it for my wife, Wendi, and she said, "I really like it, but I think some of the flute makes it too busy."

Argh. Oh well, I trust her, so I cut out almost all of the flute but kept in some near the end because, after all, who knows when I'll get to play a playable flute part again? :o)

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hope you like the song. ...and the flute parts that you can hear in your head.

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Aloha Hawaii

Words & Music by Ron Hall - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

I am the island wave
I am the sky
I am Hawaii
Oh hear me cry

White Lady walk the sand
Tears in her eyes
I am the Pali
And I hear her sighs

Mano, he swims alone
Pele, she cries
Oh my Lahaina
Oh Paradise

Don't leak your oil in my island wave
Nor your smoke in my sky
History still lives in me
From days long gone by

Oh I am the island wave
I am the sky
I am Hawaii
So listen when I cry

I am Hawaii
Oh hear me cry