Kealia

The song entitled  'Kealia' was written by my great-grandmother's (Lydia Ha'ae) sister, Lottie Koko'o Ha'ae, around the late 1920's. They lived in the 'ili of Kealia, which lay just before Ho'okena.  A beautiful and quiet village, humble and nurturing. They devided their time down at the ocean fishing, gathering and weaving lauhala, working, taking care of the 'ohana, and staying down at the makai houses....or up Mauka, working the mountain lands,, growing food, taking care of the family houses and their other kuleana(responsibilities). The area was full of life...energy and aloha flowed from mountain to ocean and vise versa.  They had a cycle and rhythm to the way they lived, which was in tune to the natural cycles around them...of nature, of the seasons, of the elements. They naturally all flowed together.  As with all cycles of life, there is the cycle of love...of infatuation, of romantic encounters, of the sweet excitement of a new found love.  When we are separated from that love for awhile... A day can seem like a year.  A month can seem like a lifetime.  When we know our love is returning after being away from each other, our heart jumps with excitement, our thoughts create images of the reunion soon to come.  We anxiously await their return and everything around us reminds us of this beloved person. 'Kealia' is one of those songs that speak of such a love. One can easily imagine strolling along the white sandy shores of Kealia , the ocean singing a song of a soul's returning love... Here's a link to one of my performances of 'Kealia' at the MACC McCoy Studio Theater at my concert there last May 2014~click here....Kai O Kealia

Kai o Kauhako

When the month of July rolls around in the coastal village of Ho'okena, excitement builds as preparations begin for the annual Outrigger 'Ono Fishing Tournament.  Ho'okena and Miloli'i remain some of the last fishing villages on the Kona side of the island where nā kānaka lawai'a still use canoes to fish for 'ono, aku, ahi, 'opelu, and other kinds of prized and cherished fish.  This past July 2014 marked the 31st annual fishing tournament down at Ho'okena.  My father was a participant this past year, as he has been every year of the tournament since it's beginnings in the early 80's, and got the award for the most fish caught.  The previous year, 2013, my father placed 1st at the 30th annual tournament, with a beautiful prize 'Ono of 44lbs! My husband was his co-captain, and my two sons were their crew.  It was a happy day for the family!!!  The annual fishing tournament brings home family members of those who once lived, fished, worked, and played in the village of Ho'okena and neighboring village of Kealia.  Many who have moved far away from the sunny shores of their youth, return at this time of year to participate in the 'Ono tournament, or to simply be a part of the festivities centered around it.  These festive activities usually include a lot of delicious food from the area, caught and cooked right there at Ho'okena, as well as hearty beverages!! The launching of the canoes takes place around 5am from Kauhako Bay, the waters on the cliff side of the famous and historic Kupa Landing.  Fishermen are out until the weigh in which is held around 11am.  There is lots of excitement and anticipation in the air as everyone makes there way over from the weigh in to the lunch and awards celebration under the pavilion. Add some music, kanikapila, and hula into the mix, as well as the underlying spirit of friendly competition as the awards are announced, and it is safe to say...a good time is had by all!  From the kūpuna giggling and singing in the shade, to the keiki running around and playing in the sand, and the auntys' talking story, getting the food ready, and the  fisherman talking about their 'Ono run,  there is a feeling of peace and happiness encompassing all...reminiscent of earlier, simpler times when community and 'ohana came first.  

     There was a time when I hadn't been to the 'Ono tournament for many years.  My life had taken me away from the ocean of my youth  on journeys that were far and different.  I traveled throughout and lived in different islands, states, and continents.  I followed many paths....in search of a greater understanding of others as well as myself, and my place in this world.  That's another story for another time, but eventually  my path leads me back to Ho'okena as I move into a house in the same village my 'ohana was from for several generations.  I find my way back to the 'Ono tournament after some 15+ years of not attending, as it is the buzz of the village and when you're living in the village there is no bypassing it.  That year was a homecoming in many ways, July 2008.  My father entered the tournament that year, with my brother as his co-captain, who was home visiting from college that summer.  They placed third that year, and I remember driving down to the festivities and joining everyone in the celebration.  It was so wonderful to see all these people, extended 'ohana as well as close 'ohana, and I couldn't believe I had been away so long.  The kids were playing and swimming, and the adults were singing and laughing and just enjoying being with one another.  I remember coming home that evening feeling very piha, full.  My heart was happy and whole.  It was a moment of reconnection, not only to a place and people that I came from, but to that part of me I had not recognized in a long time.   So, in that feeling of fullness, contentment, and happiness in the recollection of the day's experiences... a mele started to come to me.  It was a mele of the 'Ono tournament, that sang of the ocean, the fishermen and their preparations, the 'ohana that waited back on land for them, and the exciting moment when they returned home to the beach with their canoes full of fish.  That mele became Kai O Kahauko....my first song ever on the radio, my song to dedicated to my father and brother, my song of reconnection.......

Kai O Kauhako --- By Kanani Enos , July 2008

Vs.1

E hele kākou i ke kai o Kauhako   Let's go to the bay of Kauhako

A 'ike i nā wa'a o nā kānaka lawai'a.  To see the canoes of the fisherman

Vs. 2

E lawai'a kākou i ke kai mālie.  Let's go fishing in the calm ocean

E ho'omākaukau i nā mākoi.    And prepare our fishing poles

Vs. 3

Le'ale'a kākou i ke kai o Ho'okena.   Let's have fun in the ocean of Ho'okena 

A 'ike i nā keiki pā'ani i ke one.    Watching the children play in the sand

Vs. 4

E luana kākou me nā kamali'i.       Let's relax with the little ones

'Au'au i ka loko hiamoe i ka malu.   And swim in the pond, and rest in the shade

Vs. 5

Puana kēia no ke kai o Kauhako.   This is my refrain of the ocean of Kauhako

E ho'i hou nā wa'a me nā i'a nui.     The canoes return with plentiful fish for all

Aloha Ku'u Hoa

Aloha Ku'u Hoa written by Kanani Enos in October 2008

Verse 1*
Aloha ku'u hoa             Love, my companion
O uka, i kanahele          You lay deep in the upland forests of my heart
Ku'u pua laha'ole          Like some untouchable sacred flower
I ka noe o ke ahiahi       Veiled by mists..the tears...of time's setting sun

Chorus*
Auhea 'oe                    Where have you gone...
Kou leo nahenahe       The kind sweetness of your voice
I ko'u mana'o               Still here...in my thoughts
E maliu mai 'oe.          Gently...you come to me
E pili i ka pu'uwai...    As a feeling, a memory taking hold of my heart

Verse 2*
Aloha ku'u pua           Love, my flower
Wili'ia me ka maile   Wound and woven w/ the fragrance.. of our deepest and most cherished times
Mōhala i ka nani.       And the hopes and dreams we had, still beautifully unfold
Ku'u wehi o ka uka.    Though you are gone,  I wear our love's gifts as precious                  
                                      adornments...for all of time.

Chorus repeat*


The moment when you realize that the love you knew, the person you fell in love with, the relationship you built is gone... Different....changed forever... Pau.  You miss the way they used to look at you, talk to you, treat you...and you finally realize it's been too long.  That the person in front of you is no longer the person you once knew, but a stranger who won't look you in the eye.  Yet, they seem to resemble the person you loved and chose to spend your life with...but the connection, the feeling is gone.  The laughter, the trust, the carefree good times...far far away. When you were supposed to grow together, you grew far apart..not by choice it seemed.  But, by circumstances, the hardness and unfairness of life..he said.  Remembering when you used to talk for hours, late into the night...and dream, now barely able to hold a short conversation.  The moment when you realize those sweet times, those momentous times you shared with someone,will only be memories...tucked some where deep in your heart.  This song was written in one of those moments of sadness and desperation.   When I was missing my partner in life.... Knowing that a goodbye was coming soon... A more final goodbye than I had ever known.  Sparked by a phone conversation with a good friend one night, while spending another evening alone....talking for hours until early morning about life , hopes, and dreams.  I realized how much I missed talking like that to the person I had devoted my life too.  Those talks and moments were gone. Yet, I knew that at some point and time in my life with this person.. what we had was real. It meant something.. Those years of life we shared together were special, we really had been in love.  At some point we truly believed in love and in each other.. And that we could make it as a family through the stresses of life.  We didn't.  In the end when all is lost...all you can hold onto is the goodness of what you had... The love that you shared... And the gifts it brought you.....

My Song's On The Radio

The first time I heard my song on the radio, I was at my parent's house, one early November morning in 2013.  I was doing the dishes from the night before, with my kids still asleep.  My mother was moving around the house, getting coffee started, my dad was gone already.  He often wakes up very early and goes for morning "cruises" which always includes buying a cup of coffee from the gas station.  In the middle of rinsing a plate, I hear his big Chevy truck come zooming up the driveway blasting a song that I wrote for him and my brother, entitled 'Kai O Kahauko' featured on my debut CD I had just released a few weeks prior.   He pulls up into his parking space, opens his door, and the music booms on his car door speakers.  He just sits there listening to the song.  I'm standing at the sink, feeling touched that he likes the song and wants to listen to it until its finished...but I'm a little confused.  His CD player in his truck was supposed to be broken, so I'm thinking..I guess he got it fixed?  Anyway, my song ends and I hear D.J. Ka'ea talking.  My dad then turns off his truck, comes to the door, and his eyes look a little watery.  I ask him, "Was that the radio?!!"  He said, "Yah, they played you on the radio this morning..."  I said, "Why didn't you yell at me from out there and tell me?" He smiled and we hugged.  My mom came over and my kids, and there were more hugs, and tears.  We were super excited and happy to say the least.  When I think back and wonder, why he didn't tell me what was going on when he drove up and just sat there...? I realize why now.  He was too choked up with emotions, as many of our fathers from that generation get sometimes.  In my words, not his...he just wanted to be in that moment, feeling happy and proud of his daughter.  I totally understand that.  I was there in that moment too...listening from that kitchen sink window that morning...I just didn't know it yet.  My song was on the radio....

Little Green - The Moment I Met Joni

"Born...with the moon in Cancer.  Choose her a name she'll answer to.  Call her Green, and the mountains cannot fade her...call her Green, for the children that made her. Little Green....be a gypsy dancer." My mind flows back to the first time I heard a beautiful voice that opened my heart a little more, deepened my musical feelings....held my listening ears with a sweet sadness I could not describe.   I remember the moment exactly. 
I was a freshman at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, renting out an old plantation house in Wainaku, on Lehua St...with 5-6 other college girls in 1996.  Most of them were from the mainland, bringing with them their own set of ways, diets, accents, and musical tastes, among other things.  For me as a local girl..a lot about living in that house was new for me.  It was a time of exploration and self discovery, as it is for most young adults who are 19. 
I was in the kitchen of that house when I heard that voice, a haunting melody.  It was a woman singer, and she sang with such deepness, yet in such a gentle way.  Her voice sounded very low and motherly at times, and would then go up into these angel ranges and soar in an abandonment of one who has nothing to fear or lose any more..it seemed.  The voice called me downstairs to my roommate's apartment of the house we were renting.  I opened the screen door to find no one there, but a stereo blasting this song.  The woman's voice called me as I made my way to my friend's empty bed, laid down, and closed my eyes paralyzed.   Simple, yet strong piano melodies led me on a journey of lyrics that seemed to be tearing my heart apart.  Raw and hurtful images, wove between soft and hopeful words...and I found that I could not stop listening to this music, and to this woman, as tears ran down my eyes. Her voice painted these stories in my mind, and I was captured in each one.  I was stuck there on that bed..song after song..internalizing what I was hearing...wanting to hear more...what was the next song, and the next song....and..
Luckily, my friend comes out from around the corner, and laughs at me saying, "what are you doing?"  She had been in the bathroom all this time, taking a shower.  Come to think of it, she didn't look that surprised to find me on her bed crying, listening to music!  Anyhow, I told her how I had been drawn downstairs by her music and then the rest was obvious.  I asked her, "who is this?"......and that's when she said a name that forever went into my musical heart history, a moment I'll never forget...Joni Mitchell.

Simple Life

A Simple Life~~written by Kanani Enos in summer of 2006.

This song was written after a visit with one of my favorite uncle's I grew up knowing and loving very much. We had a great conversation, on the side of the road of all places..near a spot where he did a lot of gardening work.  After many years of not seeing each other, we talked for a long time.  It was a moment of true connection and it touched me deeply.  An amazing musician, gardener, fun loving guy...his life is an interesting tale of tragedy, love, good intentions, imperfections, and what seems to be a lot of loss.  You could call his life sad, yet elements of his own life mirror a lot of our own lives, I'm sure.  He's one of those people that you could see on the side of the street and easily judge by outward appearances.  Our society has become one that is very hard to function in healthily, even with the best up-bringing and opportunities.  Put a little history of introduced diseases and mentalities to Hawai'i's fertile soil into the pot, add some lack of appropriate coping mechanisms to deal with the disintegration of the family unit, and a dash of drugs and alcohol addiction, and you have a very commonly eaten stew of mental and spiritual sickness that plagues generations of our kanaka maoli. We are beginning to rise and heal from this now.  Even through this hardship and sickness, my uncle is one of those people who's light shines so bright. His words sometimes fall on me like prophecies I forgot lifetimes ago, that I am supposed to remember. His blessings to me have been his smile, his loving words, and his guitar playing....
In the loss of everything material and of this world....there remains his belief.... in God's LOVE.
I wrote this song for him...as if he is singing it...to the world....

Simple Life

Verse 1*
Born into a simple life
A loving family
Raised by the earth, the wind, the rain, the sun, and the sea
Ocean sparkles in the sunlight of my childhood dreams (2x)

Verse 2*
Too many goodbyes
Of loved ones came and gone
Left to my defenses
To find my comfort in a song
Memories they weave their leis around me (2x)

Chorus*
Oh..and time moves on
Oh..the road turns
Here I'm left alone to find
Some certainty...
But, I'll sit under this tree
Sing my melody
Find my peace
With my destiny...
This true heart of mine, still tries to find
A way to smile

Verse 3*
Love in the beginning
Is so free and kind
It gives and takes without a care
Still it changes with time
And the fruit she bears holds the promise that our love will stay (2x)

Verse 4*
And here I face the morning sun
With my back to the west
Many faces, they pass behind
Of those I once knew the best
And what once was, is no more, but much remains the same  (2x)

Chorus*
Oh..and time moves on
Oh..the road turns
Here I'm left alone to find
Some certainty...
But, I'll sit under this tree
Sing my melody
Find my peace
With my destiny...
This true heart of mine
Still tries to find
A way to smile...

Everyday is a New Day~

Everyday Is A New Day~~~~written by Kanani Enos  in Dec. 2003
This is one of the first songs I wrote as a new mom, having just given birth to my first son.  We were living in Hilo at the time, the place of his birth up in beautiful Kaumana.  I attended a Christmas party of my dear cousin Kaliko Kahumoku and had a wonderful time with 'ohana.  It was my first time being at a pa'ina as a mom with baby in tow. I was feeling my new place in this world as a mother, as well as feeling so honored with this new kuleana, or job, responsibility.  I definitely felt overwhelmed when I came home that day.  Looking at my son napping, on a warm Hawaiian December afternoon..the words came to me, as well as the melody, and I was beyond thankful.  I feel it was a message for him, for my 'ohana, for me...for anyone needing to know that everyday indeed is a new day......you are not alone.....imua! This song is on my first debut album, Aloha I Ho'okena. 

Everyday is a new day
Just keep moving forward
Everyday is a new day
Hold your head up high
Do your best in everything
Be yourself and smile
With Aloha in your heart
There's nothing you can't do..

Don't forget your kupuna
They're standing by your side
Waiting there to guide you
Throw your fears aside...

Everyday is a new day
Just keep moving forward
Everyday is a new day
Hold your head up high
Sing your songs to everyone
For the keiki of this land
With Aloha in your heart
There's nothing you can't do

Don't forget your kupuna
They're standing by your side
Waiting there to guide you
Spread your wings and fly...

Everyday is a new day
Just keep moving forward
Everyday is a new day
Hold your head up high
Do your best in everything
Be yourself and smile
With Aloha in your heart
There's nothing you can't do....