Hawaiian Wedding Song (1961)

King/Hoffman/Manning


Now that we are one

Clouds won't hide the sun

Blue skies of Hawaii smile

On this our wedding day

The new Baz Luhrmann IMAX concert film Elvis Presley In Concert – EPIC – is out and hopefully is introducing the King to a new generation of fans. With Elvis gone since 1977, it's been more than a generation since he has been a key name in popular music. Much has been written about his circumscribed and sort of sad life, and then there are the many impersonators. Yet he remains one of the best singers of the 20th Century, at least in my opinion. All the films that his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, contracted him into are horrible, and Blue Hawaii is no exception. But his singing is at an apex. Only  Elvis can take a Hawaiian folk song, add a bunch of hokey background singers, and turn it into a love song that will stand through both volcanic and the sands of time. R.I.P. and ELVIS LIVES. 

This is the moment
I've waited for
I can hear my heart singing
Soon bells will be ringing

This is the moment
Of sweet aloha

I will love you longer than forever

Promise me that you will leave me never

Here and now, dear
All my love I vow, dear
Promise me that you will leave me never
I will love you longer than forever

Ua sila
Pa‘a ‘ia me ‘oe
Ko aloha makamae e ipo
Ka'u ia e lei a‘e nei la

Now that we are one
Clouds won't hide the sun
Blue skies of Hawaii smile
On this, our wedding day
I do love you with all my heart
I do love you with all my heart

Rum and Coca Cola (1943)

L. Invader

"Young girls say they treat 'em nice, 

make Trinidad like Paradise
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Go down Point Koomana"

Is it something about upcoming cold weather that makes me think of tropical drinks? The Andrews Sisters did this pre-post-colonial song a big hit, and who can blame the US for loving it back then, though it has not aged well. Here are three ultra-American gals, the Andrews sisters, singing with fake Caribbean accents, telling the folks to go down to Trinidad, where they all "be working for the Yankee dollah." Yes, you are guaranteed a great time with the young girls and the booze. Even a few years ago this song might have been played in some throwback radio show. Today it just sounds all wrong. Except for the harmonious singing. And yes, they were actually sisters.

LYRICS

If you ever go down Trinidad, they make you feel so very glad
Calypso sing and make up rhyme, guarantee you one real good fine time
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Go down Point Koomana
Both mother and daughter workin' for the Yankee dollar.

Since the Yankee come to Trinidad, they got the young girls all goin' mad
Young girls say they treat 'em nice, make Trinidad like Paradise
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter workin' for the Yankee dollar.

Oh, you vex me, you vex me

From Chicachicaree to Mona's Isle, native girls all dance and smile
Help soldier celebrate his leave, make every day like New Year's Eve
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Go down Point Koomahna
Both mother and daughter workin' for the Yankee dollar.

It's a fact, man, it's a fact

In old Trinidad, I also fear, the situation is mighty queer
Like the Yankee girl, the native swoon when she hear der Bingo croon
Drinkin' rum and Coca-Cola. 

Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter workin' for the Yankee dollar

Out on Manzanella Beach, G.I. romance with native peach
All night long, make tropic love, next day, sit in hot sun and cool off

It's a fact, man, it's a fact

Rum and Coca-Cola. Rum and Coca-Cola. 

Workin' for the Yankee dollar