Lau Lupe

COUNTRY: Western Samoa

We sing it in class with joy, though we know the things we love now will one day be gone: “watch the pigeons fly oh so where did they go…?”

According to this translation on BigBigSing.org, the song lands much more on the side of longing:

“My dove has flown, Flown into the vast wilderness, My poor Love

My Love is lost, A group of girls I see heading my way, My eyes are searching, Looking if you’re in that group.

My beautiful rose, My rose of velvet, My rose flower is killed, But has not blossomed yet.”

An original version is available on the Smithsonian Folkways recording, “Music from Western Samoa: from Conch Shell to Disco.”

Though the song is Samoan we use it in class to introduce the Tahitian rhythms, such as those in the video below.

Lyrics of All Around This World version:

La’u Lupe Ua Lele
Lele I Le Vaomoa
Watch the pigeons fly
Oh, so where did they go? Yah!

 

All the girls come walking/marching/dancing by,I le vaomoa
Watch the pigeons fly
Oh, so where did they go? Yah! (Cho!)

 

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