Tag Archives | New Zealand

It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and I Don’t Feel Fine

Yesterday we watched New Zealand’s “Blam Blam Blam” perform, “There is No Depression in New Zealand,” a song from the early ’80s that satirized the attitude, projected by the Prime Minister, that everything in New Zealand was going along just fine. The song became a theme for the McGillicuddies, a faux political party that reminded everyone that “fine” is a state of mind. An example of the McGillicuddies’ political positions: “The diversion of all of NZ aluminium production away from building US military aircraft and missiles to build giant space-mirrors to melt the polar icecaps and destroy all of the foolish greed-worshipping cities of man in one stroke, thereby returning man to the sea, which he should never have left in the first place .”

In tthis video we watch the McGillicuddies try to invade Wellington in 1986, Alf’s army starts the video and the McGillicuddies come on at 2:22. The actual fake battle begins at 4:16.

Blam Blam Blam

This is our last week of musical adventures in the Oceania and the Pacific Islands, so let’s take the chance to tell at least one musical story we missed. The rock band Blam Blam Blam was one of early ’80s New Zealand’s most popular and controversial acts. Their hit, “There is No Depression in New Zealand,” atirized the attitude of polarizing prime minister Rob Muldoon who many believed was glossing over the needs of the population. In the early ’90s the song experienced a substantial revival when a “joke” political party, The McGillicuddy Serious Party, ran adopted it as their national anthem. Blam Blam Blam disbanded in 1984, though they reunited for some concerts in 2003. The McGillicuddy Serious Party disbanded in 1999, though they re-emerge every so often to do battle. More about the McGillicuddy Serious Party tomorrow.

Poi E

In 1983 a duo in New Zealand composed of linguist Ngoi Pewhairangi and musician Dalvanius Prime wrote “Poi E” as a way to inspire cultural pride among Māori youth. Prime couldn’t find a record label to release the song so he formed his own label and worked with the Māori performing group, the Patea Maori Club to sing it. In 1984 a TV news story about the song introduced the population to it and it became an instant hit among Māori and non-Māori alike. It even became popular in the UK, where the Patea Maori Club toured to share the vibrant Māori culture.

Not only does “Poi E” reference the Māori tradition of dancing with poi, which are weights on tethers that dancers swing along to the rhythm, the “Poi E” video also introduced a nation of youth from New Zealand a the burgeoning American art — hip hop!

These Strong Ocean Waves Can’t Keep Us Apart

Yesterday we met “Pokarekare Ana,” an adored Māori song about love enduring across a threatening sea. When we sing the song we sway like the ocean waves. Sing along!

“Pōkarekare ana, ngā wai o Waiapu, I cry and cry because I miss you.

E hine e, you have my heart, these strong ocean waves can’t keep us apart.”

New Zealand’s Favorite Love Song

“Pokarekare Ana” may be New Zealand’s best-known song, and it’s certainly one of the nation’s most beloved. The song originated some time around World War I, perhaps as early as 1912, though its specific authorship is in dispute. Many ascribe it to Māori soldiers who were training for battle, though notable Māori lyricist and political leader Paraire Tomoana also claimed ownerhip. The Folksong.org.nz page about “Pokarekare Ana” provides extensive background about the song, and delves into the question of the song’s origin — did soldiers write it and Tomoana codify it into an “action song” for his performing group in 1917? Did the song develop instead from lyrics that Tomoana himself wrote in 1912, a Māori love song as part of his courtship of Kuini Raerena? Whatever the song’s origin, its lyrics tell the tale of two people in love, separated by water — in our version, “strong ocean waves” — that will never be strong enough to keep the two apart.

Only Māori Priests Played Instruments

Before Europeans landed in Aotearoa, much Māori vocal music was similar to that found elsewhere in Polynesia–energized chanting, often done without instrumental accompaniment and with the vocalists singing either solo or in unison. Before Western colonial contact, Māori priests were exclusively allowed to play instruments in public because of musical instruments’ power as a form of communication between humans and gods. (Non-priests played instruments, but in private or even in secret.) There were several kinds of flutes such as the bird-bone Kōauau and the flute/horn Pūtōrino, conch shell trumpets like the Putatara and spinning instruments like the whirling, whirring Purerehua. When Missionaries arrived they brought church-based harmonies and Western instruments; as a result, most Māori instruments were “lost” and have only a experienced a revival since the 1980s.

Best Haka? The Black Ferns

We start our week of musical and cultural explorations in New Zealand in the most exciting place. While “haka” is a general term for Māori dances, today’s most identifiable haka is a ferocious chant in which dancers pound on their bodies, using themselves as percussion, building confidence and cameraderie before going into battle. The best-known haka is “Ka Mate.” Composed in 1820 by a chief named Te Rauparaha, “Ka Mate” is a rousing chant adopted by New Zealand’s deeply beloved national rugby team, the All Blacks. Watch the All Blacks haka. Amazing. Of course the All Blacks don’t have exclusive claim on awesome hakas. Watch the extraordinary haka in this video, performed by New Zealand’s women’s rugby team, the Black Ferns.

All the Way to Aotearoa

This week our online class takes us to one of the earth’s most magical places — New Zealand!

The island nation we now know as New Zealand (known to the Maori as “Aotearoa”) was among the last large land masses in the world to be inhabited by humans. Polynesian first settled New Zealand in the late 13th century and within a couple centuries had developed a distinct “Maori” culture.

Today New Zealand is a modern nation that’s as closely connected to the West as it is rooted in Polynesian history and culture. While the relationship between European-descended New Zealanders and ethnic Maori is very complicated, and the nation’s volcanic foundation always presents the possibility of unexpected disruption, New Zealanders’ apparent combination of rugged individualism and relaxed humility (i.e. Edumnd Hillary, first Westerner to climb Mt. Everest, personified “the brave, self-deprecating New Zealander”) has so far enabled “Kiwis” to both engage the global economy and remain proud of their own complex culture.

Bill and Boyd go Chulu

Yesterday we sang a Fijian song, “Chuluchululu,” in our back yard with uncle Johnny. Today we take it somewhere relatively nearby but, culturally, entirely different — to New Zealand, where we sing it with our uncles Bill and Boyd.