Composed by Queen Liliʻuokalani. The story explains how this song was Eddie Kamae’s gateway to Hawaiian music: until he was given the sheet music to this song, he had only been interested in latin, jazz, classical, and American pop standards and thought that Hawaiian music was too easy. The story also reflects on the Queen’s prodigious musical talents, how this song was composed, and ends with how the Queen’s music became a guiding force in Eddie’s life.
Pūʻolo contains
- lyrics and translations
- song story
- educational questions
- music sheets
- bibliography
- resources from Kamae archive
Listen with Lyrics
Watch Video Clips on YouTube
YouTube videos are documentary clips and full song performances.
ʻUluʻulu videos link to short preview clips from raw footage.
Story about Eddie Kamae’s music in the 1950s when he first started to play the song “Kuʻu Pua I Paoakalani” from the documentary, The History of the Sons of Hawaii.
Eddie Kamae’s full instrumental performance of “Kuʻu Pua I Paoakalani” at Hawaiʻi Public Radio’s Atherton Studio in Honolulu in 2000.
To explore more of our digitized collections of raw footage with ʻUluʻulu, visit:
Hawaiian Legacy Foundation: Eddie & Myrna Kamae.