The Hau Tree Warning

Attention tourists and visitors to the island of Hawaii

The following message is important to your well-being

Please pay attention as I deliver this important announcement

Thank you

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

Aloha and welcome to Hawaii

We'd like your attention for this announcement

Please heed our warning or you could end up in a lot of trouble

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

While hiking in the forest

Do not pick any of the leaves or plants

Especially the one called Hau

'Cause that one belongs to Laka

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

Laka is the goddess of the hula dance

And of all the greens of Hawaii

If you don't believe me

You can ask the hula girls

They know just what I'm talkin' about

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

If you think this is just a funny story

You should see what happened to Sonny Chillingworth

When he went into the forest and picked a leaf from a Hau tree

He was cursed by the goddess Laka and for seven years

He could not get a movie part

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

So if you want to stay safe in the islands

Please heed the warnings that we give you

But if you don't believe us

And choose to pick a leaf from a Hau tree

You will surely bring a lot of trouble on yourself

Thank you and Aloha

Hawaiian

English

Well now gather round you wanderers who come from far away

And listen to a story that I heard the other day

A lady from the mainland had a lei around her wrist

She saw a pretty leaf and she could not resist

Hawaiian

(ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole, ʻaʻole)

(ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole, ʻaʻole)

English

She reached into the Hau tree with a smile upon her face

She never knew the trouble she was bringin' to that place

The wind went still and every bird stopped singin' in the air

And Laka looked down from the mountain and she stared

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

English

Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, listen to the drum

If you take what isn't yours you better run

English

Now the old folks on the island they will tell you what they know

The hula dancers learn it when the trade winds start to blow

You do not take from Laka, you do not test her hand

She's the reason all the green things grow upon this land

Hawaiian

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

English

I said the old folks on the island they will tell you what they know

From Niʻihau down to Hilo where the waterfalls flow

You do not take from Laka, you do not test her hand

She's the reason all the green things grow upon this land

English

Sonny learned it, yes he learned it

Seven years of empty rooms

Ask Kealiʻi, ask Gabby

They will tell you how it looms

Ask the aunties at the hālau

They have seen it with their eyes

Break the law of Laka

And you'll pay the price in sighs

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

If you're walkin' in the valley and the forest gets real quiet

That's the moment that you oughta turn around and say goodnight

Don't be bold, don't be greedy, don't be foolish with your hands

Leave the Hau tree to the goddess and the greens of these islands

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole, ʻaʻole)

English

Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, hear the taiko drum

If you take what isn't yours you better run

(You better run)

(You better run)

English

Aloha, aloha, that's all we have to say

Respect the land you're standin' on before you walk away

Mahalo for your listenin', now go and tell a friend

The goddess of the greens is watchin' till the very end

Hawaiian

(Ka

English

Well the sun went down on Hilo and the tourists went to bed

But a man from California had a plan inside his head

He had heard the old announcement, he had laughed and called it fake

So he snuck out past the palm trees for a leaf he meant to take

Hawaiian

(He aha kēlā, he aha kēlā)

(He aha kēlā, he aha kēlā)

English

He was creepin' through the ferns when he heard a woman hum

Not a tourist, not a singer, but a voice that made him numb

It was low like distant thunder, it was sweet like sugarcane

And it froze him in his footsteps when it called him out by name

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

English

She said "You came for something, little man, and I can see

You don't know the kind of trouble that you're bringin' down on me

Every leaf is on my body, every branch is in my hair

Put it back and I'll forget you, put it back and say a prayer"

Hawaiian

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

English

Well he dropped it, yeah he dropped it, and he ran back to the shore

Swore he'd never touch a Hau tree, swore he'd never laugh no more

And the hula girls all nodded when they heard the story told

Said "That's Laka, that's the goddess, and her patience is not gold"

English

Oh the taiko starts to thunder and the frame drum answers low

And the duduk cries a warning everywhere the trade winds blow

From the mountain to the water, from the valley to the sand

Put it back, put it back, put it back in Laka's hand

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

Now the aunties in the hālau tell the children every night

You don't argue with the goddess, you don't test her, you don't fight

She has watched this land for ages, she has watched it from the sky

And she'll watch you when you're leavin' with a tear in her eye

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole, ʻaʻole)

English

Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, hear the tom-tom roll

If you take what isn't yours you lose your soul

(You lose your soul)

(You lose your soul)

English

I said Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, let the bansuri sing

If you take what isn't yours you'll lose everything

(Everything)

(Everything)

English

So the moral of the story that I'm handin' down to you

Is the same one that the old folks told the visitors who flew

Respect the land you walk on, say mahalo when you leave

'Cause the goddess of the greens is watchin' everything you breathe

Hawaiian

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

English

And if you're ever in the forest and the silence gets too wide

And you feel a pair of eyes on you from somewhere deep inside

Just remember what I told you, turn around and walk away

Leave the Hau tree to the goddess, live to see another day

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

Aloha, aloha, that's the end of my song

Tell your mama, tell your neighbor, tell your cousin sing along

Mahalo for your listenin', now the story's in your hands

The goddess of the greens still watches over these

English

Well the story isn't over, there's a chapter I forgot

About a fella from the mainland who was greedy for a lot

He didn't want just one leaf, no, he wanted him a tree

He had a chainsaw in his suitcase and a plan to make it three

Hawaiian

(Auwe, auwe, auwe)

(Auwe, auwe, auwe)

English

He drove up to the mountain when the moon was hangin' low

With a sack of stolen clippings and a grin that had to go

But the ferns began to shiver and the tom-tom started in

And the mountain opened up its mouth and swallowed up his sin

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

English

She said "You think a goddess only lives inside a song

You think the green is somethin' that you carry right along

I am older than the lava, I am older than the sea

And the roots of every Hau tree know exactly where you be"

English

So the talkbox moaned a warning through the valley and the pines

And the vocoder went crazy down the telephone lines

He was runnin' through the bamboo with his heart about to burst

And he never saw the mountain take the chainsaw back to earth

Hawaiian

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

English

Oh the frame drum hit the floor

And the duduk called for more

And the bansuri went screamin' like a spirit through the door

Put your hands down, put your pride down, put your greed down on the ground

'Cause the goddess of the green ain't gonna let you stick around

English

Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, hear the tom-tom roll

If you take what isn't yours you lose your soul

(You lose your soul)

(You lose your soul)

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

English

Now the man woke up at sunrise in a ditch beside the road

With a leaf inside his pocket and a heart about to explode

He was talkin' to the chickens, he was cryin' to the sky

And he swore he heard a woman with a hula in her eye

Hawaiian

(He aha kēlā, he aha kēlā)

(He aha kēlā, he aha kēlā)

English

Ask the aunties at the hālau and they'll tell you with a grin

That the goddess doesn't punish, she just lets the green grow in

And the ones who come to take it find the taking turns to rust

While the ones who come to give it find a garden in the dust

English

I said the aunties at the hālau and they'll tell you with a grin

From the summit down to Waikiki where everybody swims

The goddess doesn't punish, she just lets the green grow in

And the takers lose the garden that was waitin' in the wind

Hawaiian

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

(ʻAʻole, ʻaʻole, ʻaʻole)

English

Sonny knew it, Kealiʻi knew it

Gabby sang it, Keola strummed

Every string on every island knows the day the green was hummed

Ask Nicole, ask Anuhea

Ask the dancers in the line

Break the law of Laka and you're runnin' out of time

English

Oh the orchestra is risin' like the water on the reef

And the banjos and the rock guitars are comin' for the thief

There's a chorus in the canyon and it's louder than the sea

Singin' "Put it back, put it back, put it back for Laka's tree"

Hawaiian

(Ka ʻāina, ka ʻāina)

(E Laka, e Laka, e)

English

Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, let the taiko roar

If you take what isn't yours you're out the door

(Out the door)

(Out the door)

English

I said Laka, Laka, keeper of the green

Laka, Laka, every leaf is seen

Laka, Laka, sing it to the sun

If you take what isn't yours the green has won

(The green has won)

(The green has won)

Hawaiian

(Ka wā, ka wā, ka wā)

(Ka wā, ka