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The Diner......
Sason:
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on November 15, 2014, 01:20:31 pm ---sugar overload!!!
--- End quote ---
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
brianr:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on November 15, 2014, 04:41:00 am ---Brian, good to see you here. I have a NZ related question. I learned a song, rather a chant, at work. Later I googled and found out apparently it's from NZ.
Epo e tai tai e
(oh) epo e tai tai e
epo e tai tai
epo e tuki tuki
epo e tuki tuki e
I found a couple of explanations/translations for it. One says it's a thank you song and the text means "The big flood came and we survived it". Another says Kiwi soldiers brought it to Italy in WWII and it's not a children's song at all, but a raunchy love song, traditionally sung by (horny) young men.
Do you know this song and what's it about? And can you verify it's from NZ, because I also found it put into an African context.
--- End quote ---
Thanks
I only moved to NZ in 2010 and only know a few Maori words. Actually that would be true of most pakeha (white people) my age who have lived here all their life.
My research finds these words are a corruption of
He pūru taitama e
He pūru taitama hoki!
which means
(I'm) a strong young man!
A real young bull!
Originally a young man's lusty courtship song. The first verse is now a cheeky party song.
And a modified WWII chorus is now an international children's song, Epo i tai tai e.
Sophia:
[youtube=425,350][youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9oxh7782ZU[/youtube][/youtube]
brianr:
Here is the Maori version sung by Maori students at the University of Otago in Dunedin.
I think you can tell from the audience reaction that the words are not a child's nursery rhyme
;D
[youtube=425,350]42SIY5LC-Ws[/youtube]
Penthesilea:
Thank you, Brian and Sophia, for the other versions.
Brian, I loved the audience's reactions to it. ;D
I'm so gonna tell this my colleagues next time we sing that song :laugh: Somehow funny, in both meanings of the word, that it became a nursery rhyme all over the world. ;D
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