"Aloha ʻOe" (also known as "Farewell to Thee") is a short song sung by Nani when it seemed like it was their last moment together with Lilo from the 2002 Disney animated feature film Lilo & Stitch. It is also sung in a rock 'n' roll fashion by Lilo, Stitch, and Reuben during the climax of Leroy & Stitch in order to shut down Leroy and his clone army, due to Jumba using a recording of Elvis Presley singing "Aloha ʻOe" in the creation of Leroy.
Variations of the song have also been used in several Disney shorts, such as Merbabies, Jungle Rhythm, Hawaiian Holiday, Soup's On, Hello Aloha, and Freewayphobia.
Annette Funicello sang a full English translation of the song on her album Hawaiannette, released under Buena Vista Records in 1960.
Composition[]
"Aloha ʻOe" was written and composed by Hawaii's last monarch, and only queen regent of the Hawaiian kingdom, Queen Liliuokalani. After being captured from her homeland, she wrote it during her imprisonment after it was taken over by western industrialization. The reasons behind the song were to express her grievances of being unable to protect her people and country, and it was also her way of apologizing for not being able to uphold her duty as queen.
It is quite possible Nani was made to sing this song due to the fact that, like Queen Liliuokalani who was unable to protect her country, Nani was unable to protect Lilo following their parents' deaths, and like the queen who had her country taken from her, Nani was going to experience the same with Lilo.
Lyrics[]
Aloha ʻoe, aloha ʻoe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace
A hoʻi aʻe au
Until we meet again
Farewell to thee, farewell to thee
The charming one who dwells among the bowers
One fond embrace
Before I now depart
Until we meet again
Video[]
Trivia[]
- One of the various meanings to the name Lilo is to "be lost", which seems to match Lilo in the movie, especially the scene that shows Nani singing "Aloha ʻOe" to her.
- It is quite possible that Lilo and Nani were both named after Queen Liliuokalani, the last ruling monarch of Hawaii. Lilo has the same first three letters of the monarch's name, while Nani has the last three letters of her name.
- Liliuokalani
- Lilo & Nani
- If this truly is indeed the case, then that would make their connection to the song that much more meaningful, as they, as a whole, represent the last Queen of Hawaii, the one who wrote the song.