Looking at your pictures in the wall kowhaiwhai on the backbone
That poutokomanawa stand tall right up to the tekoteko
Learning te reo māori now is my passion and my wero
I gotta make the connection now before it becomes to late
To suffer the loss of our land and our language will be too great
Apirana Ngata's crusade to learn a new way
Still keep our culture close
Still te reo is what we struggle with the most even though
I've been brought up round the marae
Watching our koro speak on the paepae
Can't help but feel that mamae
Coz wonder what gonna happen when koro's gone
Who's gone hold the mauri of his tokotoko on
And wear that moko strong all the songs
Of our ancestors lessons left for our people
They could foresee the evil what colonisation could lead to
It's not our fault but it's our responsibility
The opportunity to rewrite history
And it starts with.
Ka tangi te tītī, ka tangi te kākā
Ka tangi hoki ahau Tihei mauri ora!
Ka tangi te tītī, ka tangi te kākā
Ka tangi hoki ahau Tihei mauri ora!
Ka tangi te tītī, ka tangi te kākā
Ka tangi hoki ahau Tihei mauri ora!
Ka tangi te tītī, ka tangi te kākā
Ka tangi hoki ahau Tihei mauri ora!
credits
from Heritage Trail,
released August 3, 2021
Written and Performed: Tipene, R. Pierson
Produced by: Tipene
On his 2nd LP, the great Buffalo rapper King Ralph serves up 17 more tracks recalling the Golden Age, aided by Elcamino & more. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 12, 2021