This was originally a Tongan song, written by Noble Tuʻivakanō for Princess Sālote, later Queen Sālote Tupou III of the Kingdom of Tonga, a sergeant from Fiji that was in Tonga heard the song and took it back to Fiji, it then became Fijiʻs farewell song - but it is originally a Tongan song. So yes, it is a song of Polynesia. Fiji, Tonga and Sāmoa have very close ties from very ancient times - they are considered the triumvirate of the Pacific. Fiji although geographically located on the "Melanesian" side of this colonial division, is half "Melanesian" and half "Polynesian" for lack of better terms. Bear in mind that prior to these colonial borders of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, the people of the Moana (Pacific islands) are one people. I am a Fijian of Tongan and Sāmoan ancestry and heritage, and I speak all three languages. The lyrics in both Tongan and Fijian are metaphorically profound. Hereʻs the original version in Tongan, introduced by the late Noble Veʻehala. Tongan Song - Si'i Lile Viola Lose Hina (Isa Lei)
I hope I already replied to thank you for visiting and commenting. TH-cam has been losing my comments so I can't tell for sure. Your dad has contributed so much to Hawaiian music, it's an honor to have you visit. Thanks, Fran
Thanks Fran - I came to this loveliest song via Ry cooder and VM Bhatt, then The Pahinuis, and have slowly grown my own version on lap slide. Wonderful to hear and see you do it, always moves me.
@franguidry you really put tears in my eyes by hearing you playing this beautiful song!! It brings back all the memories about my Father whom passed away 2002 by car accident!! He was on his way home from few suburb away from me to pick me up for school exams, but he did not make it!!:( GOD BLESS YOU SIR!! I wish i was there to video you performing!! GOD BLESS Anna - (Samoan)
you really put tears in my eyes by hearing you playing this beautiful song!! It brings back all the memories about my Father whom passed away 2002 by car accident!! He was on his way home from few suburb away from me to pick me up for school exams, but he did not make it!!:( GOD BLESS YOU SIR!! I wish i was there to video you performing!! GOD BLESS Anna - (Samoan)
Aloha and Mahalo Fran for putting this out here. I did not this song until I ran across Ed Gerhard performing it on You Tube. I love it and the way you play it too!
"Isa Lei" has been done by a few Hawaiian artists so I figured out a version, based mostly on Blah Pahinui's vocal. There are many terrific versions out there, and Ed Gerhard's is really wonderful and much more complex than mine. Fran
Bill Ruxton Hey, Bill, I can't find a reference to a Kingston Trio version but I've seen one by Dave Guard's followup band, the WhiskeyHill Singers.Fran
Beautiful version of this tune, Fran. I am working up my own arrangement of this and your rendition is an inspiration with its delicate feel and gracefulness. Thanks!!
Absolutely awesome :) This was my Nana's favourite song to sing and play on guitar. She sadly passed away on 13th Aug 2010. Thank you for playing this song so beautifully. God Bless
@franguidry hi there Fran,thanks for reply,na english born and bread,but love the music of the Pacific islands espesialy Fiji, i have Fijian friends that live here in the UK many have gone back to Fiji or New Zealand. hope to here more from you Regards Dave UK
I've got to check them out. I'm planning on putting out my own version, based on Keola Beamers arrangement. For me the hardest part is to play slack key with a smile on my face. I really have to work hard with that. :-)
This was nice! Very pleasing sound and playing. And thanks for informing on the pickup you used. I was searching for a recording with this mic, and I must say, your post is a blueprint on how people should use youtube. Very best regards from Norway!
This is really beautifgul and very soothing indeed. Brings back many, many memories of home. I really liked the way you play it. I want to learn the slack key, how can I go about it? You played so naTURALLY......KEEP ON PLAYING MATE.
Fran - you played this so amazingly beautifully. It sort of makes me chuckle, though. It is so nahenahe and you are opening for Led. People going to be lulled by the sweet music and then Led going come on and they going be run ova by a Mack truck! Nah, nah. I know Led plays sweetly, too. Great music, my brother. Me ke aloha, Wanda
My mother, one of the first, if not the first Fijian woman to be given the approval by the King, to leave Fiji, passed away this evening. She would have appreciated this as much as I do. Thank you.
Well, I was working on a few tunes from Moses Kahumoku but they will have to wait until summer now. I am too consumed by classical & standard notation. At this age, I can't muti-task anymore LOL!
I also love this melody. I have understood it to be the Fijian farewell song, but some folks have attributed it to Tonga. In any case, thank you for your comment. Fran
Soothing sound.This dead can play❤❤❤😊
So glad you enjoyed it.
Fran
the best guittar solo for that song ive ever heard.........beautiful
I'd invite you to listen to VM Bhatt & Ry Cooder from the album "A Meeting by the River" for the most sublime emotional interpretation of this song
This was originally a Tongan song, written by Noble Tuʻivakanō for Princess Sālote, later Queen Sālote Tupou III of the Kingdom of Tonga, a sergeant from Fiji that was in Tonga heard the song and took it back to Fiji, it then became Fijiʻs farewell song - but it is originally a Tongan song. So yes, it is a song of Polynesia. Fiji, Tonga and Sāmoa have very close ties from very ancient times - they are considered the triumvirate of the Pacific. Fiji although geographically located on the "Melanesian" side of this colonial division, is half "Melanesian" and half "Polynesian" for lack of better terms. Bear in mind that prior to these colonial borders of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, the people of the Moana (Pacific islands) are one people.
I am a Fijian of Tongan and Sāmoan ancestry and heritage, and I speak all three languages. The lyrics in both Tongan and Fijian are metaphorically profound. Hereʻs the original version in Tongan, introduced by the late Noble Veʻehala.
Tongan Song - Si'i Lile Viola Lose Hina (Isa Lei)
Thanks Aunt for the information. A truly wonderful song, makes one always remember the islands and the wonderful memories of old
Thanks for the information truly a beautiful song
Just taking another "road trip" thru your channel, one of my favorites. Who am I kidding, they're all my favorites
Thanks for adding a comment to this clip, Robert.
Fran
Great job.
now am feelin homesick......good job sir.....you hev a great talent......
A beautiful and quite different version of this tune from what I am used to. Very mellow.
Beautiful, will share with my Fijians friends on facebook.
I hope I already replied to thank you for visiting and commenting. TH-cam has been losing my comments so I can't tell for sure. Your dad has contributed so much to Hawaiian music, it's an honor to have you visit.
Thanks,
Fran
Thank you for all the beauty you have placed on youtube.
Thanks Fran - I came to this loveliest song via Ry cooder and VM Bhatt, then The Pahinuis, and have slowly grown my own version on lap slide. Wonderful to hear and see you do it, always moves me.
Bob Wheeler Hey, Bob, I'm listening to their version right now. Lovely as one might expect from those two.Fran
beautiful..
@franguidry you really put tears in my eyes by hearing you playing this beautiful song!! It brings back all the memories about my Father whom passed away 2002 by car accident!!
He was on his way home from few suburb away from me to pick me up for school exams, but he did not make it!!:(
GOD BLESS YOU SIR!! I wish i was there to video you performing!!
GOD BLESS
Anna - (Samoan)
Fran - Beautifully played. Truly a joy to listen to.
Mark E
Beautiful Fran! Thanks for sharing.
you really put tears in my eyes by hearing you playing this beautiful song!! It brings back all the memories about my Father whom passed away 2002 by car accident!!
He was on his way home from few suburb away from me to pick me up for school exams, but he did not make it!!:(
GOD BLESS YOU SIR!! I wish i was there to video you performing!!
GOD BLESS
Anna - (Samoan)
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
wow thanks for this vid it as blown me away beutifuly played dave uk
Fran, I had to come back here to see, and hear you play again.
If you are Ever in Houston, Tx, please let me know..
Beautiful!!!
Aloha and Mahalo Fran for putting this out here. I did not this song until I ran across Ed Gerhard performing it on You Tube. I love it and the way you play it too!
"Isa Lei" has been done by a few Hawaiian artists so I figured out a version, based mostly on Blah Pahinui's vocal. There are many terrific versions out there, and Ed Gerhard's is really wonderful and much more complex than mine.
Fran
So nice I played it twice.
The Kingston Trio did a nice version of this tune way back during "The Great Folk Scare" of the 1960s. Thanks, Fran, for sharing!
Bill Ruxton Hey, Bill, I can't find a reference to a Kingston Trio version but I've seen one by Dave Guard's followup band, the WhiskeyHill Singers.Fran
Thanks, it's in taropatch open G, it's spelled out in the description.
Fran
Bless! that was beautiful! from Christchurch, New Zealand.
good job, beautifully done
i am still playing this i just luv it trying to see placing of fingers
Very smooth and easy on the ears. =)
Beautiful version of this tune, Fran. I am working up my own arrangement of this and your rendition is an inspiration with its delicate feel and gracefulness. Thanks!!
Absolutely awesome :) This was my Nana's favourite song to sing and play on guitar. She sadly passed away on 13th Aug 2010. Thank you for playing this song so beautifully. God Bless
@franguidry hi there Fran,thanks for reply,na english born and bread,but love the music of the Pacific islands espesialy Fiji, i have Fijian friends that live here in the UK many have gone back to Fiji or New Zealand. hope to here more from you Regards Dave UK
You da man Fran
I've got to check them out. I'm planning on putting out my own version, based on Keola Beamers arrangement. For me the hardest part is to play slack key with a smile on my face. I really have to work hard with that. :-)
nice one fran. greetings from the big island of mallorca, cuidate
My Dad is Bla. This is so cool! Glad I found this on youtube :)
you look happy while playing
This was nice! Very pleasing sound and playing. And thanks for informing on the pickup you used. I was searching for a recording with this mic, and I must say, your post is a blueprint on how people should use youtube. Very best regards from Norway!
Thanks Fran. If you only knew what your recordings has meant to me.
Thanks for a very kind comment.
Fran
This is really beautifgul and very soothing indeed. Brings back many, many memories of home. I really liked the way you play it. I want to learn the slack key, how can I go about it? You played so naTURALLY......KEEP ON PLAYING MATE.
Fran - you played this so amazingly beautifully. It sort of makes me chuckle, though. It is so nahenahe and you are opening for Led. People going to be lulled by the sweet music and then Led going come on and they going be run ova by a Mack truck! Nah, nah. I know Led plays sweetly, too. Great music, my brother.
Me ke aloha,
Wanda
would Iz singing along ever sound beautiful, JimmyC
My mother, one of the first, if not the first Fijian woman to be given the approval by the King, to leave Fiji, passed away this evening. She would have appreciated this as much as I do.
Thank you.
Hi Fran, when will you be performing in NL?
Well, I was working on a few tunes from Moses Kahumoku but they will have to wait until summer now. I am too consumed by classical & standard notation. At this age, I can't muti-task anymore LOL!
Isa, Its like you are making love with the guitar... Superb skills mate.. Absolutely wonderful...
Isa Lei!! It’s Fiji's farewell song isn't it? What a beautiful and impressive melody and your healing slack key sound as always♪
I also love this melody. I have understood it to be the Fijian farewell song, but some folks have attributed it to Tonga. In any case, thank you for your comment.
Fran
Do you think you could possibly upload a tab for this version? I would be incredibly grateful if you did :)
Hi again Fran where u from
Beautiful rendition. I would like to pick this out by ear, is your guitar tuned to Wahine F?
Really, its a bit of both.
Sorry, there's no tab that I know about.
Fran
Vinaka vakulevu Kat Lobendahn.
Fiji is no part of Polynesia hence it is not a Polynesian song. Try Melanesia.
Fran - Beautifully played. Truly a joy to listen to.
Mark E