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nahenahe
Aloha
USA
21 Posts |
 Posted - 04/06/2007 : 1:48:44 PM
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I was reading the liner notes to "Nanea Kou Maka I Ka Le`a Le`a" from "Pure Gabby." As I've read elsewhere, this song is atypical of Hawaiian songs in its explicitness (including the title).
However, the notes also mention that the song is one of several "monkey songs." This particular song references a monkey who sees a shiny coin in a bottle and inserts his hand to retrieve it. With his fist grasped around the coin, however, he is unable to extract his hand from the bottle neck. He has to decide whether to leave the coin and extract his hand or to continue to grasp it but have a bottle around his hand.
This was the first I'd heard of this amusing story. Does anyone know its origins? What are the other monkey songs?
Tim
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Tim Dang
Sunnyvale, CA |
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sandman
Lokahi
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2007 : 7:11:05 PM
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I heard it years ago when studying anthropology as a perhaps apocryphal story of how monkeys were trapped in Africa. Supposedly it was part of the oral tradition of a variety of cultures in both the east and the west of the Sub-Saharan region. I never saw it or heard of it actually being observed.
Sandy |
Leap into the boundless and make it your home.
Zhuang-zi |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2007 : 8:54:31 PM
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| I first heard it as an undergrad back in the 60's. Never saw a hard, documented source for it, though. |
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`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2007 : 06:53:30 AM
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Last Train to Clarksville was a good one.
Dave |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2007 : 09:03:11 AM
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| I liked Auntie Grizelda mo` bettah. Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork good geetah playahz. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2007 : 08:29:25 AM
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quote:
Last Train to Clarksville was a good one.
Very Funny!...
Can't resist mentioning that "Last Train to Clarksville" was the first "popular" anti-war song of the Vietnam era. Clarksville Tennesee was the closest commercial railroad station (just across the state line) to Ft. Campbell Kentucky. This is home of the 101st Airborne, who were the first troops to be shipped in massive quantities to Vietnam, hence the line "and I don't know if I'm ever comming home". Because of the subtle message, it made it past the relatively heavy TV censorship at the time. I don't think most people understood what the song was about.
Sorry for the diversion!...
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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sandman
Lokahi
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2007 : 11:18:32 AM
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No need to be sorry. Wish we had more songs like that.
Sandy |
Leap into the boundless and make it your home.
Zhuang-zi |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2007 : 4:56:35 PM
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| As songwriter Bobby Hart put it in a later interview: "We were just looking for a name that sounded good. There's a little town in Northern Arizona I used to go through in the summer on the way to Oak Creek Canyon called Clarksdale. We were throwing out names, and when we got to Clarksdale, we thought Clarksville sounded even better. We didn't know it at the time, [but] there is an Air Force base near the town of Clarksville, Tennessee - which would have fit the bill fine for the story line. We couldn't be too direct with The Monkees. We couldn't really make a protest song out of it - we kind of snuck it in." |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 06:42:03 AM
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Well, it wasn't an "Air Base" but home of the 101st Airborne (an Army Base - but with lots of Airplanes). I was an army brat while my father was stationed at Ft Campbell because of the Cuban Missile crisis (the reserves were activated at that time - for possible nuclear war). Made the trip to Clarksville several times, mostly to go to the railroad station, and to eat someplace better than the Officer's Mess on Sundays.
Interesting that a song device "accident" got so close to the truth.
Of course the 101st "Screaming Eagles" were the troops in WWII that the Series "Band of Brothers" was written about, and were the some of the Guys surrounded in the battle of the Bulge (but we all know this don't we?).
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 04/09/2007 08:12:13 AM |
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`Ilio Nui
`Olu`olu
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 07:07:53 AM
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My battalion in Viet Nam was heavily guarded by the 101st. I felt very secure in that fact.
Army brat? I thought you were just a brat. My bad!
dave |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 08:28:48 AM
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Army brat? I thought you were just a brat. My bad!
Yes- son of an officer. If you were not an officer then you better salute me next time!
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 04/09/2007 08:32:04 AM |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 08:43:16 AM
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Paul was with 1st Cav in Nam, then they went home, but alas, he had to stay...with the 101st. He took basic training at Ft. Campbell and AIT at Fort Polk, LA. He was infantry. Paul was awarded a Bronze Star while in Viet Nam. Anyhow, since he was with 1st Cav. initially, and his basic was at Ft. Campbell, I would have thought at that time, it must have been a 1st Cav base instead of 101st. I'll ask Paul when he comes home. Paul has had a beard ever since he got out of the Army. Never shaved his beard since 1972. His beard is older than a lot of the guys he works with.
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 08:48:55 AM
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Never shaved his beard since 1972.
Yikes - must look like one of the ZZ Top guys!
Again apologies...
...we ought to be talking about "Hawaiian Monkey" songs!
quote:
I would have thought at that time, it must have been a 1st Cav base instead of 101st. I'll ask Paul when he comes home.
Why wait - Learn to use the WEB!
Here is the official Ft. Campbell Website:
http://www.campbell.army.mil/newinternet2/index.html
And here is where/why my dad got involved:
quote:
This uncertainty dissipated in September 1956 with the activation of an experimental division. The division was activated to test developing Army concepts for a division capable of surviving and fighting on the anticipated nuclear battlefield of the Cold War era. The colors of this new division were to be those of the 101st Airborne Division. The 101st had been deactivated at the end of World War II.
And here is the connection to the Monkeys (actually Monkees) song:
quote:
The new structure, based on three infantry battalions per brigade, provided for strategically deployable separate brigades, to defend U.S. interests worldwide. The first test of this concept came in 1965.
Because of the growing threat to the Republic of South Vietnam, the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to Vietnam in July. They fought in Vietnam for 26 months, and in
December 1967, the remainder of the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to Vietnam, leaving Fort Campbell empty of a combat division.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 04/09/2007 10:15:04 AM |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 10:19:05 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sandman
I heard it years ago when studying anthropology as a perhaps apocryphal story of how monkeys were trapped in Africa. Supposedly it was part of the oral tradition of a variety of cultures in both the east and the west of the Sub-Saharan region. I never saw it or heard of it actually being observed.
It's also part of Indian oral tradition and up for debate on the web as to whether or not it's based on fact. It shows up here as well:
http://www.aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?1&TheBoyandtheFilberts |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 10:51:49 AM
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... it's also in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in which Pirsig attributes it to South Asia. It sounds like the Frog in Boiling Water story: the point it makes is strong enough that people don't seem to worry much about it actually being true.
aloha,
keith
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 04/09/2007 : 1:37:42 PM
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I heard a variation of the Monkey Story while in the Philippines. They have wild monkeys there (they steal golf balls off the golf course so you have to play fast or have to take several "monkey drops" with stroke penalties). I was told they trap the small monkeys with coconut shells and line. The coconut shell has two holes. One hole only large enough for a knotted line to pass through and tie to a fixed object (like a tree trunk). The other hole is only large enough for a small monkey to put its hand through with fingers extended. Then they place some "bait" inside the coconut. The monkey grabs the bait and won't let go - can't get its hand out. I was told it was a humane way to relocate the monkeys. It didn't seem to lessen the number of golf balls stolen.
Again, I never saw this in practice but it made for some interesting converstaions with MoJo and San Magoo.
Still not sure how this relates to Nanea Kou Maka. Ralaxed is your fist? hmmm. better not go there either. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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