Mele Kalikimaka
"Mele Kalikimaka" is a Hawaiian-themed Christmas song written in 1949 by Robert Alex Anderson. The song takes its title from the Hawaiian phrase, "Mele Kalikimaka," meaning "Merry Christmas".[1] The phrase is borrowed directly from English but since Hawaiian has a different phonological system - Hawaiian does not have the /r/ or /s/ of English and doesn't have the phonotactic constraints to allow consonants at the end of syllables - "Merry Christmas" becomes "Mele Kalikimaka".[2] One of the earliest recordings of this song was by Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters in 1950 on Decca 27228 (78 rpm) / 9-27228 (45 rpm) and it has been covered by several artists including Bette Midler and The Beach Boys. The song is notably featured in L.A. Confidential and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
[edit] Notable versions
- Bing Crosby and the The Andrews Sisters
- Don Ho
- Davy Jones
- Arthur Lyman
- KT Tunstall
- Chris Isaak
- Hawaii Calls
- Jimmy Buffett, from Christmas Island
- Reel Big Fish
- Nick Hexum
- The Good Lovelies
- The Puppini Sisters, from Christmas With The Puppini Sisters
- Bette Midler, from Cool Yule
- Blue Hawaiians, from Christmas On Big Island
- Genoa Keawe & her hula maids, on the compilation album Vintage Hawaiian Treasures, Vol. 8: Santa's Gone Hawaiian!
- Teresa Carpio
- Mina
- Jake Owen
- Walk off the Earth
[edit] External links
- Lyrics to Mele Kalikimaka
- Midi of Mele Kalikimaka
