So what is the story behind Hawaii 78, the powerful song made famous by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. We all know that it was written by Mickey Ioane and made famous by Bruddah Iz in Facing Future.

But according to Kawika Crowley, there is a whole lot more to the story. You can read the whole story at his website: http://www.hawaiiseventyeight.com/, but here’s my attempt to make a long story, as told by Crowley, short.

How would they feel about the changes of our land?

Back in October 1976, Cleyton Kua of the band Da Blahlas visits Crowley’s home and tells him about this amazing young musician named Mickey Ioane from Keaukaha.

The next day, they drive along the edge of Hilo Bay to the Ioane home and they listen to Ioane perform:

“…the next two minutes I will never forget… chicken-skin upon chicken-skin. When the final chord was played, there was utter silence. I knew I had just heard a jewel of a song, but I knew what still had to be done…”

Cry for the gods, cry for the people

After hearing the song Crowley said:

“Micky you have written the beginnings of a classic, but it’s not complete… it needs a chorus”

But the shocking thing is what Crowley says next. He says that he wrote the chorus:

The verses Micky had written were so stunningly powerful and moving that I was overwhelmed with the energy… the chorus was written in just less than 20 minutes…

Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ‘Āina i ka Pono

“The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” According to Crowley, this haunting line was not part of the original song but was added later by Abe Keala:

“in the summer of ‘77 a member of Da Blahlas, the late great Abe Keala, got together with Micky in a jam session working the song. The result was the birth of the beautiful and haunting line “Ua mau. . .ke’ea oka “

Bruddah, Bruddah

So how did it come to pass that no one knew who else helped to write this amazing song? Crowley says:

Back in the ‘70’s in the music business, at least on the Big Island, it was all “Brahda Brahda” when it came to songwriting credits. Many of the songs recorded by my artists were co-written by me in efforts to elevate a song to its potential commercial value… but I would refuse to attach my name to the song.

The Wrong Lyrics?

The lyrics of the chorus go like this:

How, would they feel, could their smiles be content, then cry
Cry for the gods, cry for the people
Cry for the land that was taken away
And then yet you’ll find, Hawai’i

But Crowley says that the original lyrics were a little different:

The original version of the words I wrote and which appeared on the first version were as follows: “How would they feel… would they smile, be content, or just cry… cry for the Gods, cry for the people, cry for the land that was taken all away… and then… BID… GOODBYE… HAWAII”…

This actually does seem to make a little more sense. If you are crying for the land that was taken away, why would you find it in the next line? It seems to make a little more sense to say goodbye to it.

But Wait, There’s More

It turns out a fourth person had a hand in writing the song. According to Crowley:

Just three years after the writing of this story (2003), I was on a phone call chatting with Cleyton Kua about a number of topics, including the song “Hawaii ‘78”. I was sharing with him my desire to place this story on a website entitled hawaii78.com. Out of nowhere he almost shyly stated, “Dave, I wrote one of the verses.”

To Make a Long Story, Short

So to make a long story short, Hawaii 78, according to Crowley, was written by four people: Micky Ioane, Abe Keala, Cleyton Kua, and Kawika Crowley.

This is the account of one source and I have no reason to doubt it, but I would love to hear what other people have to say. So if you have any input on this incredible story, please let me know.

George Lycurgus was born in 1858 in Vasara, Greece, which was near Sparta. Sparta as we know from the movie 300 was home to fierce Greek warriors who were known as the Spartans. Their claim to fame is that 300 Spartans and 7,000 other warriors held off an army of 300,000 Persians in the battle of Thermopylae.

An Accidental Voyage to Hawaii

Lycurgus, accidentally came to Hawaii for the first time in 1889. While loading a cargo boat that was bound for Hawaii, he was invited aboard for a poker game. It must have been an exciting game because he didn’t notice that the ship had set sail with him still aboard it.

The Duke of Sparta (Who Lived in Hilo)

He opened one of the first resorts in Waikiki and one of his frequent guests was the Kalakaua family who were Hawaiian Royalty. His friendship with the royal family was how he was nicknamed the “Duke of Sparta”.

In 1894, he landed in Hilo for the first time aboard the USS Philadelphia on his way to visit Volcano for the first time. He liked the Volcano so much thoughts of business opportunities there spun in his head.

Hilo Resident Accused of Treason

After the 1895 Counter-Revolution of Hawaii, Lycurgus was accused of smuggling guns for the Royalists and charged with treason. He was put in jail for 52 days, but nothing came of the charges.

Throwing Gin into the Volcano

In 1904, Lycurgus and his nephew took control of the Volcano House Company and in 1906 he worked with Lorrin Thurston to have the volcano area developed into Volcano National Park. One of the traditions that he started was tossing bottles of gin into the volcano. Obviously not everyone was happy about this.

He died at the grand old age of 101 in the year 1960.