A few days ago, someone asked me why in our Samoan Lyrics database, the categories for Felise Mikaele and Kapena are both empty. Well, it’s an interesting and a kinda touchy story. If you’re Samoan, especially if you’ve got any interest in our rugby then you’ve most likely heard the song ‘Tama a Samoa‘… except, […]
7 Reasons you should watch ‘Return to Paradise’
During a family reunion in Samoa ages and ages ago, a whole bunch of us piled onto a couple of those yellow wooden box buses (you know the kind) and took a tour around Samoa. It’s one of my most favorite childhood memories. We had grandparents, great grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and bratty babies all […]
A Samoan artist to watch: Lalovai Aisake Peseta
When I get rich and have a nice house with big empty walls, the first thing on my agenda will be to begin collecting art. Not just any art, though. I want to find work that reflects my culture and personality in unique and interesting ways… art that is a lot more refined and skilled […]
Translation for Falealili Uma, a song of victory
As with many traditional Samoan songs, Falealili Uma is not one that you can fully understand in English with a simple word for word translation. Even fluent speakers of Samoan still need to know some history, a few idioms and a little bit of geography to really grasp the meaning of this song. Thank you […]
How to play guitar chords for just about any Samoan song
We’ve received several requests in our Samoan Lyrics database for guitar chords, so today I want to show you an easy way to figure them out. The truth is, if you can play the chords for one Samoan song, you can play just about all of them. If you’re like, What? How? Then please allow […]
Love Samoan Music: Tiama’a
Do a little research and you’ll find that just about every great Samoan pop song today was either originally written by Tiama’a or heavily influenced by this legendary band. Not only is their musicianship – especially that lead guitar igi – flawless, their lyrics are some of the most profound and moving poetry you’ll find […]
One Samoana remembers Tanuvasa Shane Sitivi
A Special Edition of our Native Spot
When I stopped in the next day to check on his album, I was completely blown away by images he’d uploaded, seriously impressed by the quality of his photography. When I told him so, he shrugged it off like it was no biggie – just snapshots from his trip – and said something about how his photos were only a reflection of the breathtaking beauty of Samoa.
From the few posts he would drop in our forums plus his responses to the comments on his photos, I got the impression that Shane was a humble kind of guy, an adventurer at heart who was loving his exploration of Samoa and our culture.
…A few days ago I received some very sad news…
Le Penina o Lenei Vasa
I’m not sure what the history is behind this scene – the single coconut tree standing alone in the sea – but its significance is clear in a couple of very moving posts Hanalei has written about her love for her home village…
I first saw the image and fell in love with its beautiful, crisp shades of deep to light grey. Then I thought ‘One’. As in One Samoa… and of course One Samoana. It was too perfect – I had to steal this photo. (Hana knows I owe her big!)
