Halle Hula

When Elvis Met Leonard. Nothing but uke, vox, and questionable taste.

I can't really do Elvis, but this is the right territory, anyway. I thought about looking up some hula music to try up the verisimilitude, but then I, uh, didn't.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by cortex (42 comments total)

Lyrics:

They say that there's a secret dance
That leads to tropical romance
I hope you'll let me demonstrate it to ya

It goes like this, just move your feet
and shake your hips to the island beat
and lose your self inside the halle hula

Halle hula
Halle hula
Halle hula
Halle huuu-uuu-laaa

Your drink is strong, your skin is tanned
You see her barefoot on the sand
The moonlight and her beauty sock it to ya

Your eyes connect, the tide rolls in
Above the ocean's gentle din
You hear the rhythmic strains of halle hula

Halle hula

Some say that love is hard to find
But I don't pay them any mind
It's easy when the music's moving through ya

The tiki torch, the swinging hips
The grass-skirt girls with ruby lips
And from their mouths they sing the halle hula
posted by cortex at 10:10 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

What the hell is wrong with you?
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:18 AM on June 17, 2009 [17 favorites]

Man, you are absolutely DESTROYING this challenge. And I mean that in the frat boy sense.
posted by ORthey at 10:21 AM on June 17, 2009

!!!!!
posted by Squid Voltaire at 10:25 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

/me claps
posted by dblslash at 10:27 AM on June 17, 2009

I have a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell lap steel.
posted by _dario at 10:43 AM on June 17, 2009

That'll do, pig.
posted by Jofus at 10:44 AM on June 17, 2009

I don't think I could love this anymore than I already do. If I wore a hat it'd be off to you, sir.
posted by Kimothy at 10:53 AM on June 17, 2009

(But it needs a Ukulele tag!)
posted by Kimothy at 10:53 AM on June 17, 2009

(Of all the tags to forget! Fixed.)
posted by cortex at 11:08 AM on June 17, 2009

What the *hell* is wrong with you?

What the hell is *wrong* with you?

*What* the hell is wrong with you?

What the hell is wrong with you*?*
posted by sambosambo at 11:28 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

We should put out a MetaFilter ukulele album! This site has made more use of the instrument than any place I have ever seen.

Of course, I suppose the fact that I have uploaded, like, 90 songs featuring the ukulele might have something to do with that.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:28 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I was gonna say, of all the people to What at me for posting a song featuring ukulele and falsetto vox...

A uke album would be neat.
posted by cortex at 11:46 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

So I'm a massive hypocrite.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:56 AM on June 17, 2009

Nonsense. I think you've lost weight, actually.
posted by cortex at 11:57 AM on June 17, 2009

Dammit, Cortex, you have three out before we even have a chance to do one! Stop being so prolific!

Just kidding, don't ever stop. Keep that Uke going crazy!
posted by askmeaboutLOOM at 11:58 AM on June 17, 2009

YEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!
This is now my ringtone.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 12:04 PM on June 17, 2009

I kneel before your awesomeness.
posted by The World Famous at 12:27 PM on June 17, 2009

Yes, yes, yes. Just yes.
posted by uncleozzy at 2:08 PM on June 17, 2009

Oh my God. Amazing.
posted by miratime at 3:09 PM on June 17, 2009

This is going to be your big break. It is the best thing that you or anyone else has ever done.
posted by ND¢ at 4:58 PM on June 17, 2009

Leonard Cohen is still alive, right? 'Cuz he really needs to hear this (and the other submissions)!

*I know I have a grass skirt and a lei around here somewhere..)
posted by snsranch at 5:32 PM on June 17, 2009

i want to criticize this for being more of a march than a hula, but i the concept is too strong. awesome.
posted by mexican at 7:20 PM on June 17, 2009

holy fuck this is perfect.
posted by umbú at 8:52 PM on June 17, 2009

Hey, cortex, I'm trying to learn to play uke, and I wonder if you might be willing to post the chords for this at some point?
posted by Rock Steady at 9:31 PM on June 17, 2009

Yeah, Leonard Cohen absolutely needs to hear this one. Aloha! Perfect.
posted by Corduroy at 11:50 AM on June 18, 2009

Nice one man. Miles better than the original.
posted by Not Supplied at 12:10 PM on June 18, 2009

Hey, cortex, I'm trying to learn to play uke, and I wonder if you might be willing to post the chords for this at some point?

Sure thing: here they are, in glorious Handwrite-O-Vision.
posted by cortex at 1:03 PM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

They say that there's a secret dance
That leads to tropical romance

That alone is whole song. What a find.
posted by micayetoca at 3:10 PM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Part II and a finale
The world needs "the" Ukulele chorus
posted by waviolet at 3:49 PM on June 18, 2009

Sure thing: here they are, in glorious Handwrite-O-Vision.

Where do I download that Handwrite-O-Vision program? As a rank amateur, if I do not use that tuning (I'm trying to stick to gcea for now) can I keep the names of the chords the same and just change the finger shapes, or do I need to do some transposition magic?
posted by Rock Steady at 7:10 PM on June 18, 2009

You can keep them the same, Rock Steady.
posted by umbú at 7:30 PM on June 18, 2009

Nevermind, figured it out on my owns. Thanks a ton for doing that, cortex.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:33 PM on June 18, 2009

Those three minutes were spent trying to contort my fingers into an F#7th.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:34 PM on June 18, 2009

Well I was about to come back here all confused and accuse Cortex of mislabeling his chords a step higher than they really are. Then I realized he was tabbing for Soprano Uke and I play Concert Uke. Yikes.
posted by Kimothy at 8:44 PM on June 18, 2009

Yeah, and if you don't mind being a step down, you can just keep the fingerings the same and play it in C instead of D.

Yikes.

Pwned!

I ran into another uke player at a music thing recently and he helpfully offered to tune up my uke while I was doing some other pre-show stuff and apparently was not aware that default soprano tuning is a step higher, so I ended up having to helpfully retune the damn thing on stage and that was pretty neat.

He was kind of an odd guy in general, though. You can call him Slim!
posted by cortex at 9:11 PM on June 18, 2009

This is entirely completely glorious. If I was only musical enough to figure out how to play this on the koto . . .
posted by that girl at 7:52 PM on June 19, 2009

/swoon
posted by desuetude at 6:10 PM on June 22, 2009

JESUS YOU ARE AWESOME

anyone who can imitate elvis and dylan in the same challenge wins
posted by ichthuz at 10:55 AM on June 23, 2009

Only suggestion I'd make is with the title... either Hale Hula ("hale" is "house" in Hawaiian) or "Haole Hula" ("haole" is "foreigner" in Hawaiian)
posted by brianstorms at 7:23 PM on June 30, 2009

oh. my. goodness. oh man. bahahahaha.
posted by divabat at 5:47 PM on August 17, 2009

I want nothing more than to direct a full 50s dance number to this oh yes it shall me mine.
posted by The Whelk at 1:42 PM on September 30, 2009