Composer
Tīmoti Kāretu

1937 -
Tīmoti was born in 1937 and is a descendant of the Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu tribes. He is a scholar who is nationally and internationally recognised for his knowledge of the Māori language. Tīmoti is also a prolific composer and Māori performing arts expert.
Songs by this composer
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Whakaipuipu
Whakaipuipu mai rā te moana kei waho e
more
E āki kau ana ki Te Toka-namu-a-Mihi-marino
Ki uta rā, ki Pākirikiri e
Ko te rite o te wai kei aku... -
E nanawe ake ana i ahau
E nanawe ake ana i ahau
more
Te aroha, te mamae, te pōuri
Ki te ngako, ki te matū
O te ao Māori
5 E ngaro nei, e ngaro nei
Ki... -
E noho ana
E noho ana i te ranga māheuheu
more
Ka titiro whakarunga ki ngā whetū o te rangi
Āritarita noa , āritarita noa
Engari tē riro mai ki te kapu...
Aku kanohi kau
Lyrics
Ko aku kanohi kau te whakahaere ana rā
runga i ngā hiwi
Engari tē kitea atu e au i te iringa o te
wai i te kamo
5 Te tohu o te aroha ki te hunga ka momotu
ki tawhiti
Nā rātou nei te kōrero,
'E tā mā, tangata i akona i te whare
Te tūnga ki te marae tau ana'
10 Tēnei au te tū nei i runga i te marae
Engari e kore e tau taku tū ki te kore
koutou, te hunga pakeke,
E āwhina mai i ahau ki te whakatutuki i
te kupu a te hunga mate
15 Mā koutou kē hoki e huaki mai ngā whare
pā, e homai ngā taonga
Kia pakari ai taku tū i roto i tēnei wā
Otirā, nā Pōtatau te kōrero ki a Tanirau,
'E Tā, kua tō te rā'
20 Ka whakahokia e Tanirau,
'E tō ana i te ahiahi, e ara ana i te ata'
Āe rā, e aku pakeke, kua tō haere te rā
o te ao tawhito
Kua ara mai ko te rā o te atatū hou
25 Nā reira i huri ai aku kanohi ki ō tātou
taumata whakahuahua
Kei reira he whakahau, he oranga mōku
Ahakoa pēhea te uaua, te taumaha o te
pīkaunga i ngā taonga nei
30 Ka tutuki tonu i ahau
Ko au hoki te uri o te hunga nā rātou nei
tēnei ōhākī,
'He nui maunga e kore e taea te whakaneke,
He nui ngaru moana, mā te ihu o te waka e wāhi'
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My eyes scan the hilltops
But I do not see them clearly because of
the tears in my eyes
A token of my affection for them who have
5 passed on
They who said,
'Friends, a person who has been well taught
at home
Upon assuming his position on the marae,
10 becomes it.'
Here I am standing on the marae,
But it will not become me, if you, the elders
Do not support me, and thereby realise these
words spoken by those who have passed on.
15 For only you can open those doors shut to
me and reveal to me the treasures within
That I might stand with confidence today.
However, it was Pōtatau who said to Tanirau
'My friend, the sun has set.'
20 To which Tanirau replied,
'It sets in the evening, but rises in the
morning'
Yes, indeed, my elders, the sun is setting
on the old world
25 And a new day is dawning
Hence my scanning the hilltops mentioned
in our lore
For there lies my motivation and my strength
No matter how difficult, or how heavy a burden,
30 it will be to maintain these cherished items
I shall succeed
For I am a descendant of them who said,
'A great mountain cannot be moved,
But a great ocean wave can be broken by the canoe's prow.'
Explanation
In 1981 this was the action song composed for the competitions to celebrate the Coronation of Te Ata-i-rangi-kaahu. The tune was composed by the students themselves.