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.