WHEN HILO HATTIE DOES THE HILO HOP
© 1936
Lyrics Howard Adamson; Music: Don McDiarmid and Johnny Noble
Sheet Music: Miller Music, 1936
Recordings: Clara Inter, Hilo Hattie, Decca, 1939; Ray Kinney and his Hawaiian Musical Ambassadors,
1936; Alvin Kaleolani and His Royal Hawaiians, Bell LKS 199 (date unknown, original lyrics).
CD: [Clara Inter]Lovely Hula Hands (HOCD 42000)
Alfred ApakaHawaii's Golden Voice: The Lost Recordings (HOCD 32000)
In Hilo there's a girl quite natty
People call her Hilo Hattie
It's a wonder what that girl can do
She does a dance with meaning to it
And can that wahine do it
I've seen Hattie
You should see her too.
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
The folks in Honolulu start to close up shop
For ev'rything and ev'rybody comes to a stop
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
That wahine sure can sock it
Let me tell you she's no ickie
Give her rhythm and she'll rock it
She's very solid with her wicky wacky wicky
When she goes to town she really goes
They even say that Hattie woke up 'Ol Man Mose
He might have kicked the bucket but he's up on his toes
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
When Hilo Hattie starts to spread her wiles
They really break it up in those Hawaiian Isles
There's such a celebration you can hear it for miles
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
The 'gators from the craters holler chop chop chop
Humuhumunukunukus swim to the top
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
She's really up to date believe you me
Her jumpin' jive is all the rage at Waikiki
You'll see the monkeys jumpin' in the cocoanut tree
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Far across that blue Pacific
There's a lot of people trekkin'
'Cause they've heard that she's terrific
She does the hula with a little bit of peckin'
You don't know what it means to swing and sway
Until you've seen it done the South Sea island way
You'd better come along and take a lesson today
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
The girl is really hep and listen 'gates
If Hattie ever comes to these United States
The jitterbugs will have to keep an eye on their mates
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
From California shores to Rocky Maine
Her fame is spreading like a tropic hurricane
It's anybody's right to go a little insane
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
If Kay Kyser using prudence
Asked about the swing sensation
If he ever hollered 'students'
It's ten to one that Hattie'd get the nomination
Fifty-Second Street with all its jives
Is planning on a holiday when she arrives
And ev'ry body's gonna have the time of their lives
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Note: Kay Kyser was a big band leader who did a fair amount of comic antics and when he broadcast, he called
it Kay Kyser's College of Musical Knowledge and his fans "students."
AS RE-WRITTEN by McDIARMID FOR CLARA INTER (c. 1938)
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
There's not a bit of use for a traffic cop
For everything and everybody
Comes to a stop
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
The sugar raises cane
Palm trees sigh
The ukuleles fret
And the birds won't fly
The humuhumunukunuku stop swimming by
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
That wahine has an opu
With a college education
There's no motion she won't go through
She doesn't leave a thing to your imagination
Hattie does a dance no law would allow
A crater took a look
And it's sizzling now
She'd better watch her step
Or everything will be pau
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Now when Hattie does her stuff
They cry for more
And everybody knows
What they're crying for
The sailors leave the ships at sea and swim for the shore
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
She does her very best to satsify
She shakes her holoku and she winks her eye
You always find the fellas
Hanging 'round her lanai
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
All the folks in Hilo said "We love it"
But your dance is causing trouble
Hattie said "Think nothing of it
I'd do a bubble dance if I could find a bubble"
The kanes go to town and go for broke
Wahines leave their clothes in the tub to soak
Little keikis stay at home and drink up the oke
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Now Hattie said she'd like to quit someday
And settle down for good on her old punee
The folks won't let her go because she's really okay
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
All our natives go pupule, no one's sane
The malihinis vow that they've lived in vain
They go without their kau kau, they stand in the rain
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Well, they took Hattie to the hoosegow
Hattie went along quite gaily
She said, "Oh, judge, turn me loose now,
I'll do my dance if you will play the ukulele."
Hattie's sure to die from too much gin
But she will never pay for her life of sin
St. Peter's gonna take a look and say "Come on in."
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
OTHER LYRIC CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
(The first five verses generally remained the same as the c. 1938 rewrite)
Now when Hattie oni onis
There's no doubt
That she's a girl who knows what it's all about
Babies hush, women blush
Strong men pass out
When Hilo Hattie does the Hilo Hop
Well, Hattie sailed for California
With the very best intentions
But now she says she'd like to warn ya
If you want to keep your health
Don't go to Shrine conventions.
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
