Composed by Mihi ki te Kapua. ‘Taku Rakau e…’ was written for her husband ‘Hikawai” who was killed in the battle of Te Rahui o Mahia. Mihi-ki-te-kapua was the greatest composer of the Tuhoe and Mataatua people. She was one of the women who saw the battles between Tuhoe and Ngati Pukeko at Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi. At Te Matuahu the fame of Mihi-ki-te-kapua as a composer began to grow. She was living alone: all her children had grown up and gone away, and it seems that her husband had died. Most of her songs expressed the yearning arising from the deep loneliness she felt, unable to turn to family for relief from the oppression of her solitary environment.
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Taku rākau e
Tau rawa ki te whare
Ka ngaro a Takahi e
Te whare o te kahikatoa
Hei ngau whakapae
He whakapae ururoa e hau mai nei
Kei waho kei te moana
Kāore aku mihi e
Aku tangi mo koutou
Mau puku ko te iwi
Ka mō wai tonu te whenua
E takoto nei
a very very very very very very heaps of times very sad song
Ka rawe!
He waiata tino aroha I te whakaaro I tuhia ai e tenei kuia ona ake whakaaro katahi ka puta mai tenei moteatea Taku Rakau E… Found it so sad and loving .
Ae. Ka tika koutou. Katahi te moteatea whai tikanga. He ahakoa te papouri, he ataahua nui tonu.
i agree this song is very sad and beautiful