Lyrics
(Folk song from New Zealand)
Macoway, cowetana, Way cowetana
Translation unknown
Recorder Notes G, A, B, C, D,’
- Song with chords, Orff arrangement, Lesson ideas – Meter in 3 (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
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4 thoughts on “Macoway”
Beth,
Do you happen to know what this song means? That is a question my students usually ask! Thanks! –Sarah
Sarah, honestly I don’t know with this one. Sometimes I tell my kids it means, “Mrs. Thompson is the best music teacher in the whole world!” And, of course, they don’t believe me.
Tell them you don’t know, but sometimes the words are nonsense words just to keep the beat while rowing (which a lot of these New Zealand songs were used for). Ask THEM what THEY think the words mean. If they were rowing a boat and all trying to keep their actions synchronized. 🙂
It looks like this is the origin of this song, called ‘E pāpā Waiari’! http://folksong.org.nz/epapa/
The words here don’t seem to be Maori, as Tash said perhaps it is meant to be E Papa Waiari