‘Mele Kalikimaka’: A Holiday Humblebrag
Who needs snow when you can have palm trees?
by Lenika Cruz
Dec 20, 2015
2 minutes
Welcome to The 12 Days of Christmas Songs: an attempt to uncover the forgotten history of some of the most memorable festive tunes. From December 14 through 25, we’ll be tackling one secular song and one holy song each day.
There are two ways to interpret the lyrics of “Mele Kalikimaka,” thea Hawaiian word that essentially means love, peace, joy, and compassion. That is, the well-wishers are simply sharing their culture with non-islanders.
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