| English Translation.
|
HITARA WAHA HUKA | HITLER FOAMING AT THE MOUTH |
| |
Hitara waha huka, upoka maro, | Hitler foaming at the mouth, pig-headed, |
He tangata tohetohe kite riri, e! | He keeps fighting on and on, |
Hinga atu, hinga mai i runga o Ruhia! | He fell and fell again up in Russia! |
Ka wheru ona mahi! Hei! Aue, aue! | They cleaned him up, Hei! Aue, aue, aue! |
| |
Tuhikitia ra, tuhapainga mai | Lift right up, lift high up |
Te rau o to patu ki runga upoko - | The blade of your axe above his head! |
Hoatu, e tama - karia te kauae o | Come on son, break the jaw |
Te purari paka 1 nei Hitara e! | Of this bloody bugger Hitler! 1 |
| |
Kua rongo a Mahurini, kua tata tonu mai | Mussolini has heard that they're very close |
A Te Hokowhitu Toa ki Roma e. | to Rome, the Maori Battalion! |
Hiki nuku, hiki rangi! Kore rawa he rerenga, | Move on, move fast! He cannot escape, |
Ka wiri ona papa i te mataku e! | His buttocks are shaking with fear! |
| |
| |
[1] The "rangi" of this song is "Click Go the Shears." Tuini Ngawai, the composer of Hitara Waha Huka, was a shearer as well as a teacher.
Tuini Ngawai wrote the less offensive "Kaura mokai e" phrase here for the Ngati Porou schoolchildren to sing at the 1943 Ngarimu hui.
But the Maori Battalion's knew the ending to the well-known Ngati Porou haka protesting prohibition, Poropeihana, "Purari paka! Kaura mokai e!" "Bloody bugger, lowlife coward!" So they substitued the more potent curse.
New Zealand Folk Song