Manawa Wera by Ria Hall
Ria Hall (b.1983), Maungatapu, Tauranga, is a recording artist, singer/songwriter and television presenter. Her lead-singing roles in the July 2024 World Choir Games in Auckland were a highlight of this celebration of choral music. She took her first steps into the local body elections in Tauranga, also in July. While not gaining a place on the Council, she presented a visionary platform for creative ways of empowering people. Sea of Faith members look forward to her continuing engagement in local politics. The nation also cries out for new ways of governance that engage all people.
Manawa Wera - Lyrics
History
My feet are fashioned from the earth
Crafted of mud and stone and dirt
I wear our stories on my skin
I swear it’s where we must begin
Give the children the knowledge, let them bathe in the sun
May they bask in the glory, of the time we became one
Give the children the teachings, so they know who they are
Show them all of the writings, of the time we became one
Know your history, yeah!
Look around, you can’t deny it, deny it, No!
North to south, ain’t no way to hide it ( Yeah, Yeah)
Sing it
Let the floodgates open, let the river flow
Weave our worlds together so the children they know
Know your history, yeah
One more, know your history, Yeah!
Cause and Effect
Back against the wall, cornered, no control
I am naked see my soul, grind me down to blood and bone
Render me weak, drop to my knees. Merciless, do as you please
Boundaries are not defined. Out of sight means out of mind.
Cause and effect. Take me back, a simple you for I and I
Cause and effect, run rampant. You cannot fight against the tide
Harder they come, harder they fall. Once or twice, then none at all
Leave me blowing in the breeze, your honesty aint what it seems
You give me nothing for something, when all your somethings mean nothing
She is a queen upon her throne, I am a mountain set in stone
They say, they say, the hotter the battle, the sweeter the victory
Jah victory
A simple you for I and I
Cause and effect run rampant
You cannot fight against the tide
Owner
No one owns the water, no one owns the lands
No one owns the oceans, no one owns the sands
These are given by our mother, the planet provides for free
Only at the hands of the greedy does the earth require a fee. Yeah!
You hear me sing it
Lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Yeah!
Judge not by skin colour, judge not by one’s creed, judge not by her religion
We gonna judge you by your qualities
These are gifted from the father
Even handed impartially
Only at the hands of the willing do we find strength in humanity.Yeah!
You got me singing
Oh people let me tell you
Lead a horse to water, he too sick to drink
Give knowledge to man, but you cannot make him think
Flow
You arrived in silence from a land of dreams
Where mystical desires drew you to me
Blood and bone, mud and clay
Together we dance, forever we stay
Let your waters flow over me
In the moonlight your tide moves with me
Primal perfection of my hands you came
No words to mention, I’ll take the blame
In the night we ride, by the day we bathe
Bask in the light, no need for shade
Connexion between us is real, so real, so real
Connexion between us is real
Let your waters flow over me
In the moonlight your tide moves with me
Chant
You all lack conviction with no desire to end the war to end it all
You fall on expectation there can be no rainbow without a storm
You clutch at straws
You just live and hope, but your promised land has been swallowed by the sea
And it occurs to me that no more shall we sit idle or
Lay down our guns if Babylon gonna fall
Chant for hope
Chant for faith
We must sing
Walk
Your love has got no meaning when it matters most
Your charms had me believing, now I’m sleeping with a ghost
I should have listened to myself
But I, I’d rather walk alone
Your touch had me believe I was the only one
Your worlds had me deceived, and now I’m lying in the dust
I should have listened to myself
And now, I’d rather walk alone
I’d rather walk alone
No use feeling sorry
I know, I know things will never change
Hope
I hope some day you’re gonna find a way
Through the stormy weather
I know things can only get better
You know I’ve tried to keep us together
Seems like I was the only one
My tears fall with the setting sun
And the hardest thing that I know
Is you’ll never change
I hope you know I’m still in love, I’m still in love
Well I hope some day you’re gonna find a way
Through the stormy weather
I know things can only get better
You know I’ve tried to keep us together
Seems like I was the only one
My tears fall with the setting sun
Manawa Wera, CD Review
Loop Recordings 2020
Ria Hall’s first CD Rules of Engagement (2017) took eight years from research to recording. Now, five years later, we have further evidence of the artist’s professionalism. Manawa Wera is a stunning collection of seven songs, in both vocal and instrumental performance, and lyrics or words.
Apart from the title and mihi (greeting) on sleeve insert, all songs are printed in English. On Radio NZ, when Kim Hill asked the artist why she had chosen English rather than te reo Maori, she replied, ‘I wanted my message to be heard by all people.’
The title translates as ‘Angry or challenging chants’, and the militant opening track, with its collective voices chanting ‘Know your history’ against the compulsive reggae back beat, lays down the wero or challenge. But Ria Hall is more sorrowful and pleading rather than looking for a fight! The overall theme for the CD is title for the final song, ‘Hope’.
The words of the songs draw on Maori understandings or world view, including land/river/sea scapes, familial or whanau whakapapa, and an interweaving of the personal and collective identities common to all indigenous cultures’ pre-European and colonised narratives. With repeated listenings, the metaphysical or religious depths are revealed. Some illustrations follow.
Track Two: ‘Cause and Effect’ Our lives are not predetermined by a divine destiny but a very human existence where we make choices. As the US writer Robin R. Meyers puts it, not a ‘theology of obedience’ but a ‘theology of consequence’. As Hall chants: ‘Back against the wall, cornered no control / I am naked see my soul, grind me down to blood and bone’; ‘You give me nothing for something. When all your somethings mean nothing / She is a Queen upon a throne / I am a mountain set in stone’; ‘They say, they say, the hotter the battle, the sweeter the victory / Jah victory.’
Track Three: ‘Owner’. ‘No one owns the water, no one owns the lands / No one owns the ocean, no one owns the sands’; ‘Judge not by skin colour, judge not by one’s creed, judge not by her religion / We gonna judge you by your qualities.’
More than once in the songs, there is a frustration towards people unable to face a reality, that all of us face deep change in Aotearoa. From the song ‘Chant’: ‘You all lack conviction with no desire to end the war to end it all / You fall on expectation there can be no rainbow without a storm / You clutch at straws’; ‘You just live and hope but your promised land has been swallowed by the sea’; ‘Chant for hope / Chant for faith / We must sing.’ And this proverbial usage in the closing lines of ‘Owner’: ‘Lead a horse to water, he too sick to drink /Give knowledge to man, but cannot make him think.’
African-American influences are found in both music and words. Reggae and soul join with Pacifica musicking in poi waiata and haka. In lyrics there is the blending of the personal and collective. Aretha Franklin’s fusion of the personal and political in her Soul ballads - ‘Think’, ‘Chain of Fools’, ‘Respect’ - is the model to aspire to. Ria Hall delivers on this score!
The closing songs address personal and collective betrayals. ‘Walk’ has focus on the call to autonomy and separation: ‘I should have listened to myself / and, now, I’d rather walk alone’. Over a gentle acoustic guitar strum, the final song ‘Hope’ has vision of a better future, together. At the risk of sounding corny, this CD is a song of love by Maori to Pakeha. But tough love!
I hope we’re all listening.
‘Oh, I hope you know I’m still in love
Oh I hope some day you’re gonna find a way
through the stormy weather
I know things can only get better.’
John Thornley
Note: It will not be easy to find a copy of the Manawa Wera CD, though your local retailer may still hold a copy in stock. Your local library may hold a copy. Should it be re-issued, SOFiA members will be told.
John Thornley