(Cover#12uke)Performed by JC Van Luyn My entry to the Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest 2008 ukuleleluau.com and to wish all my friends, subscribers and youtube viewers a "Mele Kalikimaka." When I started playing the ukulele, and knowing that Christmas was around the corner; I asked myself, "Is there such a thing as a Hawaiian Christmas song?" and by the powers of King Kamehameha, there is! It's "Mele Kalikimaka" Imagine Christmas in Hawaii...aaaaah. Never been, but would love to find out how it really is. I'm always fond of other cultures and it's music and learning the languages. Hope you learned something too=) The Bushman guys/gals who promote the contest also help spread the word of this beautiful instrument to the world, and they also make some fine ukeleles=) check em out! ukuleleluau.com The song takes its title from the phrase of "Mele Kalikimaka," the Hawaiianized pronunciation of "Merry Christmas." The Hawaiian language does not include all the sounds found in the English language (notably the letter R). Thus the familiar English phrase of "Merry Christmas" when pronounced using Hawaiian language syllables becomes "Mele Kalikimaka" (note the substitution of L's for R's). "Mele Kalikimaka" is therefore not Hawaiian for "Merry Christmas," but simply a Hawaiian transliteration. The song was written in 1949 by Robert Alex Anderson who is better known to fans of Hawaiian and hapa haole music as R. Alex Anderson. One of the earliest recordings of this song was by ...