Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu: “He Mele No Lilo” (as featured in “Lilo & Stitch”)

You might recognize the song, “He Mele No Lilo,” from the opening credits for the Disney movie, “Lilo & Stitch,” though it came into my life from a different direction: the 2003 PBS documentary, “American Aloha,” which showcased modern hula masters who were based not in the Hawaiian Islands but on the United States mainland.

One scene in “American Aloha” showed O’ahu-raised hula chanter Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu leading drummers and dancers in a performance at the halau he’d established in Oakland, California. The chant they unfurled together was hypnotic to me — the way the words and melody wove in with the rhythms, the way the drums sounded out, the way the dancers and drummers moved with the music and within the space.

This music stayed with me, and when I sought it out I learned that the chant, “He Mele Inoa O Kalakaua,” had been featured on Ho’omalu’s 1999 album, “Po’okela Chants.” (“Mele” is a Hawaiian word for a chant, poem, or song, and as this helpful resource explains, “He Mele Inoa O Kalakaua” is a chant to honor King David Kalakaua, who was also known as “The Merrie Monarch”.)

Only later did I happen to watch “Lilo & Stitch,” and in a moment of marvelous synchronicity, here again was that chant, brightened, galloping, Ho’omalu’s rich voice still resounding at the center, but accompanied now by cheery children’s voices. The song helps set the scene as irrepressible young Lilo splashes into her village and—a few minutes late—into to her hula rehearsal.

The sheet music I found online is for “He Mele No Lilo,” the sunny “Lilo & Stitch” version of the song as transformed by the collaboration of Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu and composer Alan Silvestri, but rest assured that the notation isn’t slight. It runs several pages and captures the original’s chant’s hypnotic undercurrent and melody. This arrangement of the song also contains a bit of drum notation.

It’s felicitous that I’d find piano sheet music for any version of this song, though not too surprising given the Disney connection. And it reminds me that no matter how doubtful I might feel about finding piano sheet music for a song I’d like to play, it’s worth an occasional glance around the internet, because who knows?

Where to find it: 
“He Mele No Lilo”
by Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu and Alan Silvestri
based upon the chant “He Mele Inoa O Kalakaua” 

VINTAGE SONGBOOK: look for copies of the “Lilo & Stitch” songbook on Amazon, AbeBooks. Or purchase a download of the songbook at Stanton’s Sheet Music.
Publisher: Hal Leonard (2002) 
ISBN: 0634050389
Status (2024): Out of Print

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: digital download of the sheet music for "He Mele No Lilo" by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu and Alan Silvestri available for purchase at musicnotes.com

FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION:
- official site for the film, “American Aloha”
- POV: American Aloha: Film Update
- Academy of Hawaiian Arts: profile of founder Mark Keali’i Ho’omalu
- official Instagram profile for the Academy of Hawaiian Arts
- Disney Fandom: “He Mele No Lilo”
- uDiscoverMusic: “How Disney’s ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Defied The Odds To Become A Hit”
- Hawaiʻi - Hawaiian Language Research: Mele and Oli (Uuniversity of Hawai’i Manoa)
- Kaimikahu Hale O Hula: “He Mele Inoa O Kalakaua” (annotated lyrics) - PDF File
- Library of Congress: King David Kālakaua: Royal Folklorist