Aloha Oe: Politics and the Prison Songs of Lili’uokalani, is an exploration of the political aspects of the seven songs that Lili’uokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, composed during her 1895 imprisonment by the Missionary Party of Hawaii. Only two of the seven songs, “The Queen’s Prayer,” and “Ku’u Pua i Paoakalani” have been published. The output of those prison works includes a transcription of her most popular song, “Aloha ‘Oe.”
The prison songs of Lili’uokalani provide a rare glimpse into the life and perspective of a queen who was dethroned and imprisoned, yet able to communicate with and inspire her subjects by way of her compositions. The politicization of these songs (whether executed by the Queen or by her adversaries), illustrate the fear and contempt that existed between the Queen and her captors. I argue that many of these songs are indeed indicative of Lili’uokalani’s determination to communicate with, and inspire her subjects in spite of the constraints placed upon her by this incarceration, and that the bulk of these works were songs of spiritual protest and subversion. Their mellifluous melodies and gentle swaying rhythms mask the anger and resentment of the Hawaiians at American hegemony in the islands.