(Intro) (Total silence) (A sharp, sudden breath in: Hssss...) (A violent exhale: HAH!) (The sharp sound of heavy wood striking wood: CLACK! ... CLACK!) (A low, rumbling throat-singing drone begins: 'Mmmmm...') (Whispered, aggressive chant) Tie-ah-hah... (Taiaha - Traditional long weapon) Pah-too... (Patu - Short club) Tie-ah-hah... Pah-too... (Verse 1) (Slow, heavy foot-stomping rhythm enters: THUD... THUD... THUD...) Carved from the heart of the ancient tree The eyes of the fathers looking back at me The wood is awake and it tastes the air The tongue is out and the spirit is there Tie-ah-hah spins in the bleeding light A dance of the shadow, a dance of the night We do not throw the spear blindly into the dark We stand face to face when we make our mark. (Chorus) (Drums and striking wood erupt into a driving, primal rhythm) (Full choir of deep voices shouting together) Mah-nah! (Mana - Spiritual power/Prestige) Wake the sleeping wood! Mah-nah! Where the ancestors stood! Strike the blow and feel the breath! In the blinding circle of life and death! Poo-kah-nah! (Pūkana - Wild, staring eyes) Look them in the eye! Poo-kah-nah! Beneath the burning sky! (Verse 2) (Music drops back to just a pulsing drone and a slow heartbeat drum) Cold is the stone in the warrior’s hand Born of the river, born of the land Meh-reh Poe-nah-moo (Mere Pounamu - Greenstone club) heavy and deep Holding the souls that will never sleep Bound to the wrist with the woven thread To honor the living, to honor the dead Fah-kah-pah-pah (Whakapapa - Lineage) running deep in the vein The greenstone remembers the blood and the rain. (Bridge) (Acapella. Fast stomping, chest-slapping, and the sharp clack of weapons crossing) Wah-high-kah! (Wahaika - Type of short combat club) Thrust and parry, break the line! Wah-high-kah! Your fleeting mortal breath is mine! Key-ah Kah-hah! (Kia Kaha - Be strong/Stand strong) The feet are planted in the clay! Key-ah Kah-hah! The spirits guide the hands today! (Chorus) (Maximum volume, huge wall of sound with crashing percussion and roaring voices) Mah-nah! Wake the sleeping wood! Mah-nah! Where the ancestors stood! Strike the blow and feel the breath! In the blinding circle of life and death! Poo-kah-nah! Look them in the eye! Poo-kah-nah! Beneath the burning sky! (Outro) (The heavy percussion suddenly stops) (Only the low drone and the sound of heavy breathing remain: Hah... Hah...) (The sound of a greenstone club being slowly drawn across a wooden staff) (Spoken in a deep, gravelly whisper) The weapon rests. The spirit breathes. Toe-ah... (Toa - Warrior) (A final, deafening wooden CLACK!) (Silence)