Kātuarehe

Marvellous things and clever dicks.

Uh uh, Kātuarehe
You ain't ready
We're not flying on the same plane
Uh, Kātuarehe
You ain't ready
I see you trying it's a damn shame, uh

Song by Anna Coddington

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This morning, I was going to write about some of the stories from the week, but it was all a bit depressing. “The Trickle Down that didn't; food banks are closing, and Milton mauls Florida” was the tentative title - if you see what I mean.

Finding negative things to write about at present is like shooting fish in a barrel—with no water in it, using a military-style semi-automatic. Thanks, Nicole McKee.

Anyway, I’d be thinking of using this song by Anna Coddington for a few weeks, Kātuarehe. I just needed something good to write about, and by good, I mean not negative. That time is now because this happened this week…

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/AnnaCoddingtonMusic/photos_by

APRA Silver Scroll Award | Kaitito Kaiaka winner

'Kātuarehe', written by Anna Coddington, Noema Te Hau III, Ruth Smith, Kawiti Waetford, performed by Anna Coddington

Which is pretty marvellous, but more on that definition in a moment. You can see the fabulous Jenny Morris presenting the award here. Have a listen. The speeches are really good and so timely for where we’re at as a country:

So, what does the word Kātuarehe mean? Well, there are a couple of uses:

• (verb) to be outstanding, marvellous - used as an idiom at the start of a sentence to express how good something is.

• (noun) crafty devil, cunning devil, clever dick, talented person, skilful person, famous person, expert, a gun, a star - used as an idiom to express how talented, skilled or famous someone is. It can also be used in a derogatory sense.

So that’s broad enough to cover a lot of things. Now, I just need to find something positive to talk about, and I’m going to start somewhere you might not expect…