Tahiti Nui is a Tahitian song that has been recorded by a multitude of artists. It is possibly one of the most popular Pacific Island songs.

Background

The song can be heard on radio and in parties from Guam, to Port Moresby, to Rarotonga. Toti's Tahitians covered the song and it was released on the ''Little Brown Gal'' album which was released on Viking VP 24. It has been described by

Bengt Danielsson Bengt Emmerik Danielsson (6 July 1921 – 4 July 1997) was a Swedish anthropologist, writer, and a crew member on the ''Kon-Tiki'' raft expedition from South America to French Polynesia in 1947. In 1991, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award f ...

, author of ''From Raft to Raft: An Incredible Voyage from Tahiti to Chile and Back'' as a melancholy Tahitian song in praise of the island. Possibly the earliest recorded version of the song was by

Eddie Lund Eddie Lund (October 12, 1909 – December 4, 1973) was a pianist and bandleader. He grew up in Vancouver, Washington, USA, and later moved to Oregon where he worked as a pianist. He later moved to Tahiti in either 1936 or 1938 where he stayed pe ...

and his orchestra featuring female lead singer Irma Emma Samila Spitz, professionally known then as Mila. The song credited to Mila avec L'Orchestre Eddie Lund was the B side on a 78 RPM single with the A side "Ragout pommes de terre" by Teaitu. It was released on Tahiti label cat # 139. It was released as a 45 RPM single on Viking in 1958, credited to Mila With

Eddie Lund And His Tahitians Eddie Lund and His Tahitians were a Tahitian music band led by Eddie Lund in the 1950s and 1960s. They were very popular with the style of music played back then which was a lively Tahitian style of music. It was reported in ''Billboard'' magazin ...

. A song of the same name was recorded by Sol K. Bright And His Holly-Waiians. This is a completely different composition.45 World
Artist: Sol K. Bright And His Holly-Waiians
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Releases

References

{{reflist Polynesian songs Tahitian music Year of song unknown