Foreign Invasion

Show me your cannons, show me your gunpowder There’s several ways in our culture to gain power Every box checked, in place, temple towers Technology to make my enemies cower Swells of change crash upon the shore in a form Unfamiliar borne treachery aboard by the scores Entranced by its shimmer hid the tip of the sword You don’t see it til u feel it when it rips through the core Helping hands embracing greedy palms that squeeze in Grips that leave prints, slits, and seeps in Lips that speak myths from ships on sea drift, they reap rich While trading gifts for cheap tricks They stackin’ chips, we stackin’ stone And when the chips are down the structures made of stone will stand alone Iron rusted, dust to dust, and back to bones Misguided trust in just enough to grab ahold This was predicted and perceived as just preposterous Visions depicted prints were carved into the rock as such To illustrate arrival brought diseases that would slaughter plus Articulate the struggle in the language of the conquerors Our diplomacy is far from Euro-centric We have stories from the east and west ends of the globe The story unfolds, ke aliʻi Kaʻiana in Macao on his own Roaming the streets, ihe in hand Hawaiʻi on his mind ʻahuʻula on his back They marveled at his grandeur, six feet tall in stature ʻŌiwi man in foreign lands, their heart is what he captured Boarded the ship Meare Felice Sailed to Mindanao, south end of the Philippines Vancouver, Alaska, and islands Aleutian Around the world and back again, there is no illusion Exploration is innate to our existence We know our home and who we are and nothing’s gonna change it Moʻokūʻauhau our anchor, empowered to go far Love for land and people as the compass of our hearts Show me your cannons, show me your gunpowder There’s several ways in our culture to gain power Every box checked, in place, temple towers Technology to make my enemies cower ʻO nā akua i ili ʻia ai, ʻo Kūkaʻilimoku a Paʻao ʻO Kihawahine i hoʻomana ai, mai ko Keōpūolani moʻokūʻauhau Halihali maila i nā pōhaku, kūkulu, kūkulu, kūkulu i nā heiau Ua kiʻi mai i nā kiʻi kapu A naʻi aupuni hoʻi mai ka mole a ka wēlau I remember the slaughter and unforgettable day ʻAha Aliʻi, ʻAlapa, Piʻipiʻi, and Keawe Took the chance, made the advance Spears rained down like an avalanche Total annihilation of all the ranks Forever etched into my memory banks I swear this will never happen again Cause I’m using these guns and these foreign white men We came with our ships, lies, and pollution Your mission was our land We call it soul retribution The book, the gun, the word, the solution The Thurston & Bingham clans spread illusion Contagion you using abusing hospitality Our bodies carry pathogens physically and mentally Spiritually locked, patriarchal condition Dismantling our rock walls Used to make prisons Man against nature is not in our nature Your culture we break introducing the savior Appropriate and whitewash the meaning of the mission Convert your cultural harmony to division E pule kākou Beat your kids to submission, in schools make ‘em listen While we plotted on your government Infiltrate our system now your children be running it Sugarcane & pineapple, the sacred covenant