'Tahiti Nui' is a sad song. It's been going through my head the last few days in Marie Mariterangi's voice - a sad throaty, Tauamotuan voice, stilled for ever now by cancer. You don't hear 'Tahiti Nui' much anymore in the islands. It's an old song, a lament that dates back to phosphate mining days on Makatea Island in the Fifties. When you hear Marie wail it, you want to wail it too, even if you don't understand the words.

LRB 5 October 1995 | PDF Download