Topenga Ataata
Kupu Tūpato
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
Envious of the glimmer of hope
– E hae ana ki te wherikotanga o te tūmanako
Gives me a break from feeling alone
– Homai ki ahau he okiokinga i te mana’o anake
Gives me a moment out of the ego
– Homai ki ahau he wa i roto i te ego
I used to feel so invincible
– I whakaaro ahau he tino kore e taea te patu
I used to feel there was a world worth dreamin’ of
– I whakaaro ahau he ao e tika ana kia moemoea
Back in the Gasworks, screamin’ the song
– Hoki i roto i te Gasworks, karanga ‘ te waiata
Just the beauty of youth would quell my aching heart
– Ko te ataahua anake o te rangatahi ka whakaiti i taku ngakau mamae
Oh, I feel so dark rememberin’
– Oh, I feel so dark rememberin’ko te mea nui, ko te mea nui.
Oh, my heart, I feel so dark rememberin’
– Aue, e toku ngakau, he pouri rawa taku mahara
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
Everybody on the treadmill, runnin’
– Ko te katoa i runga i te papa rere, e rere ana
Under the billboards, out of the heat
– I raro i ngā papa panui, i waho o te wera
Somebody’s darling’s on the street tonight
– Ko te tangata e aroha ana ki te huarahi i tēnei pō
Oh, I can’t stop runnin’
– Aue, e kore e taea e ahau te mutu rere’
I see the whole town fall
– Ka kite ahau i te pa katoa e hinga ana
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
(Ooh-ooh)
– (Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh, ooh)
– (Ooh-ooh, ooh)
I came back home after seven years
– I hoki mai ahau ki te kāinga i muri i te whitu tau
Wide awake, tracing tracks of her tears
– E mataara ana, e whai ana i ngā ara o ōna roimata
Cornered the nurse to get the gist of it
– I whakawhiwhia te nēhi ki te tiki i te tino o te reira
I promised her I’d get her out of the care home
– I oati ahau ki a ia ka tangohia ia e au i te whare tiaki
The place was fallin’ to bits
– I hinga te wāhi ki ngā wāhanga
Understaffed and overruled by callous hands
– He iti noa iho te kaimahi, ā, ka whakakahoretia e ngā ringa pōhara
The poor nurse was around the clock
– Ko te nēhi rawakore i te taha o te karaka
And the beauty of youth had left my breaking heart
– A kua mahue i te ataahua o te taiohi toku ngakau pakaru
But it wasn’t hard when you love someone
– Engari ehara i te mea uaua ina aroha koe ki tētahi
Oh, I stayed all night till you left this life ’cause that’s just love
– Aue, i noho ahau i te po katoa tae noa ki te mahue koe i tenei ora ‘ no te mea ko te aroha noa
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
Everybody on the treadmill, runnin’
– Ko te katoa i runga i te papa rere, e rere ana
Under the billboards, out of the heat
– I raro i ngā papa panui, i waho o te wera
Somebody’s darling’s on the street tonight
– Ko te tangata e aroha ana ki te huarahi i tēnei pō
Oh, I can’t stop runnin’
– Aue, e kore e taea e ahau te mutu rere’
I see the whole town fall
– Ka kite ahau i te pa katoa e hinga ana
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
Above the rain-soaked Garden of Remembrance
– I runga ake I te Kari Whakamaharatanga kua maroke i te ua
Kittywakes etched your initials in the sky
– I whakairo a Kittywakes i ōu tīmatanga ki te rangi
Oh, I fear for this crippled island and the turmoil of the times
– Aue, e wehi ana ahau mo tenei motu kopa, me te ngangau o nga wa
And I’ll hold you in my heart till the day I die
– A ka mau ahau ki a koe i roto i toku ngakau tae noa ki te ra ka mate ahau
Oh
– Aue
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
Everybody on the treadmill, runnin’
– Ko te katoa i runga i te papa rere, e rere ana
Under the billboards, out of the heat
– I raro i ngā papa panui, i waho o te wera
Somebody’s darling’s on the street tonight
– Ko te tangata e aroha ana ki te huarahi i tēnei pō
Oh, I can’t stop runnin’
– Aue, e kore e taea e ahau te mutu rere’
I see the whole town fall
– Ka kite ahau i te pa katoa e hinga ana
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
I people-watch on the way back home
– I people-kia mataara i runga i te ara hoki ki te kāinga
(Ooh-ooh)
– (Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh, ooh)
– (Ooh-ooh, ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
– (Ooh-ooh)
