Post #531809 by bigbrotiki on Sun, May 23, 2010 8:02 AM

Really, THIS is the island of Bali Hai :) :

....a matte painting seen thru rosy-colored glasses. This was the only image I could find of it for my SOUND OF TIKI booklet. That U-tube clip has much better quality!

Here's the booklet text:

"No other place represents this Polynesian fantasyland better than the mysterious island of Bali Ha’i. A figment of the imagination of author James Michener and described in his Pulitzer Price winning book, “Tales of the South Pacific” as the dream isle, Bali Hai became the mythical earthly paradise for the post-WWII generation. Previous utopias had been called “Arcadia” and “Shangri-La”, but with the success of the musical and movie version of “South Pacific”, the song—and thus the term Bali Hai-- lodged itself into the public consciousness.
This version of Bali Ha’i was chosen for Gloria Lynne’s perfect diction with which she really drives home the key lines of the song:

“Bali Ha’i will whisper, on the wind, on the sea,
Here am I, your special island, come to me, come to me.
Your own special hopes, your own special dreams,
Loom on the hillside and shine in the streams.”

Here was the promise that everybody could find their own personal slice of the tropical paradise. And Americans got busy creating faux urban islands in their cities, backyards and basements. Bali Hai was the siren call that beckoned a generation to escape the grey workday to an exotic hideaway where for a few hours, décor, drink and song would make them natives of that mystic isle in the sky."

Some further reading that gives us an idea of the impact of the song at the time:

And here is the piece about the reality of the source of the name which I quoted in the Book of Tiki:

"...a filthy, unpleasant village." :lol:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-05-23 10:41 ]