Makana
Hawaiian musician Makana posing in his "Occupy With Aloha" t-shirt. The singer played an Occupy Wall Street inspired song in front of President Barack Obama and 18 other world leaders at Saturday's APEC gala. YesLab.org

Did Hawaiian musician Makana trick Barack Obama and fellow APEC leaders with an Occupy song this past weekend?

The young singer seems to think so.

On Saturday, Makana, sporting an Occupy with Aloha shirt, provided the musical entertainment to APEC leaders and the Obama family, as the intimate group gathered in Honolulu for the gala.

I showed up and did my gig . . . it was an incredible experience to sing the words - those words - to that room of people. And I didn't belt it out. I started very subtly and subliminally, Makana explained to his fans in a recent YouTube video called Occupy With Aloha.

The video, which documents Makana's APEC journey, has received more than 35,000 views since the weekend.

The musician, whose real name is Matthew Swalinkavich, delivered We Are The Many, a song inspired by the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements around the world.

At the APEC dinner, Obama was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, along with heads of 18 nations including Stephen Harper of Canada, Hu Jintao of China and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Despite lyrics like, We'll occupy the streets / We'll occupy the courts / We'll occupy the offices of you / Till you do / The bidding of the many, not the few, none of the world leaders seemed to notice Makana's performance.

Then I realized that wow, I didn't get in trouble. So I played it again, and I made a different version of it. And I ended up playing for about 45 minutes, Makana said of his possible trick.

That's 45 minutes of the same song, repeated in different versions.

My goal was not to disturb the guests in an offensive fashion but rather to subliminally fill their ears and the entire dinner atmosphere with a message that might be more effectively received ina subconscious manner, Makana wrote on his YouTube page.

Makana, who has made five studio albums and won multiple awards in the Hawaiian music scene, has worked with the likes of Santana, Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson.

We Are The Many was just released on Nov. 10.

Scroll down to watch Makana deliver his Occupy song at Saturday's APEC dinner.

Do you think Makana's message will get through to the world leaders? Did you think it was a successful trick? Share your comments below.

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