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soryang

(3,299 posts)
Tue Jun 14, 2022, 05:16 PM Jun 2022

Kim Tae-yeon - Han O Bek Nyun 김태연 - 한오백년 500 years

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Sorrows are many in this world, a heartless lover
lets affection go and just leaves, so the tears flow
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled?
By a field of fine sand on the beach, the seven stars gather
I pray and plead for my beloved to appear.
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled??

In flower of youth, love trampled and devastated
tears flowing, where could one go
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say- why are you troubled?
Sorrow are many in this cold world,
without compassion, I don't think I can live.
Naturally, it is like that,
Five hundred years sorrow in life they say, why are you troubled?

This is my interpretation of some verses chosen by contemporary singers for their performances from the traditional Korean "minyo" or folk song. The original version depicts the abandoned lover, who laments her fate and describes the different ways she recalls her lost love. The original is substantially longer. My interpretation is entirely subjective. There is no consensus on the title's exact meaning in English, which is in the refrain, and subject to some dispute. The lyrics are archaic, or ambiguous in several parts. I hadn't seen any good translations. I think that perhaps due to the song being an oral tradition. Nevertheless, the song's popular appeal in South Korea causes many traditional and popular singers to perform Han O Bek Nyun. The way the original was told in song reminds me of the love affair in the early chapters of the novel Pachinko. The woman's dedication to her lost love or at least her memory of it, is also similar to a very old folk song, maybe the oldest in Korea, 정읍사 ( 井邑詞 ) Jeong Eub Sa, the modern title of which is Dear Moon.

This is the link to the earlier song, Dear Moon, I posted last year:

https://democraticunderground.com/12507996
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Kim Tae-yeon - Han O Bek Nyun 김태연 - 한오백년 500 years (Original Post) soryang Jun 2022 OP
Sounds like she has a little of that multigraincracker Jun 2022 #1
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