The contemporary Korean society has a special affection for all types of artists, particularly musicians and singers – dead or alive. And traditionally Koreans tend to keep respect and love for the deceased with long lasting memories. Before BTS, there were countless excellent popular singers.
One of those most remembered singers, 김광석 (1964 – 1996) left so many beautiful ballads brimming with very Korean (and often universal) sentiments, until his unexpected, tragic death at the age of 32. Still today, more than two decades later, most Koreans actively enjoy his songs. In 2016, digital technologists and computer artists even “resurrected” him with 3-D “hologram” moving images and put him back on stage, singing his favorite songs for the live audience. This year, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) company further revived his voice and singing style, and made the AI perform several of today’s top singers’ hit songs in his voice! No wonder he is posthumously named as “영원한 가객,” roughly translated as “Eternal Troubadour.”
Out of his many amazing ballads, I chose “거리에서 (In the Street)” for our group members. The tempo is slow enough for Korean learners to follow. The lyrics contain common daily expressions, and are fairly easy to understand without getting into advanced grammatical analysis. You would only need to study the vocabulary as I compiled in the list below, before you try to understand the entire song.
All the photos were taken here in Barcelona a few days ago. I hope the city’s balmy Spring night scenes together with 김광석’s “거리에서” bring back memories of love for some of you, and inspire others to love more.
Vocabularly list:
거리 street
가로등 street light
하나 둘씩 one by one
켜지다 turn on; get lit
검붉은 dark red
노을 colorful sky at sunset
너머 over …
또 again, another
하루 one day; 하루가 저물다 a day goes by
땐 contraction of 때는 [ When … (conjunction) ]
왠지 somehow, without a reason
모든 every
것 thing
꿈결 dream (poetic expression of 꿈)
… 같아요 it seems, it look like
유리 glass
비치다 to be reflected
모습 image
무얼 contraction of 무엇을 (what)
찾고 있다 to be looking for
-ㄴ지 (to wonder/to not know) whether/if …
뭐라 contraction of 무엇이라 (what)
말하다 to say, to speak
-려 하다 try to …
기억하다 remember
-도 even if
허한 empty, hollow
눈길 gaze
-만 only …
되돌아오다 return, come back
그리운 whom/which I miss
그대 my love (elegant form of “you”)
아름다운 beautiful
-으로 with … (means) / to … (place)
마치 … -ㄴ 것처럼 as if …
아무 일도 없었다 nothing happened
알지 못하는 that/which I don’t know
머나먼 far away
곳 place
떠나 버리다 go away, leave
-ㄴ 후 after …
슬픈 sad
추억 memories
소리 sound
… 없이 without …
흩어지다 scatter, disperse
이젠 contraction of 이제는 now
-도 … -도 neither … nor …
함께 together
나누다 share, divide
더딘 slow (time duration)
시간 time
속에 inside
잊혀지다 be forgotten
-져 가다 get …ing (gradual progression)
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