Koreans celebrate the New Year’s Day twice – once on January 1st and again on the first day of the lunar calendar year. The two holidays offer a chance to wish for twice as much good fortune for loved ones, as well as a second opportunity to make good one one’s New Year’s resolutions.

This year’s Seol, or Lunar New Year’s Day, falls on next Tuesday, February 5th. Many Korean children will sing a song that goes, “The magpies’ Seol was yesterday, and our Seoul is today.” Whenever Koreans hear this song, they think back to their childhoods and remember the friendly faces and laughter of their friends.

A Lunar New Year’s holiday spent away from one’s family and hometown would likely be lonely, but it may also be relaxing. Why don’t we revisit our childhoods with this popular favorite? This is “Half Moon” with the haegeum played by Shin Nalsae.

Music 1: “Half Moon”/ Haegeum by Shin Nalsae

“The Milky Way in the blue sky, on a white sail boat

A laurel tree and a hare” 

This is another well-known favorite of Korean children who sing the song while facing each other and clap their hands and knees. ‘Half Moon’ was written in 1924 by Yun Geuk-young윤극영, a writer of children’s stories and songs, to remember his sister who died when she was young. 

The last part of the second verse, which goes “The morning star is your lighthouse, find the say,” gives hope and courage to Korean children who lived under the Japanese colonial government in the 1920s. At the time, the song grew popular not only in Korea, but also in Manchuria and Japan. 

In fact, the Japanese liked the song so much that it was aired frequently on Japanese radio despite Japanese efforts to wipe out Korean culture. Upon learning his song was played on Japan’s airwaves, Yun Geuk-young reportedly went to the Tokyo Central Broadcasting Station and demanded royalty payments. 

Yun Geuk-young wrote native Korean songs for Korean children as an alternative to Japanese children’s songs. His charming lyrics and melodies live on in the memories of countless Koreans around the world. Now, let’s recite a famous poem by Kim So-wol김소월. 

Dear mother, dear sister, let’s live on the riverside.

Sparkling gold sand in the front yard,

And the reeds’ song outside the back door. 

Dear mother, dear sister, let’s live on the riverside.

Most Koreans can hum the melody just by reading the poem. Here’s gayageum quartet Yeoubyeol여우별 performing “Dear Mother, Dear Sister.”

Music 2: “Dear Mother, Dear Sister”/ Gayageum quartet Yeoubyeol

This widely-known song was written by Kim Kwang-soo김광수, who served as bandmaster for the KBS Band for many years. But prior to that, a composer named Ahn Sung-hyun안성현 is said to have written melodies for this poem. Ahn’s version of this song, which was more somber than this rendition, was reportedly popular in the mid-twentieth century. 

However, Ahn’s version of the song was banned after he defected to North Korea during the Korean War. Ahn’s father, Ahn Ki-ok안기옥, was a gayageum virtuoso and revered anti-Japanese musician who had been detained for refusing to perform for a Japanese audience and even imprisoned for participating in the March 1^st movement against the Japanese colonial government. 

The father and son are extoled in North Korea for taking Korean music to another level. This week’s Sounds of Korea will conclude with a song that Koreans love as much as Arirang. It’s “Spring in My Hometown” written by poet Lee Won-su in 1926, when he was just 15 years old. The melodies for the poem were composed by the esteemed composer Hong Nan-pa홍난파. The lyrics go as follows:

The hometown I used to live was in the mountain where flowers bloom.

Peach blossoms, apricot flowers, and baby azaleas. 

The village with colorful flower palaces,

I miss the days I used to play in them. 

Here is “Spring in My Hometown” with the saenghwang played by Kim Gye-hee.

Music 3: “Spring in My Hometown”/ Saenghwang by Kim Gye-hee