Today is May Day, a holiday that celebrates laborers and the working classes worldwide. Established over a century ago in commemoration of demonstrations in favor of an eight-hour workday, May Day, also known as International Workers Day, is now regarded as a fundamental pillar of the labor rights movement.

May Day helped normalize the concept of leisure time and holidays for workers in an era when people worked from sunup to sundown, all through the week. Although there weren’t any official days off, people in the past rested when they could, and sang songs together to pass the time.

Life may be richer and more convenient today, but we cannot say for certain that our lives are easier than in the past. Technology has blurred the lines between work and leisure time, and many find it all too easy to bring work home with them on their computers and work late into the evening.

Perhaps we can learn a lesson from traditional work songs of the past. Today’s first song used to be sung by farmers as they filled their rice paddies with water in the spring. Here’s Choi Jang-gyu and the Goyang Field Song Preservation Society singing “Water-drawing Song.”    

Music 1: Water-drawing Song/ Sung by Choi Jang-gyu and the Goyang Field Song Preservation Society

In order to plant rice seedlings in spring, rice paddies should be filled with plenty of water. Rain can solve that problem easily, but when there is drought, farmers have to draw water from wells or waterways. It’s a hard job that requires lots of equipment. That’s when a tool called “yongdure용두레” comes in handy. 

It’s a large, boat-shaped wooden container with a small hole at one end for a rope. A long stick is strung through the rope to pull the container up so that it can draw water from a lower place up to the paddies in a higher place. It requires two or three people to operate, so farmers incorporated songs to boost work efficiency and teamwork as well as make the job less tedious. It is said that a person who sang well would be welcomed by all at this time.

Farmers weren’t the only ones that enjoyed singing while they worked. About two hours off the southern coast of Korea is an island named Geomun거문.

The island was once illegally occupied by the British Navy towards the end of the 19th century, disrupting the lives of island residents. But it also represented one of the first points of contact that Korea had with the western world. 

A song sung by fishers on Geomun거문 is valued so highly that it was designated Intangible Cultural Property No. 1. from South Jeolla Province. Here’s Jeong Gyeong-yong정경용 singing “Geomundo Boating Song.”

Music 2: Geomundo Boating Song/ Sung by Jeong Gyeong-yong

“Geomundo Boating Song” comes in various versions depending on the type of work. The song for making ropes is called “Sulbisori술비소리 and the one for praying for an abundant catch is called “gosasori.” There are songs for rowing oars, pulling up fishing nets, unloading the nets, and returning from the sea. 

Despite the dangerous, laborious work, fishers couldn’t stay away from the sea. Indeed, the joy of returning to port with a boat full of fish is unlike anything else for these people. 

Today, we have a special song for our listeners, called “Raft Arirang.” The mountainous Gangwon region was known for quality lumber. The easiest way to transport it to Seoul was to cut down the trees and roll them to the river before tying the tree trunks together at the river’s edge to fashion a raft. The raft was then navigated down the Han River to Seoul, where it would be dismantled and sold. 

The entire voyage took many days and was quite dangerous, but brought quite tidy profits for the raft sailors. Many of the bars and inns near the river targeted these sailors, and some were even said to have gambled away all their earnings at these establishments. 

“Raft Arirang” is about the hard life and sentiments experienced by those sailors. Let’s wrap up today’s episode with “Raft Arirang” sung by Kim Nam-ki and Kim Gil-ja.

Music 3: Raft Arirang/ Sung by Kim Nam-ki and Kim Gil-ja