There were times when social class distinction was very clear. Even music differed for people in different social classes. The music played for the royals and nobility was called “jeongga(정가),” meaning the right music, while the music enjoyed by ordinary folks was lumped together as simply “folk music.” Even songs were divided into two categories – “norae(노래)” for the ruling class, which was usually poems set to melodies, and “sori(소리)” for the common people. Even among the sori(소리) pieces for commoners, those sung by professional singers were called “japga(잡가),” miscellaneous or trivial songs. Today we’re going to listen to a few of those japga(잡가) pieces, mostly “hwimori japga(휘모리잡가),” or fast-paced songs. Hwimori japga(휘모리잡가) was mostly sung by the singers in Seoul and features quite a lot of narratives set to a fast beat. The words were quite satirical, which explains why hwimori japga(휘모리잡가) pieces were so popular among the lower class. One of the most popular ones was “Toad Song,” which made fun of the ridiculous antics of the diverse social classes by comparing them to the toads living in the Cheonggyecheon(청계천) River. Here’s Lee Chun-hee(이춘희) singing “Toad Song.” 

Music 1: Toad Song/ Sori by Lee Chun-hee

Streams from the mountains surrounding Seoul flowed into the Cheonggyecheon(청계천) River, which then merged with the greater Hangang(한강) River. 

The river was often used to carry sewage from the neighborhoods along the waterway out to the sea, turning the area dirty and stinky. Soon, poor people set down their roots there and the area became a slum. 

At the end of the Joseon(조선) period, there was a famous sori(소리) group in Seoul nicknamed “Sagyechuk(사계축).” Its members were sori(소리) singers who lived in the Malli-dong(만리동) and Cheongpa-dong(청파동) neighborhoods behind what is known today as Seoul Station. They all had day jobs but liked singing more than anything else. In the winter, they would gather in a storage shack and invite famous singers to enjoy their performances or learn singing skills from them. At such gatherings, they would start by singing long songs like “Twelve Japga(잡가)” and, when things grew more exciting, they would sing and play small drums to faster-rhythmic songs before wrapping up the party with hwimori japga(휘모리잡가). Since the hwimori japga(휘모리잡가) was sung at the peak of excitement, such songs tended to be blatantly critical and witty. Now the next hwimori japga(회모리잡가) we’re going to listen to is “Rock Song” sung by Park Sang-ok(박상옥). 

Music 2: Rock Song/ Sori by Park Sang-ok

In the old days it was hard to pick out small stones or chaff from harvested grains. In those times it was common for people to bite down on the stones while eating rice and break their teeth. “Rock Song” exaggerated this and claimed that all the famous rocks in the country were in the rice pot. According to the song, when the pot was opened again to get at the crusted rice at the bottom of the pot, a pair of haetae(해태), an imaginary creature that determined what was right and wrong and prevented disasters, climbed out of it. The tiger-like creatures that came out of the pot must have been the granite ones that now stand in front of Gwanghwamun(광화문) Gate in downtown Seoul. The last song for today’s episode is “A Cloudy Day in Summer,” a song about fishing in the summer. A fisherman was fishing in the river on one cloudy day in the summer, when he spotted a boy herding a black cow. The fisherman asked the boy to deliver some fish to his wife so that she could have them ready to eat by the time he arrived home. But the precocious boy refused, saying that he didn’t have time for such an errand. The clever boy was actually asking for some money or fish for his labor in a roundabout way. Here’s Lee Hee-moon(이희문) singing the hwimori japga(휘모리잡가) “A Cloudy Day in Summer” to the accompaniment of the gugak(국악) ensemble Prelude. 

Music 3: A Cloudy Day in Summer/ Sori by Lee Hee-moon, accompaniment by Prelude