The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism wrote a song last year to cheer up people tired of the COVID-19 pandemic and to support for the Tokyo Olympic Games. It went something like the following. 

Brush away and rise up high

I climb over the hill in front of me to go to you

Open up your arms to welcome me wholeheartedly

Then my heart would open up wide like a blooming flower

New lyrics were added to the tune of “Gyeonggi Arirang,” and the song was sung by rocker Yoon Do-hyun. When Yoon Do-hyun and Arirang are mentioned together, many people would immediately be reminded of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. But Arirang has been with the Korean people at every important moment in Korean history. “Arirang” was played instead of national anthems when South and North Korean table tennis players formed a unified team to enter the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Japan. The first time the two Koreas discussed forming a unified sports team was for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Everyone seemed to agree even back then that “Arirang” was the song that best represented the Korean people. Here’s Yoon Do-hyun singing “The 2021 Arirang Cheering Song.”

2021 Arirang Cheering Song / Sung by Yoo Do-hyun

The first time that “Arirang” was recorded in sheet music was back in 1896 by an American named Homer Herbert. He was a missionary, educator and journalist, who studied Korean and helped King Gojong protect his sovereignty. He even supported Korea’s independence movement during the Japanese colonial period. He published the sheet music of “Arirang” under the title “The Song of Joseon” in an English magazine named The Korean Repository. He also left the following record in the magazine. 

“To Korean people, Arirang is equal to rice. This song is sung more than any other and anybody can hear Arirang anywhere, anytime. The Korean people are masters of impromptu music. They can sing very well even without completed notes or scales.”

Judging from his account, “Arirang” was already a popular song at that time and people used to modify or improvise the song. When moviemaker Na Woon-gyu나운규 filmed “Arirang” in 1926, he wrote the theme song himself. It is said that the “Arirang” sung by railway workers in the south was beautiful and heartbreaking to listen to. Director Na wrote new lyrics to the tune and that theme song grew quite popular along with the movie, giving rise to several different versions of “Arirang.” The one written by Na Woon-gyu was called the original Arirang, while the versions that came after were labeled new Arirang and those that came before old Arirang. Coming up next is “Old Arirang” sung by Choi Yun-young.

Old Arirang / Sung by Choi Yun-young

The traditional version of “Arirang” is beautiful, but what makes “Arirang” so meaningful is that it is constantly being reinvented. Its lyrics sing of the sorrow of parting with your loved one, but that emotion could be directed to your family or even your country. During the Japanese colonial period, Korea’s liberation army that used to wander the vast Manchurian region sang such different versions of Arirang as “Liberation Army Arirang.” The song was supposedly performed wherever Koreans lived together, even in communities in Russia and Central Asia. Currently, there are some 3,600 folk songs that have been passed down under the umbrella title of “Arirang.” This iconic folk song was inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012. North Korea followed suit and its version of “Arirang” was included in the UNESCO list. Now four-men crossover vocal group RabidAnce라비던스 will sing “Sangju상주 Arirang,” which is about those who were displaced from their homes in Korea and relocated to Manchuria during the Japanese colonial regime. 

Sangju Arirang / Sung by RabidAnce