This is March when everything begins to turn green and bright. Trees swell with moisture and flowers bloom in splendor. And it’s time for school to start for Korean students. It is time for a new beginning, even if you are not a student. And the best song for such a time is “Song of Youth.” The song starts off with an encouragement for young students to study hard. It may sound too educative, but you’d be surprised to know that the song started originally with a young widow lamenting her husband’s early death and ensuing hardship. The song remade with new lyrics during the Japanese colonial period lest it should dishearten people with sadness. The Japanese colonial government at the time thought it would benefit the people of its colony if they had a morally uplifting song that played up the value of education. Here’s a modern version of “Song of Youth” made more livelier by South Korean fusion band SsingSsing. 

Song of Youth/ Sung by SsingSsing

The next song in the lineup on today’s episode is Jeju folksong titled “Neoyeong Nayeong,너영나영” which in the Jeju dialect means “with you and me.” Many Korean folksongs are about the sorrows of the oppressed, especially of women, but “Neoyeong Nayeong” has none of that. Instead, it’s a love song filled with satire and romance. So it’s not surprising that young gugak musicians like to arrange it into more trendy renditions. The song’s refrain goes something like the following.

During day and night, it is true love for you and me.

Don’t cry because the flowers have wilted.

Fruits are born only after flowers fall. 

I have to go. I have to follow my love. 

The cheerful tune reminds us of the refreshing winds of Jeju. Here’s Korean folk band Arisu singing “Neoyeong Nayeong.”

Neoyeong Nayeong/ Sung by Arisu

March 3rd by the lunar calendar is called samjitnal삼짇날, the day when swallows that wintered in the south supposedly return to the Korean peninsula. The weather has grown warmer over the past century, so Korea’s seasonal division doesn’t necessarily follow the lunar calendar anymore. That means the swallows would return to Korea pretty soon. The song that describes the swallows’ long flight from the south is “Swallow Song” from pansori Heungboga흥보가. In this pansori, the kindhearted Heungbo saves a swallow from a snake. The grateful swallow brings him back a gourd seed which grows into magical gourds that contain riches beyond his imagination. Swallows actually fly over the seas when they travel to Korea, but the swallows in this pansori aria travel over land, over all the famous landmarks in China, such as Ojakgyo오작교 Bridge, Dongjeongho동정호 Lake, and Jongnamsan종남산 Mountain. Back in the day when long-distance travel was impossible for ordinary people, they must have enjoyed this song, vicariously experiencing foreign cultures through the eyes of the swallows. We hope that the pandemic would be over this year and allow us to travel freely across the globe. Here’s master singer Park Gui-hee singing “Swallow Song” with a gayageum accompaniment. 

Swallow Song/ Sung by Park Gui-hee with gayageum