Sunday, November 09, 2008

I've heard they like Kimchi, too!

Foreigners (gasp! foreigners!) sing a nice little a capella version of Korea's best-loved folk-song, Arirang, around a dinner table.

It's a great song, beautiful as all-get-out, if you find a good version of it, though as I've blogged before, kind of like the The Star Spangled Banner (first place): in the hands of the wrong show-off, it can turn into a piece of overwrought yuck (speaking of self promotion and misuse of a cultural treasure, here's the last time I mentioned arirang, as pertaining to its being plundered for the closing credits of a horrible movie, in a crass, cheap ploy for movie promotion based on nationalistic pride).
Here's my favourite version of that song, linked before, because of the slow build-up, ending in the crowd singing along at the climax.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was lovely. Thanks for sharing your favorite version. :)

I've always loved Airirang, it's one of the few songs I can actually sing in Korean almost all the way through. Other than the San-Tokki song (which really doesn't count).

Unknown said...

Jang Sa-Ik is the bomb! Thanks for posting this Rob!

Roboseyo said...

stay tuned, rate. he deserves a full write-up, and will be receiving one (probably) soon here at roboseyo.