A story about our traditional Korean music that is more interesting than opera or musical!

“Whenever time allowed, I organized the lyrics of folk songs little by little and published a book called ‘Changakjipseong’ (2011).
Following the publication of the book, a radio program titled “Ha Eung-baek’s Changak Collection” was broadcast on the National Gugak Broadcasting System for two hours every Sunday for about two years.
I also wrote a series of articles about Korean traditional music lyrics in the Korean Traditional Music Newspaper for about three years.
In 2019, 100 episodes of 'Ha Eung-baek's Interesting Story Sijo' were recorded on Naver Audio Clip, and are currently in service.
He also published a research paper titled “Study on Nollyang Intersection” (2019).

If there is too much writing, it could become a book.
Among the articles I've written about traditional Korean music, there are many that are one-offs or lack quality.
I decided to publish a book on Korean traditional music, despite my concerns that it would be unsightly, even though I had already removed what needed to be removed.
“The reason is that books that examine Korean traditional music lyrics from a humanities, especially literary, perspective are rare, and I thought that an analysis of Korean traditional music lyrics from a literary critic’s perspective might not be meaningless.”
-From the author's preface

As the title suggests, this book is a story about Korean traditional music viewed through the lens of humanities.
It is also a process of solving the interesting mystery called folk songs through humanities.
In order to enrich the various stories contained in the lyrics of traditional Korean music, historical facts and literary perspectives were added.

Among our folk songs, there are often cases where the lyrics are completely incomprehensible.
There are several reasons for this.
Since folk songs have been passed down orally for a long time, some of the lyrics may have become dead words that are no longer used, or may have been mispronounced.
In the case of difficult Chinese characters, the meaning completely changes when trying to change it to an easier word, and when the meaning becomes unclear, it is sometimes changed to a completely different word that makes sense.

--- p.12

After the rain, we sat down face to face
When I die and go to the next life, I will serve you first.

This song is also included in the first year of middle school music textbook, and its meaning is, “It’s raining hard, my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law are sitting across from each other, and I suddenly die and in the next life, I will serve my husband.”
The leap is so far that I can't even understand what it means.
--- p.14

Among the songs classified as folk songs in Korean traditional music, there are few cases where the lyricist and composer are known.
In the case of sijo or gagok, since the lyrics are based on sijo poetry, there are many cases where the lyricist is known, but in the case of general folk songs, since most of them were created naturally and passed down orally, the composer is almost unknown.
However, in the case of “Gwansanyungma,” which is classified as a poem-singing, it can be exceptionally identified as having been written by Shin Gwang-su and composed by Pyongyang gisaeng Moran.

--- p.32

There is a grave of Jo Won's ancestors in Paju, and the grave keeper was falsely accused of being a cattle thief.
During the Joseon Dynasty, petty theft was a serious crime punishable by death.
His wife came to find the gravedigger in a hurry on his behalf, who was locked in the graveyard.
As Jo Won was out and things were very urgent, Ok Bong wrote a poem and gave it to the grave keeper's wife, saying:
“You can take this and take it to Pastor Paju.”
After seeing the letter, the pastor of Paju released the gravedigger.
What kind of poem was it?
--- p.
44

Looking at the current lyrics of "Baettarigi," it is about a sailor who was fishing on a boat when the boat hit a reef and wrecked, killing everyone. Luckily, the captain, the cook, and the eldest grandson survived and returned home after three years.
However, the lyrics for the beginning of “Baettaragi” are slightly different for each person who sings it or for each book.
The cycle of reincarnation has all passed (Kim Jeong-yeon, 『Complete Collection of Calligraphy and Music』)
The spring colors are all gone (Lee Chang-bae, 『Korean Singing Series』)
The moist summer and moist color have all passed (Park Ki-jong, 『Anthology of Seodo Sori Gasajip』)
The intervening summer and intervening months have all passed (Choi Chang-ho, ‘Folk Songs Along the Three Thousand Miles’)
Because there are so many versions, even the people who actually sing it are bound to get confused about which one is correct.

--- p.
118

Around September 2011, not long after I published the book “Changakjipseong” in June, I received a phone call from the writer in charge of KBS’s “Gugak Hanmadang.”
The content was that the lyrics of “Changbu Taryeong” contain the phrase “Hayagugu,” and the question was what on earth does this mean.
Some people call it 'Hayagugu', others call it 'Hayaguigui'. Doesn't it mean 'How can I return home' in Chinese characters? Some people interpret it as 'How can I return home', so it was a request to speak frankly.

--- p.
206