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～ 칠 색 밭 ～

시골 하루 (A Day in the Countryside) (1994)

1. 뽀오얀 안개가 산무등을 타고

닭소리에 잠을 깨면

초가집 굴뚝에 흰 연기 오르니

시골 하루 시작된다

2. 산비둘기 모여 구구

풀을 뜯는 염소 음매

한가롭게 강아지 놀고

3. 소를 모는 농부 이랴

빨래하는 소리 뚝딱

물레방아 빙글 잘도 돈다

4. 살며시 초생달 서산에 걸리고

귀뚜라미 자장가에

칭얼대던 아기의 두 눈이 감기면

들려오는 멍멍소리

Composer 한수성 / Lyricist 권연순

Listen (Singer 조푸름, 2004 recording)

Approximate pronunciation and meaning

1. ppo-o-yan an-ge-ga san-mu-deungeul ta-go

white-hazy mist mountain's back ride

With white haze taking a ride on the mountains' shoulders,

dak-sso-ri-e ja-meul kke-myeon

rooster-sound-because sleep wake-up-when

I wake up to the call of a rooster.

cho-ga-jip kkul-ttu-ge hin yeon-gi o-reu-ni

thatched house chimney-from white smoke rise-as

From the chimney of the thatched house rises white smoke,

si-gol ha-ru si-jak-ttöen-da

countryside one day gets started

thus begins a day in the countryside.

2. san-bi-dul-gi mo-yeo gu-gu

turtledoves flock together chuck-chuck

The turtledoves are flocking together, "Chuck-chuck".

pu-leul tteun-neun yeom-so eum-me

grass eating goats moo-moo

The goats are grazing on grass, "Moo-moo",

han-ga-rop-ke kanga-ji nol-kko

leisurely puppies play

and the puppies are playing with leisure.

3. so-leul mo-neun nong-bu i-rya

cattle collecting farmer (onomatopoeic)

The farmer is calling for his cattle to gather, "Irya",

ppal-re-ha-neun so-ri ttuk-ttak

doing-laundry sound (onomatopoeic)

and there's the pounding sound of laundry, "tuk-tak".

mul-re-banga bing-geul jal-tto don-da

waterwheel round-and-round smoothly rotates

The waterwheel gently spins round and round.

4. sal-myeo-si cho-seng-ttal seo-sa-ne geol-ri-go

stealthily new moon west mountain-at hangs

When the new moon hangs quietly above the west mountains,

güi-ttu-ra-mi ja-jang-ga-e

cricket lullaby-in

and the crickets sing a lullaby,

chingeol-de-deo na-gi-e tu nu-ni gam-gi-myeon

peevish-was baby's two eyes close-as

the baby who has been so noisy during the day closes his eyes,

deul-ryeo-o-neun meong-meong-so-ri

be heard bowwow-sound

leaving only the distant bowwow of dogs to be heard.

Pointless comments

This song debuted at the 12th MBC children's song festival (a composing competition, not a singing contest) in 1994. The singer was a girl from Busan by the name of 이아람. At that time she was in 5th grade at 남성국민학교 (name of primary school). In the original TV broadcast there was a short clip of her saying "I want to be a vet in the future" during the intermezzo, and I sometimes wonder if her dream has come true. Anyhow, this song ended up winning the bronze. But in my opinion it should have won the grand prize. In fact, it's among my top 10 favorites. The mild and peaceful melody in pentatonic scale is well suited for the beautiful rural landscape depicted by the lyrics.

Video from the 1994 broadcast

The rural landscape depicted is undoubtedly a common sight in the old days, but nowadays it would be rare to see in South Korea. Perhaps North Korea is a better place to look for such scenery. Anyway, besides the vivid scenery, the lyrics also excel at describing various sounds, but I suspect that nowadays not many people would know why doing laundry makes a pounding "tuk-tak" sound.

Well, actually in the old days people would do their laundry on a small low platform on the side of a river or pond. Such a place is called 빨래터 in Korean (빨래 = laundry, 터 = site). They would use a club with flat faces (방망이) to strike the soaked clothes against the platform in furious fashion, hence the sound. Some say this process generates numerous little air bubbles and they can help pop off dust that got stuck in the fabric.

Article (in Korean) about ancient laundry methods with an illustration

The first word, 뽀오얀, should actually be written as 뽀얀, it is a form of the adjective 뽀얗다 (also written as 보얗다). The additional 오 is a result of "legato" to fit the word to the melody. 무등 is just a spot where one can ride. It typically refers to the back and shoulders of an adult where a little kid would ride. A synonym is 목말. (무등을 타다 is 肩車 in Japanese or 騎馬馬肩 in Chinese.) The word 모는 in the first line of the 3rd paragraph is the "adjective form" of the verb 모다. 모다 is an alternative form of 모으다. The latter is used more often.

Note that the last paragraph ends with a noun. Grammatically the entire paragraph falls short of forming a complete sentence, but the meaning is complete from context. Such phenomenon occurs in both Korean and Japanese poetry. In Japanese it's called 体言止め but I have been unable to find a corresponding term in Korean. (I know this is entirely pointless but I try to write down my every thought.)

In the 1994 video you can hear the girl pronouncing 시작 in 시작된다 as 시장. The nasalization is not standard.