1. 아무도 오지않는 깊은 산속에
쪼로롱 방울꽃이 혼자 폈어요
산새들 몰래 몰래 꺽어 갈래도
쪼로롱 소리날까 그냥 둡니다
2. 산바람 지나가다 건드리면은
쪼로롱 방울소리 쏟아지겠다
산노루 울음소리 메아리치면
쪼로롱 방울소리 쏟아지겠다
Composer 이수인(李秀仁, 1939~) / Lyricist 임교순(任敎淳, 1938~)
Listen (4th grade music textbook, Donga Edition, unknown singer)
1. a-mu-do o-ji-an-neun gi-peun san-so-ge
Nobody not come deep mountain-inside
Deep in the mountains hardly visited by anyone,
jjo-ro-rong bangul-ggo-chi hon-ja pyeo-sseo-yo
(tinkling sound) Lilies-of-the-valley are by themselves in blossom
there are Lilies-of-the-vally in blossom by themselves.
san-se-deul mor-re mor-re ggeo-geo gar-re-do
The mountain birds secretly and stealthily snatch away-want-but
The mountain birds want to snatch them away in secret. But
jjo-ro-rong so-ri-nar-gga keu-nyang dum-ni-da
(tinkling sound) may sound as they are leave (them)
afraid that they might sound a tinkle, the birds leave them as they are.
2. san-ba-ram ji-na-ga-da keon-deu-ri-myeo-neun
Mountain wind passes by when giving a slight jog
As the wind blowing through the mountains give them a slight shake,
jjo-ro-rong bangul-so-ri sso-da-ji-get-ta
(tinkling sound) sound of little bells must spill out
there must be tinkling sounds splashing out from the Lilies-of-the-valley.
san-no-ru u-reum-so-ri me-a-ri-chi-myeon
The mountain roe deers' barking rings echo-as
When the mountain deer's barking echos throughout the valley,
jjo-ro-rong bangul-so-ri sso-da-ji-get-ta
(tinkling sound) sound of little bells must spill out
There must also be tinkling sounds splashing out from those little bells.
This song was composed in the 1950s after the Korean war. The 50s is considered an age of blossoming in the history of Korean children's songs. The large number of beautiful compositions signify an effort to console the young generation who had suffered badly in the war.
The title of this song literally means "little bell flower". If you Google this word, pictures of lilies-of-the-valley would come up. However, the "official" Korean name for lilies-of-the-valley is "은방울꽃", or "silver little bell flower". The name "little bell flower" actually refers to another species known as "Strobilanthes oliganthus" which (in my opinion) doesn't look like bell at all. I have always imagined the flowers depicted in this song as lilies-of-the-valley, as many people probably do.
This song has long been taught in music textbooks. For example, the Donga Edition places it in Grade 4. The audio file linked above is from the recording accompanying that textbook.
Page from the textbook that contains this song.
for viewing the entire textbook
The lyrics are all about the "sound" of those little bell flowers, which is indeed very fun to imagine. The onomatopoeic word "쪼로롱" plays a central role here. Not many dictionaries have this word but some would tell you that it's the sound of 방울새 or greenfinches. However I would just imagine tinkling sounds as those little windbells would make.
There is actually a children's song written by the same composer titled "쪼로롱"
The two lines about mountain birds are especially interesting, and even more so when you realize that lilies-of-the-valley are poisonous due to high concentration of cardiac glycosides. It is as if the mere potential of making a sound could deter the birds from poisoning themselves.
The entire song never leaves the realm of potential. Even in the second part, there is no mention of those flowers actually making a sound. All is left to speculation and imagination, as can be seen from the usage of "-겠-". This in my opinion is the ingenuity of this seemingly simple song. Instead of telling you anything with certainty, it does such a great job provoking curiosity over what those flowers are really up to in those hardly visited valleys.
The melody in C-major is easy to learn, but the usage of syncopated rhythm and a chromatic note saved it from being dull. Overall, I would say that this song is no doubt a classic that deserves its place in textbooks.
