UniLang

Oh, DBSK. That brings back memories from my fandom days. That song by Lunafly is very nice too.

Lately, Miss A's I Don't Need a Man has been my theme song. XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Uzwgjf2tI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASO_zypdnsQ
This is way better than gnagnam style!

Here's a song that all the music theory students at my school were freaking out over from their exam:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RBhq8RM_ZQ

I love Kpop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNWEBPpJ130

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R2gEQ_y4uc

So many names that I haen't heard of. I guess I'm way behind in Kpop. hehe

I'll just share my favorite Korean singer: 이정현

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUiegZ94xjc
와 (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmcfwZE1CWY
바꿔 (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBmdZs1a-_s
너 (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqeMpHbCuaA
미쳐 (2001)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuQfiOfvXC4
아리아리 (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRCLYR1UdNs
따라해봐 (2004)

Of course there are more, but six videos are more than enough for one post... With her, every album is different but still feels like her.

Wow I like her songs a lot! Thanks for posting.

A few other names that come to my mind... but these two first, mostly for Meera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI43Wms9poM
샤크라, "한" (2000)
Chakra was active from 2000 to 2005. Being one of the earliest "girl groups", Chakra took an unusual approach to be more "exotic" than "cute" or "sexy." Compared to other girl groups of that time or present, Chakra members sing consierably better, and it's a shame that the group disbanded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXq0VzPsbRM
노라조, "카레 (2010)
Active since 2005. The first couple of minutes set the stage for the song... well, not. If you think it's weird, these Thai audiences probably did too.

I'm laughing so hard at the second song

I think I'll post some North Korean songs I've listened to in this thread. This is one of the first songs from North Korea I ever heard, performed (like pretty much all the North Korean songs I know) by the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble. It's called 천리마 (千里馬) 달린다, which I've seen translated as "Chollima Running":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye6cwrgdxxg

Official lyrics:
백전백승 로동당 새 시대를 열었다
천리마의 기상을 온 세상에 떨치자
어서가자 빨리가자 천리마 타고서
칠개년계획을 앞당겨 나가자
에헤 에야차 에야차 공산주의 새 언덕이 저기 보인다
에헤 에야차 에야차 공산주의 새 언덕이 저기 보인다

로동당의 전사들 하나로 뭉쳤다
빛나는 새 승리 우리를 부른다
어서가자 빨리가자 천리마 타고서
창조와 혁신으로 새 기적 올리자
에헤 에야차 에야차 조국통일 새날이 밝아온다
에헤 에야차 에야차 조국통일 새날이 밝아온다

수십년을 하루로 달리여 나간다
건설과 증산의 불길을 높여라
어서가자 빨리가자 천리마 타고서
후손만대 행복할 락원을 꾸미자
에헤 에야차 에야차 로동당기발 따라 나가자
에헤 에야차 에야차 로동당기발 따라 나가자

EDIT: I just had to listen to another North Korean song (from the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble) after that. There was one in particular I was thinking of, and wonder of wonders, I just found it! It's called the "Song of Three Beautiful Things":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Vc1Y0EU7o

Very interesting Vijay! Thanks. Its very interesting to hear North Korean music since its so closed off.

Thanks, it's a relief to know that someone appreciates me doing this! Normally, I don't dare tell anyone in this country that I know the slightest thing about North Korea lol. But yeah, that's precisely why I got interested in North Korea and its music in the first place: because you never hear about it. If you try searching for North Korean stuff on YouTube, you just might be surprised to see how much you can find! (Well, I was )

Two more songs for tonight: the first is 내 나라 제일(第一)로 좋아 ("My Country Is the Best"). Out of all the North Korean songs I'd ever heard, I think this used to be my least favorite. Now, it doesn't sound so bad to me for some reason, although the first five seconds of the video still sound odd to me. I don't think I've ever heard any other North Korean song begin so oddly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJg3-Gkxuw

The other is 준마처녀 (駿馬處女), which the uploader of this video translates as "A Girl In The Saddle Of A Steed" (although they chose a different English title to get more views lol). This isn't one of my favorites, either, although I liked it better than the other one. I specifically remember thinking of this video to lift my spirits when I was practicing for the GRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tkXgw2OMY

I think the first (good and non-military) North Korean song I ever heard was 축배(祝杯)를 들자, which means "To Make a Toast." IIRC, it's about a North Korean woman getting married to a Party official:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DK80DVW2NQ

The second one, which I heard like right after that, was the much more famous pop song 내 이름 묻지 마세요 (Don't Ask My Name). It's about a woman who does a good job and a journalist who wants to get her name in the newspaper. This video has not only the lyrics in Korean but also (in the captions) a translation into English:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6u_a0EUkA0

Very interesting stuff, thanks Vijay.

No problem, Meera! There are a bunch more that I've heard before

Tonight, I think I'll share two North Korean songs; I think it's fair to say these two are relatively lighthearted. In fact, I'm not even entirely sure that either of them has much political propaganda in it, which seems kind of unusual for North Korean music One is called 녀성(女性)은 꽃이라네, or "Women Are Flowers":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEXsu1PfrPU

The other is a song that's supposed to be from a North Korean TV comedy, I think. (I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be very lighthearted). It's called 아직은 말못해 or 'I Can't Tell You':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fzb11VGxh8

@vijayjohn : Thanks for posting NK music. To be honest, I don't think they're bad at all, and I'm pretty sympathetic to NK in many ways. (But I don't want to discuss that here, since this is a music thread)

However, since I feel that having too many NK songs on the thread could potentially scare other South Koreans (actually I'm pretty serious, though I doubt there are any at this point of time) I'd like to ask you... not to do it too much. You know, all in moderation and balance.

I'll just post a bit more from my Kpop techno-goddess, 이정현, this time her more recent songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQwK2pdvAug
Vogue it girl (2009)
Argh, she's just great at stage performances. I had a hard time picking which version to upload, and this version and this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In_UbnwmMLI
Crazy (2009)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3owvxC8IPU
수상한 남자 (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUfH53bYp1Q
V (2013)

I really like 아리아리.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRTb81FpWq0
I can't get this song out of my head.


Also VijayJohn, thanks for posting the NK songs.


@Karavinka I love Lee-jyung-Hungs songs! Recently on one of the Korean channels here, they had a marathon of her vidoes

Meera wrote:Also VijayJohn, thanks for posting the NK songs.

Karavinka wrote:@vijayjohn : Thanks for posting NK music. To be honest, I don't think they're bad at all, and I'm pretty sympathetic to NK in many ways. (But I don't want to discuss that here, since this is a music thread)

No problem! I'm always glad to post songs people like

However, since I feel that having too many NK songs on the thread could potentially scare other South Koreans (actually I'm pretty serious, though I doubt there are any at this point of time) I'd like to ask you... not to do it too much. You know, all in moderation and balance.

Sure, that sounds fair enough to me. And don't worry, North Korean songs aren't all I listen to anyway I have no intention of scaring people off, of course, but I do have the intention of demonstrating that there's more to Korean music than just K-Pop! So I'll quit posting like two NK songs every night, but I see this as an opportunity to post an even greater variety of (non-North) Korean songs here.

I trust you won't mind just one more North Korean song today, though There is a North Korean song and a South Korean song, which are very different from each other but both have the title 김치깍뚜기. IIRC, that means 'radish kimchi'. I've seen a few North Korean songs apparently praising simple foods, like potatoes and sweet potatoes, and I guess this song similarly praises radish kimchi. I hope it doesn't start out too loud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1VGNbEoCfc

And here's the South Korean song with the same name. It's a trot. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (because my Korean really sucks and I may have no idea what I'm talking about here!), but I think in this one, the singer is talking about touring the US and getting fancy food but longing for simpler Korean food (including radish kimchi):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtPz-81QtpE

Just across the border from North Korea is Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China. Yanbian has a very large Korean population, including North Koreans, South Koreans, and Koreans whose ancestors crossed the border long before the Korean War. Korean is an official language along with Mandarin in Yanbian.

This video just has six very short Korean songs from Yanbian. You'll be able to see them if you just have the patience to get through the short KFC ad before the songs start :
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM0NjEyNTUy.html