Internet
sensation, best song of 2012, 1.2 billions views on Youtube, and Korea’s real
break into the American music industry is PSY’s “Gangnam Style.” Since the
release of this song, billions of people have watched and danced along to his
famous horse dance. Everybody, from 2 year olds all the way up to seniors in
their 70s and 80s have danced along to his catchy “oppan gangnam style.” Being
Korea myself, it brings me a real sense of national pride and patriotism. PSY,
very patriotic, has chanted “long live Korea,” on worldly known tv programs and
news stations.
At
first, Americans found the song amusing because they thought the lyrics were “open
condom style” and the music video itself was very comedic. In fact, PSY, before
he was world famous, was an old singer in Korea, who, to keep his fame alive,
appeared in many comedy programs to keep his name on the boards, going so far as to reveal his pit stains for the sake of comedy. PSY is actually
a comedic singer which can be proven by the comedic music video. In his video
he even featured top Korean comedians, Yoo Jae Suk, and No Hong Chul, also
known as the yellow guy with the red Mercedes, and the elevator guy
respectively.
Being
Korean and all, I am proud of PSY and I broke out tears of joy when I saw the
live performance of PSY at the new York times square countdown on December 31,
2012. However, I do not feel this song shouldn’t have been the one to break
through. Out of all the songs PSY has released, this is quite sexist and in a
way perverted. When little non-korean kids sing and dance along to this song, I
feel terrible for them. If one is to actually translate the lyrics of this
song, it is very sexist.
Gangnam
is a district in Korea of higher class residents and is comparable to downtown
Vancouver or West Vancouver. To highlight the lyrics, it talks about women in Gangnam
as seen in the first line of the song; In the daytime these girls are
sophisticated and innocent, they are able to relax at a cup of coffee, but when
night time comes they get all loose. Also in the song, before the famous “oppan
gangnam style” line, PSY says, let’s go as far as we can go. This line can be
misinterpreted by many people because of culture differences.
In Korea, the drinking habits are
beyond what you believe is possible. They go to work for 12 hours days, then
afterwards the office goes out to a restaurant to have food and drinks, but it
doesn’t stop there. In Korea when they drink, they have stages. These stages
represent which restaurant or bar they have been to. For example, if they are
on their fourth stage, it means they have drank at four places. In the song,
Let’s go, by Calvin Harris, the “let’s go” line is interpreted as, let’s go
reach our goals, let’s go have fun, let’s go have a good time. When PSY says,
let’s go as far as we can go, it relates to these “stages.” So basically what
he is saying is, let’s drink as much as we can until we are done. And one must
understand, in Korea when you are done, you are done as in, sleeping on the
street at 9 am done. You must also understand, in Korea it is not uncommon to
drink till 8 am, I even remember drinking till 6 pm the next day when I went
there. In the video below, PSY even drank onstage a full bottle of soju (a
Korean liquor that is equivalent to a watered vodka, 21% alcohol).
Maybe when the American’s first
misread the lyrics as “open condom style,” they had it right the first time. I
sometimes hear little kids, and even in the earlier video of the new years eve show, the tv announcer, cannot pronounce oppan gangnam style and mispronounce it, oppan gangan style, which directly translated means, I’m rape style. Why am I
writing such a negative blog about my own countries first ever world famous
song? Don’t get me wrong, I love PSY and I am proud to hear Korean lyrics
blasting from the radio, but seeing the young kids sing along to this song is
just morally wrong. It’s the same thing as if your kid was singing along to
Lady Gaga.
2 comments:
PSY, the most popular Worldwide Korean artist in 2012, broke YouTube and music board records with his strangely amusing top hit song, Gangnam Style. Although I must admit that the song is catchy and the video is comedic, I still agree with Adrian in the perception that this should not have been the song to break through and promote Korea. This song, like Adrian mentioned, contains perverted and sexist lyrics. In most cases, when children and teenagers sing to it, they are not aware of what they are actually saying. The song is like a trend, where everyone just mouths the Korean lyrics as if they know it and simply dance to the famous horse dance. When children and teenagers reach a certain age, they should be supervised by parents in a more strict manner. Children and teenagers will follow the 'trend' and sing to a song without properly interpreting the real meaning of the lyrics- their minds are too simple and vulnerable. At the same time, "parents often are unaware of the lyrics to which their children are listening because of the increasing use of downloaded music and headphones" (González DeRivas 2009). For example, one of the top hits in 1999 was Christina Aguilera's Genie In A Bottle. Of course, even I sang to it every day, everywhere. But when I sang it, it was just a song; I didn't really understand what the lyrics meant. I simply sang along to the song just because everyone else was singing it. But now that I have grown up, and I listen to the song and interpret the lyrics, I realized that the lyrics are very suggestive in a sexual way. In the lyrics, Aguilera describes herself as the "genie in the bottle", and that the boy she's singing this song to "gotta rub [her] the right way". Throughout the years, music has become something that people devote most of their time into. Many popular songs that children and adolescents listen to are "[becoming] more explicit in their references to drugs, sex and violence" (González DeRivas 2009). Music can be a very powerful medium. Depending on its genre, as it is capable of influencing attitudes, ideologies, behaviors, mood and social interactions. It has become something that is a norm in many people's daily lives, especially children and adolescents. Lyrics, in particular, have received rising concerns regarding their effect on children and adolescents (González DeRivas 2009). Therefore we, as mature grown-ups, should be attentive of what is being exposed through music to the generations following us.
González DeRivas, M. Rosario. "Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth." Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth. American Academy of Pediatrics, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 02 Feb. 2013. .
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