Arirang - Definition

Arirang is arguably the most popular and best known Korean folk song, both inside and outside Korea.

Variations

Literally hundreds of variations of the song exist, and they can be grouped into classes based on the lyrics, when the refrain is sung, the nature of the refrain, the overall melody, and so on. Titles of different versions of the song are usually prefixed by their place of origin or some other kind of signifier.

The standard version of the song is usually simply called Arirang, and is of relatively recent origin. It was first made popular by its use as the theme song of the 1926 movie Arirang, Korea's first feature film (1). This version of the song is sometimes called Bonjo (本調; "Standard") Arirang, Sin (Shin; "New") Arirang, or Gyeonggi Arirang, since its provenance is, properly speaking, Seoul, which was formerly part of Gyeonggi Province. (The titles Bonjo Arirang and Sin Arirang are sometimes applied to other versions of the song.)

Particularly famous folk versions of Arirang—all of which long predate the standard version—include:

• Jeongseon Arirang, from Jeongseon County in Gangwon Province;
• Jindo Arirang from Jindo County in South Jeolla Province; and
• Miryang Arirang from Miryang in South Gyeongsang Province.

Paldo Arirang is sometimes used to collectively denote all the many regional versions of the song, as sung in the far-flung regions of Korea's traditional Eight Provinces (Paldo).

Origin of the title

Many versions of the song open by describing the travails the subject of the song encounters while crossing a mountain pass. "Arirang" is one name for the pass and hence the title of the song. Some versions of Arirang mention Mungyeong Saejae, which is the main mountain pass on the ancient Joseon Dynasty road between Seoul and southeastern Gyeongsang Province.

There are apparently a number of passes in Korea called "Arirang Pass." One such is a pass among some hills in central-northeastern Seoul. That Arirang Pass, however, was originally called Jeongneung Pass and was only renamed in 1926, to commemorate the release of the film Arirang (2). Older versions of the song long predate the movie.

The refrain

In all versions of the song, the refrain and each verse are of equal length. In some versions—such as the standard version and Jindo Arirang—the first refrain precedes the first verse, while in other versions—including Miryang Arirang—the first refrain follows the first verse. Perhaps the easiest way to classify versions—apart from melody, which can vary widely between different versions—is the lyrics of the refrain. In the standard and some other versions, the first line of the refrain is "Arirang, Arirang, arariyo..." while in both Jindo Arirang and Miryang Arirang (which are otherwise quite different from each other), the first line of the refrain begins with "Ari arirang, seuri seurirang...." ("Arariyo" and "seurirang" are both meaningless words which are simply plays on "Arirang.")

The lyrics

The table below gives the refrain (first two lines; the refrain precedes the first verse) and first verse (third and fourth lines) of the standard version of the song in romanized Korean, Hangul, and a literal translation into English.

Notes

See also

• List of Korea-related topics