Morning Dew (Korean song) explained

Morning Dew
Artist:Yang Hee-eun
Album:Yang Hee Eun Gounnorae Moeum [1]
Genre:T'ong guitar, ballad
Producer:Kim Min-ki

"Morning Dew" (Korean: 아침 이슬, "Achim Isul") is a South Korean protest song from the 1970s written by Kim Min-ki and sung by Yang Hee-eun.[2] [3] [4] In 1971, the song was Kim Min-ki's debut in his album,[5] but Yang Hee-eun released it a month earlier. It was not intended to be a protest song, and belonged to the geonjeongayo genre. It has also been described as belonging to the genres of Korean ballad and T'ong guitar.[6] The song was well received by both music critics and the public, youths in particular.[7] Initially it won a government award (건전가요상, the Wholesome Song Award), and was considered a pro-government propaganda or "healthy" song, and played on the Korean radio under a cultural program supported by the government.[8]

Soon afterward, it had inexplicably become a popular protest song among the pro-democracy activists in South Korea, particularly with students.[9] [10] Despite the song lacking an overt political message and being described as "full of resolve in spite of the sorrows of life's trials",[11] its wording could be interpreted as "activists yearning for a democratic society", and critical of the 1972 Yushin Constitution. It has also been interpreted as critical of Americanization of Korean society.[12] Also, in the lyrics 'A blazing red sun rising up over the graveyard', the sun is interpreted as Kim Il-sung, and the words rising red can be interpreted to mean communism. [13]

Subsequently, in December 1975, it was banned by government censorship of the Park Chung Hee regime. It was later also banned in North Korea.[14] Copies of the album containing it were recalled and destroyed, and it was even prohibited to cover it.[15] Kim Min-ki's school junior, Lee Soo-man, almost received disciplinary action after singing this song on a night stage in 1978.[16] The song, composed in 1971, was one of the favorites of the pro-democracy students until the late 1980s (the other being another song by Kim Min-ki, 상록수, Sangnoksu, 거치른 들판에 푸르른 솔잎처럼, Geochireun deulpane pureureun soripcheoreom, lit. Evergreen). It was often sung during the events of the 1987 June Democratic Struggle.[17] It has also been described as an anthem of the Korean pro-democracy movement and credited with starting the South Korean protest music.[18]

The ban on the song was lifted following pro-democracy protests in 1987. It remained popular for some time afterward. It has been sung at political rallies as late as the 2000s.[19]

The song has also been described as popular with North Koreans living in Japan (people affiliated with Chongryon).[20]

Kim Min-ki brought the German musical Linie 1 to South Korea and adapted it, which became a huge hit. After learning about this, members of the Grips-Theater, a German original performance team, translated his song into German, visited South Korea in 2004, and gave it to him as a gift. The title is Morgentau.[21]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Yang Hee-eun. June 20, 2012. KBS WORLD.
  2. News: 2006-11-08 . 양희은 "'아침이슬' 운동권 노래? 섬뜩!" . 2024-02-20 . Sports Hankook. ko.
  3. Web site: 2007-10-25 . 양희은 "'아침이슬'은 건전가요상을 받고 금지곡도 된 노래" . 2024-02-20 . . ko.
  4. South Korean Popular Folk Music: The Genre That Defined 1970s Youth Culture . UCLA . 2020 . en . Rosaleen . Rhee.
  5. Lee . Jung-Min Mina . February 2023 . Minjung Kayo : Imagining Democracy through Song in South Korea . Twentieth-Century Music . en . 20 . 1 . 49–69 . 10.1017/S1478572222000470 . 1478-5722. free .
  6. Book: Fuhr, Michael . Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea: Sounding Out K-Pop . 2015-06-12 . Routledge . 978-1-317-55691-6 . 47 . en.
  7. Ch`ang-Nam . Kim . Kyung-ja . Chun . March 1987 . The Spirit of Folksongs and Realism in Song - The Musical World of Kim Min-gi . Korea Journal . ko . 27 . 3 . 28–41 . 0023-3900.
  8. Book: Kim . Tai-hoon . Computer Applications for Web, Human Computer Interaction, Signal and Image Processing, and Pattern Recognition: International Conferences, SIP, WSE, and ICHCI 2012, Held in Conjunction with GST 2012, Jeju Island, Korea, November 28-December 2, 2012. Proceedings . Mohammed . Sabah . Ramos . Carlos . Abawajy . Jemal . Kang . Byeong-Ho . Slezak . Dominik . 2012-11-07 . Springer . 978-3-642-35270-6 . 147 . en.
  9. Jennison . Rebecca S. . 2023 . In/Visible—New Directions in Contemporary Art by Zainichi Koreans: Fragile Frames/Precarious Lives—in Soni Kum's Morning Dew (2020) . Seoul Journal of Korean Studies . 36 . 2 . 465–483 . 10.1353/seo.2023.a916927 . 266920874 . 2331-4826.
  10. Web site: Morning Dew (아침 이슬) - Korean song. July 23, 2024. Tony's Web.
  11. Book: Yoo, Theodore Jun . The Koreas: The Birth of Two Nations Divided . 2022-09-27 . Univ of California Press . 978-0-520-39168-0 . 98 . en.
  12. Book: Pardo, Ramon Pacheco . Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop . 2022-07-15 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-767454-3 . 28–29 . en.
  13. News: <역사속 오늘> 박정희 대통령 애창곡... 일반인도 들을 수 있게 되다. President Park Chung-hee's favorite song... can now be heard by the general public. August 8, 2015. Yonhap News Agency. ko.
  14. News: Why Is It Prohibited to Sing "Morning Dew" in North Korea?. April 17, 2008. Daily NK.
  15. Book: Tudor, Daniel . Korea: The Impossible Country: South Korea's Amazing Rise from the Ashes: The Inside Story of an Economic, Political and Cultural Phenomenon . 2012-11-10 . Tuttle Publishing . 978-1-4629-1022-9 . 297 . en.
  16. News: 李洙滿(이수만) 징계검토 禁止(금지)된 노래불러. Lee Soo-man reviewed disciplinary action for singing banned song. April 1, 1978. July 24, 2024. The Dong-A Ilbo. ko.
  17. Book: Shin . Hyunjoon . Made in Korea: Studies in Popular Music . Lee . Seung-Ah . 2016-09-13 . Routledge . 978-1-317-64573-3 . 1976 . en.
  18. Book: Pardo, Ramon Pacheco . Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop . 2022-07-15 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-767454-3 . 27 . en.
  19. Book: Song, Jesook . Living on Your Own: Single Women, Rental Housing, and Post-Revolutionary Affect in Contemporary South Korea . 2014-04-01 . SUNY Press . 978-1-4384-5013-1 . 92 . en.
  20. Book: Clark, Donald N. . Korea Briefing 1993: Festival of Korea . 2019-04-08 . Routledge . 978-0-429-71585-3 . 127 . en.
  21. 13 September 2018. ［인터뷰 풀영상］ 김민기 극단 '학전' 대표 (2018.09.13). ［Full interview video］ Kim Min-ki, CEO of Theater Company 'Hakjeon' (2018.09.13). Korean. 23 July 2023. JTBC News.

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