Whale Hunting
Every
child has a dream. But not all old people have a vision. They who are able to
make their childhood dreams into manhood visions, they’re the mature ones.
They’re grown ups. Do you know what the good thing about being mature is? It’s
knowing when and how to use your childhood spirit. Being children isn’t a less
good or bad thing at all. On the other hand, it has some good points. Children
are innocent, spiritful, honest; things that most of old people had lost;
things that we actually must never lost. No matter how old we are, there are
times when we should let our child-self out, the spiritful one. Dream big like
a child, make vision like a grown up, live it like a mature one. So that when
you stumble once, you would always find a way to get up again, to catch that
dream, and work hard to realize the vision.
“Let’s
leave to the East Sea. Let’s go ride a slow running train to get there.”
–Song Chang Sik, Whale Hunting (ê³ ëž˜ì‚¬ëƒ¥)
Today’s
song for Free Spirit is a song titled
“Whale Hunting (ê³ ëž˜ì‚¬ëƒ¥)”,
a Korean classic hits sung and written by the legend of Korean folk music, Song
Chang Sik. It was first released in 1975, when Song directed music for the
classic young-adult Korean movie titled “March of the Fools”. The song, as well
as the movie, became a huge hit. As it became the symbol of youth culture in
South Korea in the 1970s, it was loved by the youngsters there back then even
until now.
Life
is kind. Not because it gives us everything we want or need, but because it
gives us pain and hardships too, to make us learn, to make us become better, a
survivor and a fighter. Life is kind because it’s real. And when we stumble,
it’s because we need to see that there’s more to life than we’ve known before.
Life is kind, because there’s gotta be more to it. It’s what “Whale Hunting (ê³ ëž˜ì‚¬ëƒ¥)” tells us. “Even if I keep drinking, singing, and
dancing, my heart is filled with sadness. Even if I look around to see what to
do, everything I see turns its back to me.” For some people, they have to
be stumbled first in order to be pushed out of their comfort zones; to discover
something new, to realize that life is so much more than as they know it. For
some people, they have to be lost to be able to find themselves; to regain
their spirit and be free. “Let’s leave to
the East Sea. Let’s go ride a slow running train to get there.”
“The world in my dream last night is
forgotten when I wake up in the morning. But there’s one thing I clearly
remember from my dream, it’s one small and beautiful whale.” Dream,
happiness, purposes of life; ‘whale’ is a metaphor for that. Why? Because it’s
a rare animal, a mystical creature that people rarely see, barely. However, it
exists and it’s there. And so as dream. “Let’s
leave to the East Sea. Let’s go catch the mystical living whale.” For some
people, they have to be broken first in order to be able to stand up stronger
than ever. Though we can’t see and touch it, though it seems absurd, a dream is
there to give people hope. “Even though
our love has broken, even if we lost everything all at once. There’s one
certain thing inside our hearts, that’s the one beautiful whale.” Dream is
a hope that people hold for their life, and they should never let it go, ever.
“Let’s leave to the East Sea, let’s go
catch the mythical sounded whale.”
Up until this article is written, “Whale
Hunting (ê³ ëž˜ì‚¬ëƒ¥)” has been performed twice in the entertainment music program, “Immortal Songs 2: Singing the Legend”. The first one was on the 28th installment during the “70/80 Original Soundtrack Special” episode. It was performed by the member of male vocal group 4MEN, Shin Young Jae. The episode was broadcasted by KBS television station on December 10th 2011, and later was aired on KBS World channel on December 31st 2011.
The second time was performed by rock vocalist, Jung Dong Ha, collaborated with a pop-rock band, DICKPUNKS. It was during the “Summer Special Part 1 with Guest” when the powerful collaboration performance turned the studio into a summer rock festival, gave feeling like cool breeze of the East Sea was transferred to the stage. The 156th installment was broadcasted by KBS television station on July 5th 2014, and later was aired on KBS World channel on July 26th 2014. Furthermore, Jung and DICKPUNKS’ rendition made it into my list of 7 Most Breathtaking Collaboration Performances on “Immortal Songs 2” of 2014.
The second time was performed by rock vocalist, Jung Dong Ha, collaborated with a pop-rock band, DICKPUNKS. It was during the “Summer Special Part 1 with Guest” when the powerful collaboration performance turned the studio into a summer rock festival, gave feeling like cool breeze of the East Sea was transferred to the stage. The 156th installment was broadcasted by KBS television station on July 5th 2014, and later was aired on KBS World channel on July 26th 2014. Furthermore, Jung and DICKPUNKS’ rendition made it into my list of 7 Most Breathtaking Collaboration Performances on “Immortal Songs 2” of 2014.
“Let’s
leave to the East Sea. Let’s go catch the mystical living whale.” –Song
Chang Sik, Whale Hunting (ê³ ëž˜ì‚¬ëƒ¥)
“Sulmasigo noraehago
chumeul chwobwado gaseumeneun hana gadeuk seulpeumppunine
(Even
if I keep drinking, singing, and dancing, my heart is filled with sadness)
Mueotseul hal geotsinga
dulleo boado boineun geon moduga dora anatne
(Even
if I look around to see what to do, everything I see turns its back to me)
Ja tteonaja donghae badaro
samdeungsamdeung wanhaengyeolcha gichareul tago
(Let’s
leave to the East Sea, let’s go ride a slow running train to get there)
Ganbame kkueotdeon kkumui
segyeneun achime ireonamyeon idjhyeojijiman
(The
world in my dream last night is forgotten when I wake up in the morning)
Geuraedo saenggaknaneun
nae kkum hananeun jogeuman yeppeun gorae hanmari
(But
there’s one thing I clearly remember from my dream, it’s one small and
beautiful whale)
Ja tteonaja donghae badaro
sinhwacheoreom sumeul swineun gorae jabeureo
(Let’s
leave to the East Sea, let’s go catch the mystical living whale)
Urideul sarangi kkaejindahaedo
modeun geotseul hankkeobeone ilneunda haedo
(Even
though our love has broken, even if we lost everything all at once)
Urideul gaseumsokeneun
tturyeoti itda hanmari yeppeun gorae hanaga
(There’s
one certain thing inside our hearts, that’s the one beautiful whale)
Ja tteonaja donghae
badaro sinhwacheoreom sorichineun gorae jabeureo
(Let’s
leave to the East Sea, let’s go catch the mythical sounded whale)”
Tags:
DICKPUNKS
immortal songs 2
jung dong ha
kpop
music
song chang sik
television program
whale hunting
3 komentar
Hi, I stumbled upon this blog, because I was looking for the meaning of the song "Whale Hunt". I first heard it on IS2 when Jung Dong Ha and Dickpunks performed. I wanted to make a post about this in my blog dedicated to Jung Dong Ha. Your blog is a wonderful treasure.
ReplyDeleteHi Ava,
Deleteyou are too kind. Thank you so much for stopping by on my blog, and moreover for appreciating it. I hope it could give benefits for your post. If you don't mind, would you like to share your blog's address, so that I can read yours too?
Nice to know you.
Best regards,
M.F
Hi Mashita,
DeleteIf you click on my name in my comment, it will show you the link to my Jung Dong Ha blog. I just discovered that you wrote about the song Drunken Truth as well! I wrote about it too, but only in relation to Dong Ha performance. My blog is totally dedicated to him; only sometimes I touch up on a broader subject, like when I wrote about two deceased Kim named singers, that are Dong Ha's favorite musicians.