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Monday, November 15, 2010

Koreanglish

Dear Friends,
The wealth of English phrases in Korean pop songs yields some absolute gems that I feel Americans undervalue and appreciate in our own musical stylings:
Leeteuk of Super Junior dressed up as Your-Guess-is-As-Good-As-Mine
"He's no Superman, He must be Mama's boy" (Super Girl by Super Junior M, Korean version) - Words cannot describe...

"Fantastic, Fantastic, Elastic, Elastic" (Ring Ding Dong by Shinee) - Just because two words rhyme does NOT indicate its necessity to appear in any song.

"Every day I shock <shock>; Every night I shock <shock>"  (Shock by Beast) - Finish the thought please.  Shock what?  Is this a Physics lesson in static electricity?

"[You] Shoot, Shoot, Shoot; [I] Hoot, Hoot, Hoot" (Hoot by SNSD) - Okay, I get the idea about Cupid's arrow and shooting but why are you hooting?  How is that a good response?  Again, just because two words rhyme does NOT require you to use it in a song.

BUT it seems the real gems come from things my sister thinks she hears when she listens to kpop music.  And it's awesomely hilarious because once you hear it, you can't seem to hear anything else.  Try it out for yourself:

"Last night I would be your obso" (0:34 of It's You by Super Junior) - Okay, so we don't know what an obso is but everything else makes sense.

"Oh, my super girl makes you want a baby girl.  Oh, my super girl - what you need's a super man" (1:03 of Super Girl by Super Junior M, Mandarin version) (This one is harder to hear for me since I speak Mandarin)

That's Okay, I rolled in Kashi" (0:47 of So I by Super Junior)

"Taco. Mexicans, they love me" (2:13 of Angel (Haru OST) by Super Junior)

"I'm a good Mormon guy" (3:37 of Beautiful by Beast)

Disclaimer: While I get tickled over the use and mis-use of English in Korean pop songs, these examples are not an indication that all use of English in Korean music is wrong.
Disclaimer: I may or may not listen to incredibly large quantities of Korean pop music on a daily basis.  
Disclaimer: If anyone thinks this is an indication of my insane love of Asia... it is.  

Love,
Me

Currently listening: Beautiful by Beast.
Currently reading: Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Currently noticing: 尤其 Yóuqí -In particular 

2 comments:

  1. You forgot "that's okay I rolled in kashi"

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  2. And also, I really like this. Why do we feel the need to compile lists like this? Like we organize our Kpop love. And we enjoy it. What does that make us? Nerds? This is what happens when you have an education and you use it to analyze Kpop music and artists.

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