AAK! Music: Hope by Kim Dong-Ryul (2000)

Inspired by a marathon session at a noraebang last night, the Korean is starting a new corner - "AAK! Music". This corner will provide a Korean song, the translated lyrics and a brief overview of the artist and/or the song. The song selection is guaranteed to be arbitrary and capricious to the whim of the Korean, but he will take requests and translate them if he likes the request. (Hint: the Korean despises boy/girl bands and their fans. Expect your email to show up at "Best of the Worst" corner if you dare to request anything from Girls Generation.)

The Korean already explained the difficulty of translating a song here. (The song accompanying that post is also quite good.) So the Korean is always open to translation critiques.

Without further ado, today's selection is Hope (희망) by Kim Dong-Ryul (김동률).

희망
Hope

사랑에 눈이 멀어서 행복했던 날들 이젠 꿈이었어라
The happy days spent blinded by love were now dreams
그저 흘러가는 물처럼 멈출 수도 없는 세월 탓으로
Just blaming the time unstoppable like flowing water
그럭 저럭 살아지긴 했으나 무엇 하나 보여줄 것 없으니
Somehow I continue to live but with nothing to show for
지금와서 또 누군가를 만나도 섣불리 널 지울 수 가 있을지
Now if I again meet someone could I dare erase you
오 사랑은 참 잔인해라
Oh how cruel is love
무엇으로도 씻겨지지 않으니
Nothing washes it away
한번 맘을 담근 죄로
By the sin of dipping my heart once
소리없이 녹아내려 자취없구나
it silently melts away without a trace
오 사랑은 참 우스워라
Oh how funny is love
기나긴 날이 지나도
Long after long days past
처음 그 자리에 시간이 멈춰버린 채로
In the same place frozen in time
이렇게 버젓이 난 살아 널 그리워하고 있으니
I shamelessly live on like this longing for you

그래 한번 살아보는거라고
Yes, I will try living
더 이상 나 내줄것도 없으니
For I no longer have any more to give
독한 맘이 다시 무너지는 것은
My resolute heart again falls apart
내 아직 그대를 사랑하기에
Because I still love you
오 사랑은 참 잔인해라
Oh how cruel is love
무엇으로도 씻겨지지 않으니
Nothing washes it away
한번 맘을 담근 죄로
By the sin of dipping my heart once
소리없이 녹아내려 자취없구나
it silently melts away without a trace
오 사랑은 참 우스워라
Oh how funny is love
기나긴 날이 지나도
Long after long days past
처음 그 자리에 시간이 멈춰버린 채로
In the same place frozen in time
이렇게 버젓이 난 살아 널 그리워하고 있으니
I shamelessly live on like this longing for you

Briefly about Kim Dong-Ryul:  Kim Dong-Ryul debuted in 1994 as a part of a duo called 전람회 ("Exhibition"), along with another talented singer named Seo Dong-Uk (서동욱). Kim was initially famous for being an intellectual pop star, as he attended the prestigious Yonsei University at the time when he debuted. His duo disbanded in 1997, and he released his first solo album in 1999. He has three albums under 전람회 and five solo albums, all of which ranged from fairly popular to chart toppers. This song is on his second solo album, also titled 희망. His official website is here.

The Korean on Kim Dong-Ryul: An amazing voice linked to deep sentimentality. His lyrics aspire to be universal, and his best songs elegantly express the desperate, unrequited love separated by impossible barriers -- the type that is often cheaply actualized in Korean dramas.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.