One Man's Song Silenced After Eighty Years

Photo credit: Naver News

Do you know this man? If you're not familiar with Korean traditional music then you most likely haven't seen him before. If you read The Korea Times you might have seen his picture in the paper this week or caught something about him on the tv news.

His name was 이은관 (Lee Eun-gwan) and he passed away on Wednesday 12th March 2014 at the age of 97. Apart from a couple of brief mentions in the aforementioned newspaper, hardly anyone in the English speaking world seems to be talking about his death and it feels like something needs to be said, a moment needs to be taken to recognise his contributions to Korea and to Korean music.

So, here we go...

Lee Eun-gwan was born on the 27th November 1917 in Icheon-gun in Gangwon Province. He spent most of his youth in Cheolwon-gun, Gangwon Province. His training in traditional music began by focusing on 서도소리 (Seodosori), folk songs from the Seodo region (the Pyeongan and Hwanghae provinces now located in North Korea), before specialising in 배뱅이굿 (Baebengigut) an hour long story song performance. He started performing Baebaengigut at the age of 17 and spent the next eighty years of his life dedicated to that song. He sang other ditties during that time, but he was known for and celebrated for his interpretation of this traditional work.

Dr. Roald Maliangkay describes the story of the song in his article "Baebaengi Debuts In Australia":

The story told is that of a minister Choe, a former shaman, and his wife, who after a long time of prayer finally becomes pregnant. The child, a girl, grows up quickly but when she is in her teens she falls in love with a monk who comes to her house to beg for food. After hiding him (and making love to him) in her bedroom for days, the monk leaves her to return to his temple. Because he doesn¡¯t come back like he promises, the girl falls ill and dies. Devastated, her parents decide to organize a contest and award all their possessions to the shaman who can help them speak to the spirit of their girl in the afterworld. A poor vagabond hears of the contest and decides to pretend he is a shaman. Shamans from all provinces of Korea come to perform for the parents, but they all fail to convince. Using his great wit, the libertine manages to pass the tests and deceive both the parents and the crowd to win the award.

You can listen to the whole thing here if you so wish:

This is a recording of Lee Eun-gwan (at the age of 77) singing Baebaengigut back in 1994. It's almost an hour long and probably only the most dedicated fans of Korean traditional music would take the time to listen to the whole thing, but I urge you to take a couple of minutes, listen to a few sections, try and get the feel for the piece.

It's an astonishing feat - one man accompanied by a gong and a drum, telling the same story he has told year after year, decade after decade. A life dedicated to Baebaengigut, a commitment to one particular performance. He may have had dalliances with other songs, but throughout his whole life he always remained faithful to this work, coming back again and again to this tragic tale of ill-fated love and deception. Eighty years dedicated to one song.

Here he is, last year, at the age of 96 giving it his all on the Korean traditional music channel:


Not bad going for a nonagenarian...

Back in his younger days he was a movie star and could draw in the crowds. If you watch this video clip from the 55 second mark (though if you watch form the start you'll get to see Lisa Kelly in Korean language news presenter mode) you'll see a brief glimpse of him about to perform to a sea of faces all eager to hear him sing. Below is the poster for his big movie from 1957 - Baebaengigut.

Photo Credit: Fabiano

I wish I had got to see him perform Baebaengigut live, but that chance is gone and it's a firm reminder that I need to get my act together, get to the theatre or the madang more often and celebrate this kind of performer while they are still around to hear the applause. I urge you to do the same.

All we have left of Lee Eun-gwan are the audio and video recordings scattered across the internet or in the homes of collectors. His eighty years of song may be silenced, but the echoes of the past will remain for much much longer and I hope others unfamiliar with Baebaengigut will come to appreciate it in the future.

Celebrating 9 Years of Adverts in the New York Times

Photo credit: http://me2day.net/seokyoungduk

There's an advert in the latest New York Times for Bulgogi (Thanks to Roboseyo and Zenkimchi for bringing it to my attention). A celebration of sportsmanship, good food and chopstick skills, it's from the same people who have brought us so much pleasure over the past nine years with printed adverts in diverse publications ranging from the New York Times to the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times.

It feels like the right time to celebrate some of those adverts from the past nine years. The following are all taken from http://www.forthenextgeneration.com/

Way back in 2005, we were all young and foolish, and curious to find out more about Dokdo and the East Sea...

Published 27th July 2005 in the New York Times

Published 21st November 2005 in the New York Times

In 2007 the focus changed to Comfort Women:

Published 17th April 2007 in the Washington Post

But in 2008 it was back to Dokdo and the East Sea, with the addition of Goguryeo:

Published 9th July 2008 in the New York Times

Published 11th August 2008 in the New York Times

Published 25th August 2008 in the Washington Post

2009 was all about journalistic mistakes and delicious rice dishes:

Published 6th May 2009 in the Wall Street Journal

Published 11th May 2009 in the New York Times

Published 12th May in the Washington Post

Published 21st December 2009 in the New York Times

The start of a new decade brought a new focus on language learning:

Published 28th April 2010 in the Wall Street Journal

Published 26th May 2010 in the Wall Street Journal

However, 2011 saw some old favourites return and the exciting promise of a yacht race:

Published 22nd February 2011 in the New York Times

Published 26th April 2011 in the Wall Street Journal

Published 5th November 2011 in the Wall Street Journal

Published 29th December 2011 in the Wall Street Journal

2012 gave us puzzles to solve and new words to learn, and asked for apologies:

Published 1st March 2012 in the New York Times

Published 14th March 2012 in the Wall Street Journal

Published 29th May 2012 in the New York Times

Finally, 2013 was the year to eat, drink and be merry:

Published 13th February 2013 in the New York Times

Published 28th March 2013 in the New York Times

Published 21st May 2013 in the New York Times

Seo Kyoung-deok posted the following on his me2day account today:

추신수 선수와 뉴욕타임스에 불고기 광고를 올렸습니다. 올해부터는 고기류에 더 집중하려구요. 특히 이제부턴 대한민국을 대표하는 세계적인 스포츠스타와 함께 한식을 널리 알려볼 생각입니다. 또한 이영애와 무한도전의 비빔밥광고,김윤진의 김치광고, 송일국의 막걸리광고 등을 묶어 '한식아트북'을 제작해 조만간 전세계 주요도서관에 다 기증할 예정입니다. 우리의 한식이 세계인들의 입맛을 사로잡는 그날까지 쭉~^^

If my tenuous grasp of Korean serves me well then it looks like we can expect a greater focus on meat, with world famous Korean sport stars joined together with Korean food. Lee Young-ae will continue her promotion of Bibimbap (alongside the cast of Infinite Challenge) and one of the stars of the tv series Lost, Kim Yoon-jin, will be celebrating Kimchi. Plus there will be a "Hanshik Artbook" to tantalise our eyes.

You can download these images and many more here (including some spiffy videos and posters and other things).

Bossam Tacos

One of my regular guilty pleasures is a trip to Vatos in Itaewon, it's only a five minute walk from home and there's a guarantee of good beer and a good bellyful of food. I've never been to Mexico, so I make no claims about the authenticity of the food, all I know is that it tastes pretty damn good. Plus they have Magpie's Pale Ale on tap...

Their latest invention is the braised belly pork taco with vinegared red pepper paste, a divine combination of Mexican and Korean flavours that are well worth trying.

My expanding waistline is a testament to the quality of the food.

Hello Again...

This blog has been quiet... too quiet.

I've been busy and with only fourteen posts in the last twenty months, I've been lax! Perhaps this will be the start of a renewed and revitalised blog, with much more to come! Though it may be best not to hold your breath.

Life has been rather hectic and immensely rewarding over the last year and a half. I've transitioned from full time performer to full time director and occasional show off at Latt Children's Theatre and we're just about to start work on our latest production - Twelve Singing Animals. We start rehearsals in twelve days time and if you fancy coming along and boogieing down to the hottest English language children's musical about the Asian zodiac in town then we'll be open on October 12th.

Alternatively, if you fancy listening to my dulcet tones on a regular basis then you can find me polluting the airwaves five minutes at a time, five days a week on Travel Bug, Arirang radio's morning show. I've been doing a corner for the past year and a half called Culture Note, where they kindly let me witter on about all sorts of topics.

And now back to some semi-regular blogging!

Yellow Dust

Jaundiced smoggy skies greeted me on the way home tonight. It looks as if the yellow dust is making an unwelcome return. Nowhere near danger levels yet, but still eye-stingingly frustrating.

Psy's Gentleman Gets A Much More Genteel Makeover

I'm not keen on Psy's latest pop creation, but at least this cover version I spotted on Reddit has some charm about it...

Psy's "Gentleman" done 1920's style:



The Korean may be almost unintelligible, but it's a great deal better than the original.

May 18th

Today marks the thirty third anniversary of the start of the Gwangju massacre. Hundreds killed, thousands of lives ruined.

It's worth taking the time to discover more about what happened. If you can get your hands on "Kwangju in the Eyes of the World", it's a fascinating read. Though you may find it easier to get a hold of "Korea Witness" (a wonderful collection of essays covering the past century or so), which devotes a fair amount of space to the incidents of 1980.

If neither of those tickle your fancy then I'll leave you with one of the first Korean films I ever saw - Peppermint Candy (박하 사탕 - released in 1999) - Lee Chang-dong's heartbreaking tale of one man's destruction and what brought him there in the first place. The film has strong ties to Gwangju and the democratisation movement, and charts Korea's turbulent journey from the 1980's onwards to the new millenium.

It's worth a watch if you have a couple of hours free, but be warned, it is an intense and emotionally painful journey into Korea's past. 

The Whole Story

If you're a fan of Korea and comics there's something you should know about...

There's a Kickstarter project that deserves your cash, I discovered it this morning after splurging out a little too much money on the fabulous Bill Plympton's new film Cheatin...

The Whole Story is a digital comic book project by Busan resident Ryan Estrada (the man who did a nifty little comic guide to understanding hangul a while back) and for as little as $1 you can get your mucky hands on a collection of digital comics that includes English language works by a number of Korean and international artists. If you pay a little more you can get access to even more comics including some more translated Korean manhwa. Not a bad deal...

Happy New Year

We're still in 2012 back in Blighty, but over in Korea you're all happily snuggled into 2013. I hope the future is treating you kindly and that it'll be a fabulous year for one and all. May your side dishes be plentiful, may your ondol be warm and may your resolutions be kept for longer than three days.

Happy New Year!

K-pop Takes Over The World One Owl At A Time

 

With 2012 coming to a close, various organizations and entities are putting up their "best of the year" lists and this morning's Guardian Guide managed to pay homage to a Korean song other than Gangnam Style.

"BEST KPOP VIDEO TO FEATURE AN OWL - BIGBANG: FANTASTIC BABY"

Bigbang's Fantastic Baby may be a bombastic boneheaded beast of a ditty, but the video is quite impressive and does indeed benefit from the inclusion of an owl.

I, for one, congratulate Mr. Dragon and Mr. Top on their efforts to include these feathered friends within the realms of Korean popular music and I hope that in future all Bigbang videos may feature winged specimens alongside their semi-naked muscular selves.