Christmas Eve is here, and if you want to get into the spirit here in Korea, let me suggest an album that in my opinion has stood the test of time: Lee Sun Hee (이선희)'s classic Christmas album "겨울날의 이야기", a real blast from the past from 1988.
The whole album is great, but the highhlight for me has to be her rendention of Wham's "Last Christmas" which she translates into Korean. Have a listen here: 이선희 - 라스트 크리스마스 (원곡 : Last Christmas)
It's not exactly the same lyrics word for word, but if you ask me the sentiment is pretty much the same. You can see the lyrics here: 라스트 크리스마스/이선희 - 벅스
This is my holiday jam because it just oozes that great 80s feel when everything was looking up and while it sounds good it isn't weighed down by the saccharine feeling of some later K-pop. It gives me a genuine feeling, like the album was made for Korea by a Korean, before all this focus on globalization. That's an ironic statement given the content of the album but I just mean that it sounds nice without trying to be easy to dance to or promote tourism with.
If you're not familiar with her, she's a staple of Korean music industry although if you're a fan of actor/singer Lee Seungi (이승기) you might not like her based on some issues I'm not all that knowledgable about myself.
Anyway the whole album is great and features her versions of several well known Christmas songs originally in English.
Here's the track list which I know you will recognize:
- 징글벨, 루돌프 사슴코 (Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)
- 산타할아버지 우리마을에 오시네, 북치는 소년 (Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Little Drummer Boy)
- 실버벨, 고요한 밤 (Silver Bells, Silent Night)
- 화이트 크리스마스 (White Christmas)
- 저들밖에 한밤중에, 기쁘다 구주오셨네 (Noel, Joy To The World)
- 눈이 내리네 (Tombe la neige (The Snow is Falling)) [Note: this is apparently a famous French song, which explains why I've never heard of it]
- 라스트 크리스마스 (Last Christmas)
- 친구에게 (Graduation Tears) [Note: not from English, apparently from an old Asian movie]
- 아름다운 그 추억 (To Sir With Love) [from an old Sidney Poitier movie]
- 석별의 정 (Auld Lang Syne). [Note: I like this title in Korean: "affectionate farewell"]
And here's the whole album as one long video:
As you can see, these are Christmas staples and it's actually fun to hear them all with Korean lyrics. Put it on and impress your older coworkers today. I'd give 70/20 odds that they drag you to noraebang after work after this.
메리 크리스마스 and happy listening.
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