Did you know that songs you hum in the shower can tell you how old you are? My favorite shower song is ‘어머님께’ (To Mother) by 지오디 (g.o.d.). This male group band has been loved by Koreans since 1999. They have other popular songs, but I love ‘어머님께’. Somehow, the melody of this song gets stuck in my head when I am in the shower. Today, I am going to translate part of the song for you. You may understand why I enjoy humming the song in the shower.

To help you understand better the context of the song, Ja-Jang-Myeon is not traditional Korean food, but it is one of the most popular dishes in Korea. Koreans consider it 서민음식(Seo-Min-Eum-sik: food that most people eat). It’s affordable and simple food. However, the lyrics indicate that his family couldn’t afford two bowls of the noodle dish for both him and his mother because they were so poor. In this song, he is reminiscing after his mother’s death.

 

어머님, (Mother,) 보고 싶어요 (I miss you.)

 

어려서 부터 우리 집은 가난했었고 (My family was poor since I was young.)

 

남들 다하는 외식 몇 번 한적이 없었고 (We had never eaten out like all others do.)

 

일터에 나가신 어머니 집에 없으면 (When my mom went out for work,)

 

언제나 혼자서 끊여 먹었던 라면  (I was always left alone and I ate instant Ramen noodles.)

 

그러자 라면이 너무 지겨웠어 (And then, I got sick of eating the same Ramen every day.)

 

맛있는 것 좀 먹자고 대들었어. (So, I snapped at my mom and yelled at her that I wanted to eat something tasty.)

 

그러자, 어머님이 마지 못해 꺼내신 숨겨두신 비상금으로 시켜주신

 (Then, my mom reluctantly took out her secret stash of cash and ordered Ja-Jang-Myeon.)

 

자장면 하나에 너무나 행복해었고 (I was so happy just because of a bowl of Ja-Jang-Myeon.)

 

하지만 어머님은 왠지 드시지않아어 (But, my mom didn’t even touch the bowl for some reason.)

 

어머님은 자장면이 싫다고 하셨어 (My mom said she hated Ja-Jang-Myeon.)

 

어머님은 자장면이 싫다고 하셨어 (My mom said she hated Ja-Jang-Myeon.)

 

야이야아아 (yah-yee-yah-ah-ah)

 

그렇게 살아 가고 (We had been living like that.)

 

그렇게 후회하고 눈물도 흘리고 (I was regretting and shedding tears.)

 

야아이야아 (yah-yee-yah-ah-ah)

 

그렇게 살아가고 너무나 아프고 하지만 다시웃고 (We had been living like that. Life had been too painful, but we laughed again.)

          …

 

Hos did you like this song?