The story behind Jeongseon Arirang
Jeongseon is a remote mountain county where farming was hard and winters were long. Its Arirang, often called 아라리 (Arari) locally, was sung while working in the fields and while floating logs down the river to Seoul.
A popular story says the song began more than 600 years ago, when scholars loyal to the fallen Goryeo dynasty hid in the Jeongseon mountains and sang about their sorrow. Whether or not that is true, the song has a long, sad melody that fits the story.
The verse below watches dark clouds gather over a mountain and asks whether snow, rain or a long rainy season is coming. Singers often use the weather to talk about trouble or sadness that is on its way.
Words to learn from the song
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 눈 | nun | snow (also "eye") |
| 비 | bi | rain |
| 장마 | jangma | the summer rainy season |
| 구름 | gureum | cloud |
| 검다 | geomda | to be black, dark |
| 모여들다 | moyeodeulda | to gather, to crowd together |
Singing tip
올라나 is an old way of saying 오려나 ("will it come?"). You will still hear endings like this in country dialects and in songs.
The romanization follows the official Revised Romanization, which shows sound changes inside a word but not between words, so the tip above matters when you sing. Paste any line into the romanizer to see which sound rule is at work, or learn the letters themselves with the Hangul chart.
Questions
What does Jeongseon Arirang mean?
Jeongseon Arirang comes from the steep mountains of Gangwon Province in the north-east. It is the oldest-sounding Arirang, very slow, and people say it holds hundreds of verses.
How do you sing the first line of Jeongseon Arirang?
The first line is 눈이 올라나 비가 올라나 억수장마 질라나, sung "nuni ollana biga ollana eoksujangma jillana". It means "Will it snow, will it rain, will the long downpour come".
Is Jeongseon Arirang copyrighted?
No. Jeongseon Arirang is a traditional folk song with no known author, so its words are in the public domain. Modern recordings and arrangements can still be copyrighted.
More Korean folk songs
- Arirang (아리랑): slow and longing, from All of Korea (the standard Seoul version)
- Jindo Arirang (진도아리랑): lively and playful, from Jindo Island
- Miryang Arirang (밀양아리랑): bright and bold, from Miryang
- Doraji Taryeong (도라지 타령): light and cheerful, from Gyeonggi Province
- Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya (새야 새야 파랑새야): quiet and mournful, from Jeolla Province
Want to sing a K-pop song instead? Paste its Korean lyrics into the lyrics romanizer and print your own sing-along sheet.