The story behind Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya
In 1894 farmers in Jeolla Province rose up against corrupt officials and foreign power. Their leader, Jeon Bong-jun, was a small man, and people nicknamed him 녹두 장군, "General Mung Bean". When the uprising was crushed and Jeon was executed in 1895, this song spread quietly from village to village.
On the surface it is a simple warning to a bird: do not sit in the mung bean field, because if the mung bean flowers fall, the jelly seller will go away crying. 청포 (cheongpo) is a jelly made from mung beans, so the seller needs the flowers to grow beans. But listeners heard the hidden meaning: the mung bean is Jeon Bong-jun, the blue birds are the foreign soldiers, and the crying seller is the ordinary people.
Because it is only four lines long and uses very simple words, it is a perfect first song for Korean learners.
Words to learn from the song
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 새 | sae | bird |
| 파랑 | parang | blue |
| 밭 | bat | field (a dry field, not a rice paddy) |
| 앉다 | anda | to sit |
| 떨어지다 | tteoreojida | to fall, to drop |
| 울다 | ulda | to cry |
Singing tip
녹두밭에 is pronounced nok-ttu-ba-te: the ㄷ after ㄱ turns tense, and the ㅌ at the end of 밭 moves to the start of the next syllable. 앉지 sounds like an-jji.
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 Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya mean?
This short, sad song is sung like a lullaby, but it carries a piece of Korean history. It is linked to the Donghak Peasant Revolution of 1894 and its leader, Jeon Bong-jun.
How do you sing the first line of Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya?
The first line is 새야 새야 파랑새야, sung "saeya saeya parangsaeya". It means "Bird, bird, blue bird".
Is Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya copyrighted?
No. Saeya Saeya Parangsaeya 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
- Jeongseon Arirang (정선아리랑): slow and sorrowful, from Jeongseon
- Doraji Taryeong (도라지 타령): light and cheerful, from Gyeonggi Province
Want to sing a K-pop song instead? Paste its Korean lyrics into the lyrics romanizer and print your own sing-along sheet.