Nodul Kang-byon or Nodul River is one of the most favorite folk songs among the

Korean people, and usually the people perform their traditional Korean dance to this touching
sweet melody. Nodul Kang-byon is a river bank of the Han River, south of Seoul, on which there
used to be a ferry boat station. The hero of this song was a sailor who lamented the swiftness of
time and the sad departure of his beloved wife (possibly she was dead) and sang of his aching
heart, thinking of himself as a helpless leaf drifting on the rolling waves of the Han River.
Nodul Kang-byon (Nodul River-bank)
I
Nodul River, spring willow,
Long, long trailing branches on you;
The slender waist of unfeeling time
Tightly shall I bind and so detain?
Eheyo! Spring willow!
Even you I can believe no more:
Naught but blue water below
Flowing, flowing and passing away.
II
Nodul River, shining sandbar!
On you so many footprints remain;
In sighing wind and wailing rain
How many years have come and gone so far?
Eheyo! Shining sandbar!
Even you I can believe no more;
Naught but blue water below
Flowing, flowing and passing away.
III
Nodul River, blue water!
Roaring, thundering, roaring you go;
In what anger did you swallow
So many heroes and beauties so dear?
Eheyo! Blue water!
Will you never relent?
Though we long to join our loves,
Our mournful tears you carry away.

Work songs are lively and humorous with the same flowing melodies as the lyrical love
songs. Even though a worker may lead a life of drudgery, he always manages to express the
bright side of his life. As a matter of fact, looking on the bright side of difficulty, of misfortune,
is an ingrained trait of the Korean people, and this is well expressed in such folk music as BangA Taryong or Rice Pounding Song.
Bang-A Taryong or Rice Pounding Song
Era! Joy! Joy!
Nodul Riverdoves, a pair
A single bean, green bean, held in a beak so fair
The hen gives it to the cock, pecking, necking;
The cock gives it to the hen, necking, pecking.
The hen and the cock are wooing, cooing
Older widows youth are ruing,
Younger widowsEhe-ya!
Era! Packing up at evening.
Eheya! Eheya! Era! Tread on!
The treadmill goes up and down!
In Korean Cultural Series volume v, Korea Sings Folk and Popular Music and Lyrics
published by Tae Hung Ha, Yonsei University Press, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1978, contains
Arirang as an example of Korean folk songs. This volume introduces Arirang, Miryang Arirang
and Gangwon Arirang.
I. Arirang
Refrain:
Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo,
Arirang Pass is the long road you go.

4th Verse:
The brightest of stars stud the sky so blue;
Deep in my bosom burns bitterest rue.

1st Verse:
If you leave and forsake me, my own,
Ere three miles you go, lame youll have
grown.

5th Verse:
Mans heart is like water streaming
downhill;
Womans heart is well waterso deep and
still.

2nd Verse:
Wondrous time, happy timelet us delay;
Till night is over, go not away.
3rd Verse:
Arirang Mount is my Tear-Falling Hill,
So seeking my love, I cannot stay still.

6th Verse:
Young mens love is like pinecones seeming
sound,
But when the wind blows, they fall to the
ground.

7th Verse:
Birds in the morning sing simply to eat;
Birds in the evening sing for love sweet.
8th Verse:
When man has attained to the age of a score,
The mind of a woman should be his love.
9th Verse:
The trees and the flowers will bloom for
aye,
But the glories of youth will soon fade away.
II. Miryang Arirang
1st Verse:
Look on me! Look on me! Look on me!
In midwinter, when you see a flower, please
think of me!
Chorus: Ari-arirang! Ssuri-Ssurirang!
Arariga nanne!
Oer Arirang Pass I long to cross today.
2nd Verse:
Moonkyung Bird Pass has too many curves
Winding up, winding down, in tears I go.
3rd Verse:
Carry me, carry me, carry me and go!
When flowers bloom in Hanyang, carry me
and go.

III. Gangwon Arirang

1st Verse:
Castor and camelia, bear no beans!
Deep mountain fair maidens would go aflirting.
Chorus: Ari-Ari, Ssuri-Ssuri, Arariyo!
Ari-Ari Pass I cross and go.
2nd Verse:
Though I pray, my soya field yet will bear
no beans;
Castor and camelia, why should you bear
beans?
3rd Verse:
When I broke the hedge bush stem, you said
youd come away;
At your doorway I stamp my feet, why do
you delay?
4th Verse:
Precious in the mountains are darae and
moroo;
Honey sweet to you and me would be our
love so true.
5th Verse:
Come to me! Come to me! Come and join
me!
In a castor and camelia garden well meet,
my love!