An Exhaustive Guide to Gangnam Style

The man himself (Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer)

Dear Language Nerd,

Now that it’s become the most popular video on the internet, I’d really like to know:  can you tell me what the hell is going on in Gangnam Style?

From Tracie D.

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Dear Tracie,

Gladly! Although it’s famous here in the West because of its extremely catchy silliness, Gangnam Style became a huge hit at home in Korea because it’s deep. Gangnam Style is social satire, partly in the language and certainly in every frame of the video, which wanders around the Gangnam area and pokes fun at the gaudy trappings there.  I’m assuming that any readers here have already seen the video. If not, go ahead now – I’ll wait.

This element of satire and actually, you know, having something to talk about makes it very different from its competitors. Kpop mostly consists of vacuous, empty, pure-fluff songs generated by the handlers of carefully-packaged boybands, an unending line of dead-eyed love songs. Gangnam Style, by having more than superficial content, blew them all away.

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

강남스타일                                                                       Gangnam Style

“Boyfriend Gangnam Style, Gangnam Style.”

Gangnam is an area of Seoul, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world, kind of like Korea’s Beverly Hills. The song is a sendup of the people who live there and the people who desperately want to. This is encapsulated in the famous first shot of the video, where Psy (the singer) appears to be lounging suavely on a beach, but has actually commandeered a playground.

낮에는 따사로운 인간적인 여자                       Nat-enun ddasaro-un ingan jawgin yawja

커피 한잔의 여유를 아는 품격 있는 여자        Kawpi hanjan-ui yawyu-reul a-nun pumgyawg
.                                                                               it-nun yawja

“By day, a warm and personable woman. A dignified woman who knows the luxury of her cup of coffee.”

Why coffee? Because it’s a huge part of Seoul luxury. All around Seoul, coffee shops selling more or less (in Gangnam, more) exorbitantly-priced coffees and snacks crowd each other, two or three or ten to a block. Psy is making fun of the stereotyped 된장녀, Doenjangnyaw, or “Soybean-Paste Girl,” a gal who cuts back on the essentials, eating only the cheapest soybean-paste ramen for lunch, so that she can be seen enjoying expensive coffees in the ritzier cafes. People, especially women, spend themselves into terrible debt trying to keep up high-fashion appearances.

밤이 오면 심장이 뜨거워지는 여자               Bam-i omyawn shimjang-i ddeukawwawji-nun yawja

그런 반전 있는 여자                                         Keurawn banjawn it-nun yawja

“When night comes, a woman whose heart gets hotter.  That kind of inverted woman.”

That is, a woman livelier at night than during the day. (The word for “woman” is 여자, yawja, and I’d like to translate so that “woman” was at the end of each sentence in English, but English and Korean are structured backwards from each other.) The horse stable is an astonishing expense in a high-population-density area like Seoul, and one that Psy apparently can’t afford, since he just hangs out nearby and does his fabulous invisible horse dance.

나는 사나이                                                         Na-nun sanai

낮에는 너만큼 따사로운 그런 사나이             Naje-nun nawmankeum ddasaro-un keurawn sanai

커피 식기도 전에 원샷 때리는 사나이            Kawpi shingi-do jawn-e wawnshatdderi-nun sanai

밤이 오면 심장이 터져버리는 사나이 `          Bam-i omyawn shimjang-i tawjawbawti-nun sanai

그런 사나이                                                          Keurawn sanai

“I’m a man. By day, a man as warm as you are. A man who one-shots his coffee before it even cools down.  When night comes, a man whose heart bursts. That kind of man.”

“Sanai” means “man,” but with ferocious, macho connotations (I thought about translating it as “badass,” but it doesn’t work out too well).  원샷, wawnshat, comes from English “one shot,” as in “drink it all down in one shot.” If you go to a Korean bar, instead of “Chug! Chug! Chug!” your friends will be encouraging you with “One-shot! One-shot!” The takeaway is that he’s as up on coffee as his would-be lover. The scene with all the trash flying into the trio’s face probably doesn’t need interpretation.

아름다워 사랑스러워                                                  Areumdawawn sarangsurawwawn

그래 너 Hey! 그래 바로 너 Hey!                               Keure naw, hey! Keurebaro naw, hey!

아름다워 사랑스러워                                                  Areumdawawn sarangsurawwawn

그래 너 Hey! 그래 바로 너 Hey!                               Keure naw, hey! Keurebaro naw, hey!

지금부터 갈 데까지 가볼까                                      Jigeum butaw kar dekkaji kaburkka

“Beautiful, lovely, yeah you, hey! That’s right, you, hey! Beautiful, lovely, yeah you, hey! That’s right, you, hey!  Now do you want to go all the way?”

Buses and jjimjjilbangs (think sauna + Disneyworld) are also big parts of Korean culture that Psy is playing with here. The two older women walking backwards while Psy dances forwards are ajumma, the Korean stereotype of bossy, visor-clad grandes dames.

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

강남스타일                                                                       Gangnam Style

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

강남스타일                                                                       Gangnam Style

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

에에에에에에                                                                  Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh

Linguistic aside: now might be a good time to mention that “Oppa” actually means “big brother.” At a young age kids in Korea start calling older kids, like higher grade levels, “big brother” or “big sister.” (Older kids usually just call younger kids by their names, or maybe “dongseng.”) This is split by gender twice, so a young boy calls an older boy “hyong,” a young boy calls an older girl “nuna,” a young girl calls an older girl “anni,” and a young girl calls an older boy “oppa.” These are all friendly terms, but since gals tend to be younger than their boyfriends, the last is the only one that’s gained flirtatious overtones.

정숙해 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 여자           Jawng soonhe boijiman nol dden no-nun yawja

이때다 싶으면 묶었던 머리 푸는 여자  Iddeda shipeumyawn muggawt dawn mawri pu-nun yawja

가렸지만 웬만한 노출보다 야한 여자       Karyawt jiman wenmanhan nochulboda yahan yawja

그런 감각적인 여자                                Keurawn kamgag jawgin yawja

나는 사나이                                               Na-nun sanai

점잖아 보이지만 놀 땐 노는 사나이      Jawmjana boijiman nol dden no-nun sanai

때가 되면 완전 미쳐버리는 사나이        Ddega duemyawn wanjawn mi chawbawri-nun sanai

근육보다 사상이 울퉁불퉁한 사나이       Keunyoogboda sasang-i ultunghan sanai

그런 사나이                                              Keurawn sanai

“A woman who seems modest, but who has fun when she has fun. When the time is right, a woman who lets down her tied-up hair. A woman who covers up but is more erotic than flashier women. That kind of sensual woman. I’m a man. A man who seems genteel but has fun when he has fun. When the time is right, a man who goes completely wild. A man whose ideas are more rugged than his muscles. That kind of man.”

Now we get to something very common in Kpop videos – guest stars. The old men playing Exploding Janggi (sort of like chess) are members of Big Bang, one of those popular robot boybands I mentioned. Two big-time TV comedians also have cameos – Yoo Jaesuk is the guy in a yellow suit dance-dueling Psy and Noh Hongchul is doing his, uh, signature move (pelvic thrusts) while Psy sings below him. These are not things I know much about (talk to Rolling Stone), but I mention it so you won’t think it’s completely random weirdness (it’s just mostly random weirdness).

아름다워 사랑스러워                                                  Areumdawawn sarangsurawwawn

그래 너 Hey! 그래 바로 너 Hey!                               Keure naw, hey! Keurebaro naw, hey!

아름다워 사랑스러워                                                  Areumdawawn sarangsurawwawn

그래 너 Hey! 그래 바로 너 Hey!                               Keure naw, hey! Keurebaro naw, hey!

지금부터 갈 데까지 가볼까                                      Jigeum butaw kar dekkaji kaburkka

The love interest here is also a guest star, a famous singer. The melodramatic lighting, acting and slow-mo here are similar to the over-the-top romantic scenes in a lot of Korean drama, though those usually take place in moonlight gardens or on sunset beaches, not subway cars.

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

강남스타일                                                                       Gangnam Style

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

강남스타일                                                                       Gangnam Style

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

에에에에에에                                                                  Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh

Linguistic aside follow-up: so if the word is “oppa,” why is it “oppan” in the song? To oversimplify, the “-n” marks the word as a main idea. English uses the order to show what role words have in a sentence, so in “I ate some patbingsu” we know that I’m the subject because “I” comes before the verb, and we know that “patbingsu” is the object because it comes after. We know that I had a delicious icy fruit snack, and that a delicious icy fruit snack did not eat me, because of the order of the words in the sentence. Korean doesn’t do this quite the same way. Instead, words are marked with little particles that come after and tell you what the word is doing. A Korean sentence might look like “I-(subject) patbingsu-(object) ate.” All the hyphenated words in the transcription are words with these particles on the end, so “Na-nun sanai” is more literally “I-(main idea) man!” Yep, “nun,” marks a word as the “topic” or “main idea,” and the “-n” in “oppan” is a contraction. (Hey, you did ask the Language Nerd.) These differences are explained in more detail (and with helpful vampire artwork) here.

뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈                                              Dwui-nun nom keu wi-e na-nun nom

Baby baby                                                                           Baby baby

나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈                                                         Na-nun mwawl jom a-nun nom

뛰는 놈 그 위에 나는 놈                                              Dwui-nun nom keu wi-e na-nun nom

Baby baby                                                                           Baby baby

나는 뭘 좀 아는 놈                                                         Na-nun mwawl jom a-nun nom

You know what I’m saying                                           You know what I’m saying

“There’s always someone better. Baby baby, I’m a guy who knows a little. There’s always someone better. Baby baby, I’m a guy who knows a little. You know what I’m saying!”

The first bit there is a proverb, more literally “For every jumping man, there’s a flying man above him.”

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

오빤 강남스타일                                                            Oppan Gangnam Style

Eeyyyy, sexy lady                                                             Eeyyy, sexy lady

에에에에에에                                                                  Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh

I’ll admit here that I have no idea what’s up with that one guy’s giant translucent hat. But I am fascinated by it. Anyone? Where can I get one? Is that just like a really sturdy shopping bag?

Despite the risk of making this an excessively Korean-centric blog, prepare yourselves for a future discussion of the Korean orthography and why it’s the greatest thing ever, ever, seriously for ever. You can learn that alphabet in half an hour. Then you can come back and mock the transcription errors I made here, whee! Before that, though, next week we’ll have a special Christmas Day edition.

I hope that this post will be a valuable resource for all sorts of important things, like it’ll help fight cancer, probably.

Yours,

The Language Nerd

Got a language question? Ask the Language Nerd! asktheleagueofnerds@gmail.com
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References!

Rolling Stone interview.

Someone who knows more Korean than me.

And an excellent Korean dictionary.

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