Korean Music Time! #8: Lee Moon Se - When You Look at Me (이문세 - 그대 나를 보면)

Here's another singer I don't own anything by, but boy, is YouTube helpful in getting exposure to him! Lee Moon Se is pretty well-known in Korea, and I've found a lot of stuff of his that I like. I'm not exactly sure what made me like this song so much. It's catchy and all, but perhaps it's the fact that while listening to it for the first time I understood a line on my own and thought "hey!" It's so cool to understand without reading along.

Anyway, here's the song with my translated lyrics:

그대 나를 보면
When You Look at Me

(Verse 1)
그대 나를 보면 울기만 했지만
When you looked at me, you did nothing but cry
하루종일 울다가 웃어버렸지만
But all day long you cried and then laughed it off
나 그대의 연인되진 않아
But I would never become your sweetheart
나 그대의 사람되진 않아
I would never become your lover

(Chorus 1)
그대 아름다운 여인이여
Oh, you are a pretty lady
울다 웃는 꽃처럼
Like a flower that cries and then laughs
그런 그대를 안고 싶지만
I want to hold someone like you
그저 나의 친구로 좋아
But you’re nice just as my friend

(Solo)

(Verse 2)
나도 그대 보며 사랑 느끼지만
As I also look at you, I feel love
하루종일 보다가 웃어버렸지만
But all day long I looked and then laughed it off
나 그대의 연인되진 않아
But I would never become your sweetheart
나 그대의 사람되진 않아
I would never become your lover

(Chorus 2)
그대 아름다은 여인이여
Oh, you are a pretty lady
비에 젖은 꽃처럼
Like a flower that got wet in the rain
그런 그대를 안고 싶지만
I want to hold someone like you
그저 나의 친구로 좋아
But you’re nice just as my friend

(Chorus 1)

Korean doesn't always specify the subject of a sentence, so sometimes you have to make educated guesses to fill in the gaps. In the first two lines I figured the person crying should be "you," because in the chorus he compares her to a flower that laughs and then cries. Also, by talking about himself in the second verse, it provides a contrast to the first verse.

While it can be hard for me to understand if there's any nuance to certain words below the surface, I think this song is basically saying "while we like each other, we're better off just as friends." Why they're better off that way, who can say?

Even though the backing track sounds extremely dated, and even a bit low-budget, you all know my weak spot for the '80s. Stuff that reminds me of that era often manages to captivate my heart in some weird way. Enjoy it like I do, and imagine that this song takes you to a period of time when life was simple.