Korean Music Time! #10: Byeon Jin-Seob - Wishful Thinking (변진섭 - 희망사항)

Thanks to the excellent YouTube channel "pops8090," which is nothing but classic Korean pop (most of it from the '80s and '90s, as per the name), I discovered this unique little song from 1989. Honestly, it stands out a lot from the mostly serious music that dominated that era. It's much more upbeat and jaunty, and there were so many words I didn't understand that I could tell it wasn't full of cliche lyrics. The more I translated, the more I appreciated this quirky little number.

At first blush, the lyrics might seem "sexist" against women, something liberals would fight each other tooth and nail for the honor of denouncing most vehemently. However, not only was this song completely tongue-in-cheek, but it was actually written by a woman, and the composer gets the final word at the end. How's that for a twist?

Before I go into further detail, why don't you have a listen, and be amused by the lyrics? The standard disclaimer about the accuracy of anything I translate applies.

희망사항
Wishful Thinking

청바지가 잘 어울리는 여자
A woman whose jeans fit well
밥을 많이 먹어도 배 안나오는 여자
A woman whose stomach doesn’t stick out even if she eats a lot of food
내 얘기가 재미없어도 웃어주는 여자
A woman who laughs even when my talk is boring
난 그런 여자가 좋더라
I like a woman like that!

머리에 무스를 바르지 않아도
Even if she doesn’t put mousse in it,
윤기가 흐르는 여자
A woman with flowing, lustrous hair
내 고요한 눈빛을 보면서
As she sees my silent gaze,
시력을 맞추는 여자
A woman whose eyes meet mine

김치 볶음밥을 잘 만드는 여자
A woman who makes kimchi fried rice well
웃을 때 목젖이 보이는 여자
A woman whose uvula is visible when she laughs
내가 돈이 없을 때에도
Even when I don’t have money,
마음 편하게 만날 수 있는 여자
A woman who can meet me without worry

멋내지 않아도 멋이 나는 여자
A woman who looks great even if she doesn’t dress up
껌을 씹어도 소리가 안나는 여자
A woman who doesn’t make noise even if she chews gum
뚱뚱해도 다리가 예뻐서
Because her legs are pretty even if she’s fat,
짧은 치마가 어울리는 여자
A woman who looks good in a short skirt

(Instrumental)

내가 울적하고 속이 상할 때
When I’m gloomy and hurt inside,
그저 바라만 봐도 위로가 되는 여자
A woman who is comforting even by only looking at me
나를 만난 이후로 미팅을
After meeting me
한번도 한번도 안 한 여자
A woman who never once, never once goes on a group blind date

랄라 랄라 랄라 랄라 라 라 라…
La-la, la-la, la-la, la-la, la la la…

난 그런 여자가 좋더라
I like a woman like that!
난 그런 여자가 좋더라
I like a woman like that!

(Woman)
여보세요 날 좀 잠깐 보세요
Look here, kindly look at me a moment
희망사항이 정말 거창하군요
Your wishful thinking is very exaggerated indeed!
그런 여자한테 너무 잘 어울리는, 난 그런 남자가 좋더라
I like a man who is well-suited for such a woman!

The woman singing the final lines is No Yeong-Shim (노영심) the song's composer as well as (I believe) the piano player on the track. On Italki, there was a small debate about the final line's exact meaning. One guy who answered the question believes that the intention is sarcastic, and given the context, I think he's correct, so I understand it as follows:

She's saying "boy, you sure do have a lot of items on your wish list! I like men who are worthy of such women!" I think the implication is that by telling it to the man who just rattled off this series of unrealistic desires, she's implying that such a man is not present at the moment, and is therefore putting him in his place.

I was curious about the story behind this song, and I was able to find some articles in Korean that I translated to get a slightly better idea of just what brought it into being.

This following is an excerpt from an article from just this April, where Byeon Jin-Seob talked about the song on a TV appearance.

On the most recent filming, Byeon Jin-Seob revealed “A tune written by No Yeong-Shim, who was a student then, ‘Wishful Thinking’ was a song included as my second album’s final track, number 11,” and “a song I put in as a bonus that I thought would be fun if I didn’t sing on TV and played in concert,” startling everyone around him.

Famous for the lyric ‘A woman whose jeans fit well,’ Byeon Jin-Seob’s second album bonus track ‘Wishful Thinking’ was an unusual hit song that continuously occupied the top spot a total of 16 weeks, after battling for #1 with his own title song at the time, ‘To You Once Again.’

“The truth is, the plan with ‘To You Once Again’ was to be active as a ‘faceless singer’ who was famous only for songs, but because of ‘Wishful Thinking,’ I became so active in making TV appearances that my face became known,” Byeon Jin-Seob revealed, which also generated laughter in the studio.

Also, I found an interview with No Yeong-Shim, and she talked about the song at one point. The following isn't the full question and answer, only the portions that pertain to this song.

I expect many people would remember you from the days when you sang “Wishful Thinking” while striking the piano on Byeon Jin-Seob’s stage at the end of the ‘80s, so how did a college student majoring in piano come to compose a song and start making TV appearances?

No Yeong-Shim: I began undergrad in ’86, and during my first year, through a teaching assistant’s recommendation, I ended up doing pop song accompaniments on the <“Young Pops”> radio program that was hosted by Hwang In-Yong. Back then I got to know Lee Moon-Se by chance in a recording studio when we were both doing recordings, and as there was a singer beside me I wondered “couldn’t I possibly make a song too?”, so what I made was “Wishful Thinking” (laughs). I did that and it was fun, so I went on the entertainment programs too, and the whole thing was like a recreational outing.

If the name Lee Moon-Se sounds familiar to you, it might be because I translated one of his songs a while back.

So as you can see, this song was clearly meant to be fun, and it achieved its purpose. Even a non-Korean like me is appreciating it 24 years later. The catchy melody, the humorous lyrics, the infectious whistling, the "Rhapsody in Blue" break at the end, it all adds up to a gem.