Nongbuga
Unknown (Jeolla Oral Tradition)
Region
Jeolla
Genre
Namdo Folk Song
Usage
Work Song
Nongbuga, "The Farmers' Song," was sung while planting rice seedlings or weeding the paddies, and is also called Sangsasori after its refrain "sangsadiyeo." A work song of the fields, it was refined by professional singers into a southern folk song full of graceful, bending phrases. This record is archive material collected to organize and preserve the representative lyrics and the transmission context of Nongbuga.
Commentary & Notes
Sangsadiyeo: The answering refrain of the rice-planting song, which gave the song its other name, Sangsasori.
Yeobosio nongbunimne: "Listen here, you farmers!" The lead singer's call that gathers the workers and starts the song, lifting everyone's spirits.
The slow Nongbuga in jungmori rhythm gives way to the faster Jajin Nongbuga in jungjungmori, picking up the pace of the work.
Cultural Background
Nongbuga is the rice-planting song of the fields polished into a popular folk song, and it became widely known after being inserted into the pansori epic Chunhyangga. Gyeongsang Province's planting songs share the same refrain, "eolleolleo sangsadwiya," but there the tune is plain and quick, meant to keep the work moving, a clear contrast to Jeolla's ornamented, bending melody.
Lyrics
어여 어허여루
상사디여
여보시오 농부님네
이내 말을 들어보소
어루화 농부님 말 들어여
전라도라 하는 데는
신산이 비친 곳이야
이 농부들도 상사소리를 메기는데
각기 저정거리고 너부렁거리네
Eoyeo, eoheoyeoru,
sangsadiyeo
Listen here, you farmers,
hear what I have to say
Eoruhwa, farmers, hear me out
This land they call Jeolla
is a place the sacred mountains shine upon
These farmers, too, lead the sangsa song,
each one swaying and bobbing as they go
