Heung Taryeong
Unknown (Jeolla Oral Tradition)
Region
Jeolla
Genre
Southern Folk Song
Usage
Lyrical Song
Heung Taryeong is a Jeolla folk song known for its refrain "Aigo daego, heung, seonghwaga nanne." Despite its name, it is a sorrowful, plaintive song. Its trembling, level, and bending vocal ornaments are so characteristic that people say you must know Heung Taryeong to understand southern music. This record is archive material collected to organize and preserve the representative lyrics and the transmission context of Heung Taryeong.
Commentary & Notes
Aigo daego, heung: A refrain where sighs and delight mingle. The song opens with this two-cycle refrain before the soloist takes up the verse.
As the wine ripened, the chrysanthemums bloomed: A perfect moment when wine and flowers, a friend and the moon all arrive together, and the loneliness that lingers after such joy sets the mood of the whole song.
It is sung to the jungmori rhythm, and each solo verse stretches anywhere from two to six rhythmic cycles depending on its lyrics.
Cultural Background
Heung Taryeong is often counted among the Namdo japga, alongside Boryeom, Hwachosageori, Yukjabaegi, and Sae Taryeong, and in performance it frequently follows Yukjabaegi. Chungcheong Province's Cheonan Samgeori is also nicknamed "Heung Taryeong," but the two songs share only the name.
Lyrics
아이고 대고 흥
성화가 났네
창 밖에 국화를 심고
국화 밑에 술을 빚어
술이 익자 국화 피자
벗님 오자 달이 돋네
Aigo daego, heung —
my heart is all in a fret
I planted chrysanthemums outside my window
and brewed wine beneath them
As the wine ripened, the chrysanthemums bloomed,
and as my friend arrived, the moon rose
