I've noticed something about Korea. This isn't a sudden epiphany or anything like that. In regards to the music that people listen to here... the most prevalant word in all of Korean music is 사랑... or love. It's the predominant theme in almost all the music you hear here. Sadly, it's almost always about love lost or unrequited. Jilted or forlorn... no happy endings here for the most part.
The flip side to that is music that's just outright trite yet catchy. (see: Wonder Girls) How enfuriating is that? No wonder Britney Spears is popular here.
Lately, I've become underwhelmed by the music of Baek, Ji Young (백지영). Her latest hit is 'Like Being Hit by a Bullet' (총맞은 것처럼). To tell the truth. I like the song. I really like the song. But it's so overplayed, it's starting to get on my nerves.
It's on every other person's color-ring on their phone. It's played repeatedly ... over and over and over and over again at every PC bang. I swear it's on at least two or three variety shows a week. Such is the way of Korean pop culture. Leave it to the media programmers to play something into the ground, eeking every last ounce of playtime out of a good song, until it wanes from popularity only to be replaced by some other heartache anthem.
It's like this with every major song in Korea. One thing for sure, you end up knowing the lyrics whether you try to memorize them or not.
