K-Pop Pick Of The Day: So

Jaurim released a new album for the first time in five years, and I am here for it.

Jaurim, by Jaurim, is their tenth studio album and the first since 2013’s Goodbye, Grief. From our previous musings on this uniquely eccentric band, you know that they’re one of Korea’s most adaptive and versatile performers; their lead singer Kim Yoon Ah, in particular, has a vocal range that skews from the nasally tinny to the wonderfully deep, and here, it trends toward the latter.

I had a hard time trying to figure out the most correct way to translate the title of this track (있지, in Korean). 있지 can be translated two ways: as a simple direct transcription, in which case it means “it exists” or “it’s here” or something similar, or as a colloquial translation, where its closest English analogue is the word “so” as appended before a sentence as a kind of structural tic. See:

So, I have something to tell you.

or:

So, did you catch the game last night?

In the case of this track—and its lyrics—I think the case can be made for both, and indeed, that blurry distinction is part of what makes So’s lyrics so meaningful to delve into. There are numerous instances where both readings of the word would make sense in context, and to note how the meaning changes as one swaps out one definition for another.

Because any summary of So’s lyrics are worthless without a translation, and since I can’t find any online, here they are. This is far more effort than I usually put into this column, but Jaurim is worth it!

So,

The wind yesterday

was so nice, I walked

So,

There was something

I forgot to tell you that time

So,

The sky yesterday

was so blue, I cried

So,

This is probably too late

but we didn’t know then

If it rains tomorrow

We will stand in it

Just stand in it

If the world ends tomorrow

We will meet the end

Just meet the end

Today, the wind beats

against the door

So,

Throughout today

waiting for something

waiting for something, and

So,

Today, somehow, I

forsake myself, and

forsake myself, and

So

So

So,

The wind yesterday

was so nice, I walked

So,

There was something

I forgot to tell you that time…