If you’re a K-Pop stan and want to level up your knowledge of Korean music and culture, start by exploring the musicians who influenced your favorite K-Pop groups of today. One such musician is Kim Heunggook, who is known in part for his carefree and whimsical track “Horang Nabi,” which means “Tiger Swallowtail.”*

After debuting in 1988, Kim Heunggook released the track in 1989 to great success. Audiences were delighted by his haphazard dance, intended to mimic the movements of a butterfly. 

He always performed the song with an air of comedy and a huge smile on his face, often including absurd add-ons like ballerinas and other humorous background dancers.

The song tells the simple story of a wandering tiger swallowtail:

One swallowtail

Sat down in a flower patch

Not even one person

To be seen

This is so distressing 

Too distressing to live 

Fly away, swallowtail

Fly high in the sky

Fly away, swallowtail 

Hide above the clouds*

These lyrics are surprisingly forlorn considering the song’s upbeat tempo and silly dance. It makes sense, then, that singer Kwak Jineon later completely revamped the song when he competed on the sixth season of the music elimination program Superstar K, which he eventually won.

Kwak Jineon’s rendition reveals a completely different side to the lyrics. Instead of a clumsy, fluttering butterfly, we envision a lonesome swallowtail carried on the wind from one flower to the next, never managing to make even a single friend. One can begin to see deeper meanings to these lyrics when they are accompanied by the peaceful guitar strums and sweet voice of Kwak Jineon.

Today, “Horang Nabi” lives in the memory of Koreans who were old enough to see its release in 1989 and those who have been lucky enough to hear it played thereafter. If you are a K-Pop stan, be sure to check out “Horang Nabi” for a greater understanding of what came before the groups of today. Also, if you are eager to impress your Korean friends with your music knowledge, be sure to mention this quirky tune to them. Not only will they be impressed, they’ll be absolutely shocked that you know so much about classic ‘80s Korean music! 

*Lyrics translated by Molly Kate Toombs