Eolssu! Dig Into Daedong’s Delightful “taryeong”, A Captivating Balance of Tradition and Modernity
Photo: daedong_official/Instagram
One, two, three, four Eolssu! That’s how the captivating song “taryeong” by Daedong (대동) starts, just before giving way to an electric guitar riff, blending elements of Korean Folk Music and modern music from the very beginning. Let’s dig a little deeper into this gritty, poetic and even quite erudite song!
On April 9, the four-member band Daedong released their mini-album NONOL Vol.58. Daedong ‘taryeong’ (노놀 VOL 58), featuring the official recording of the song plus four different live versions. The band commented the release in a lengthy post on their Instagram profile, explaining how this EP is the fruit of the collaboration with Nonol (a YouTube channel that provides a platform for aspiring musicians), and also how their record “expresses a bold ambition: that even if life right now isn’t great, one day they’ll return home in triumph — like Yi Mongryong from the classic tale Chunhyangjeon”.
A passage of the song, in fact, refers to Yi Mongryong (이몽룡), a key character from the Korean folk tale Chunhyangjeon (춘향전, The Story of Chunhyang). He passed the Gwageo (과거, state examination) at the top rank (장원급제, Jangwon Geupje), a feat seen as a major achievement in Joseon time, elevating the status of the honorable scholar who achieved it, even when they came from a lower social class.
In the same post on Instagram, the singers also revealed that the song was conceived during the peak of COVID. “We lost our stages, our momentum, and honestly, we felt like giving up”, but the band members were there to offer support, and they all were cheered on by many, so they powered through and now want to dedicate the song to all those who believed in them.
What does “Taryeong” mean?
Although Daedong has published other albums, the latest being flower garden (몽상가의 화원) only last summer, this song dates back to their beginnings and is in fact the second song they wrote together as a band. They like to stress how this tune has the combination of addictive melody and witty lyrics that make it a quintessentially “Daedong-esque” song.
An interesting fact about “taryeong,” as we mentioned before, is how it blends Korean tradition and modernity. It reinterprets a key element of traditional music, mixing it with a social commentary and weaving metaphors in it: there’s an undeniable sense of cultural pride in this song.
The Taryeong (타령), or maybe more accurately the 타령장단 (Taryeong Jangdan), is a rhythmic pattern (jangdan) used in traditional Korean music, particularly in folk songs (minyo, 민요, which we mentioned briefly in the previous choice for Surprise of The Week, with Song Sohee’s “Not a Dream”); but also in shamanic music (muga, 무가), and court music. If you give Daedong’s song a listen, maybe its rhythm could remind you of some scenes from period dramas!
This rhythmic pattern is characterized by a 12/8 time signature, which creates a lively and flowing rhythm with three sub-divisions per beat. This jangdan (pattern) is versatile and exists in both slow and fast variations, depending on the musical context. As we can read in the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, “music based on slow taryeong rhythms tends to be bright and cheerful, while the faster taryeongs are lively, humorous, and engaging. The rhythm's adaptability makes it a cornerstone of traditional Korean music, providing both structure and expressiveness to various genres”.
Just like the traditional music made with this pattern, Daedong’s “taryeong” is also repetitive, bright, and filled with those typical exclamations that live performers of the traditional music use to engage with the audience: 얼쑤 (Eolssu! "Yeah!" or "All right!"), 지화자 좋다 (Jihwaja jota! "That's great!"), or 어기야 디여라차 (Eogiya diyeoracha, an expression often used as a work chant to synchronize movements, uplift spirits, and create a sense of unity among participants).
The message of the song
The same post mentioned above sheds light on the lyrics, as explained by the band members. We read: “There are so many people around us who are struggling. Each of us, for different reasons, starts to lose touch with who we really are. Eventually, those wounds fester, and we find ourselves with no one to talk to. When we realize there’s no one we can speak freely with, we fall deeper into despair.”
In the first lines of the song there’s also another interesting cultural reference that crosses eras, when they mention a “Joseon-era Snowpiercer (조선판 설국열차): it’s a vivid metaphor that, by evoking the plot of the graphic novel, movie and tv series of the same name, tells us how social hierarchy and struggle are felt as timeless.
There's also a reference to a well-known Korean proverb: "Even a mouse hole gets sunlight someday" (쥐구멍도 볕 들 날은 오겠지만). In Korean culture, this saying serves as a gentle reminder that no matter how dark or difficult things may seem, brighter days are bound to come. It embodies the enduring tenacity deeply rooted in the Korean historical experience.
Yet, the singers are not exactly leaning on the romantic side of this idea of tenacity, as they deploy a quite colorful Korean expression, "만족은 개뿔", which can be translated as “satisfaction, my ass" or "satisfaction, my foot,” indicating a sarcastic rejection of any notion of contentment in hardship.
So, are you curious to listen to this captivating mix of Joseon-era references, folk performance styles, and contemporary struggle?
Edited by Rae Lovette