Beautiful One
(아름다운 사람)

performed by
Hyunkyeong and Youngae (현경과 영애)
lyrics and music by
Kim Min-gi (김민기)
year Released
1974
album
Beautiful One / My Friend (아름다운 사람 / 내 친구)
아름다운 사람
Beautiful One

어두운 비 내려오면
As the dark rain falls
처마 밑에 한 아이 울고 서 있네
There is a child crying under the eaves
그 맑은 두 눈에 빗물 고이면
When the rain shines his limpid eyes
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라
Ah, it is his soul, the beautiful one in him

세찬 바람 불어오면
As the strong wind blows
들판에 한 아이 달려가네
There goes a child running to the field
그 더운 가슴에 바람 안으면
When the wind hugs her warm chest
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라
Ah, it is her soul, the beautiful one in her

새하얀 눈 내려오면
As the bright snow falls
산 위에 한 아이 우뚝 서 있네
There stands a child alone on the hill
그 고운 마음에 노래 울리면
When a song echoes in his kind heart
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라
Ah, it is his soul, the beautiful one in him

그이는 아름다운 사람이어라
Theirs is a beautiful soul
아름다운 사람

어두운 비 내려오면
처마 밑에 한 아이 울고 서 있네
그 맑은 두 눈에 빗물 고이면
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라

세찬 바람 불어오면
들판에 한 아이 달려가네
그 더운 가슴에 바람 안으면
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라

새하얀 눈 내려오면
산 위에 한 아이 우뚝 서 있네
그 고운 마음에 노래 울리면
음, 아름다운 그이는 사람이어라

그이는 아름다운 사람이어라

Beautiful One

As the dark rain falls
There is a child crying under the eaves
When the rain shines his limpid eyes
Ah, it is his soul, the beautiful one in him

As the strong wind blows
There goes a child running to the field
When the wind hugs her warm chest
Ah, it is her soul, the beautiful one in her

As the bright snow falls
There stands a child alone on the hill
When a song echoes in his kind heart
Ah, it is his soul, the beautiful one in him

Theirs is a beautiful soul
original by Hyunkyeong and Youngae (현경과 영애)
songwriter Kim Min-gi's own

Not surprisingly for a Kim Min-gi work, this is a song of affirming the beauty of the human heart, of innocent children in particular. Kim juxtaposes three images of children in pristine scenes of nature, to tell us the world we live in can truly be beautiful, that what we are accustomed to seeing is not necessarily all there is to it. It is another piece in his line of works that sends a life-embracing message.

He gave the song to Hyunkyeong and Youngae (현경과 영애), a female student duo formed at Seoul National University in the early seventies, who were a few years junior to Kim attending the same school. They released this and other works on their first and only LP, and it became quite popular for amateur students' work, receiving fair amount of radio play and leading to appearances in many university events. They only sang in college circuits completely shunning commercialism and disbanded with graduation as they had originally planned. If anyone ever thought nobody in this world is averse to fame and wealth, I would say both Kim Min-gi and the duo Hyunkyeong and Youngae are counter-examples to that. They also made the unusual choice to do solo vocals by taking turns and to sing in unison rather than harmonize when they sang together, perhaps as a show of belief in the beautify of unadorned human voice. This song is a prime example of that.

Their LP record has now become a cult album of sorts, highly sought after in the nostalgia music market along with many others from the same era. It is no surprise at all, as it is one of those shining gems that came out in the dawn of Korea's modern folk music.

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Kim Min-gi (김민기)

Singer-songwriter famous for such seminal works of the 70s and 80s as Morning Dew (아침 이슬) and Evergreen (상록수)