What's Arirang (아리랑)?

What's Arirang(아리랑)?

If you are interested in Korea or not, you might have heard a song, "Arirang", on media. Now, I am going to explain about Arirang(아리랑). Actually, some of my friends have asked what Arirang means and stands for, but I couldn't answer clearly.

"Arirang~ Arirang~ Ah Ra Ri Oh~"

Have you ever heard this song? As you may guess, Arirang is one of the name of Korean folk songs. Let's see the lyrics of it.

“아리랑 아리랑 아라리요 / 아리랑 고개를 넘어간다 / 나를 버리고 가시는 님은 / 십리도 못가서 발병난다.”
(Arirang Arirang Arariyo / Arirang gogaelul nurmeganda/ nalul burigo gasinun nimuen / siplido motgaseo balbyungnanda.)

Actually, there are a lot of Arirang songs in difference of region. Lyrics, tempo, beats are different also. Why is Arirang? Here are some Arirang stories.

1. 'Ari'(아리) is 고운(goun) standing for sweet, tender, pretty, and good-looking. 'rang'(랑) means 님(nim) which is kinda formal expression on you, darling, or lover.
아리랑(arirang) means like sweet or pretty darling, or lover.

2. There is another view on Arirang. Ari(아리) has another meaning, "extremely missing." So, Arirang is also "extremely missing darling or lover."

Arirang can be sung by Koreans when they really want something like for win of sports game. As a representative of Korean traditional folk songs, it's widely spreaded all over the world. In other words, it can be another Korean national anthem showing Korean's nationality and personality considered as 한(han, 恨 like lamentation) and 정(jeong, 情 like human nature).