“Into the New World” is so famous that I’m sure plenty of people who have never followed K-pop have heard this “second national anthem of Korea”. The reasons I love it are pretty much the reasons it became that anthem: the melody is beautiful, and the lyrics are simple yet full of strength. I also love the music video. Back then, SM’s videos weren’t yet chasing lofty concepts and flashy visuals. The nine girls play ordinary people with all kinds of everyday jobs, not aliens with superpowers or AI beings invading the real world. Of course, I’m not saying I dislike the concepts of EXO or aespa. It just struck me, as I was writing this, that SM’s work could once be this down to earth, and I couldn’t help remarking on it.
The first time I read a translation of “Into the New World”, I was honestly a little stunned. Until then, everything I’d heard from K-pop fans called it “the greatest debut song in the world”, and because of that, even K-pop fans who aren’t Sones hold any idol’s cover of it to a very high standard. With that impression in mind, I had assumed the lyrics must be extraordinary too. The first time I read the full translation was the day abortion was decriminalized in South Korea, when I came across a video on Bilibili of people celebrating in the streets and singing this song. I remember crying as I thought, “so this is the power of a second national anthem”, and at the same time being amazed at how plain the lyrics actually are. I began imagining these words in the mouths of the older girls from my parents’ friends’ families, and of some of the aunties I knew as a child. In that moment I think I understood the Koreans who chose this song as their second anthem a little better, because lyrics like these carry a very unpretentious kind of power.
I’m far from the only one who came to this song’s power late. Many bloggers and Bilibili uploaders did too, though it’s a bit cheeky of me to put it that way, since much of my understanding of the song came from them. Through some of their videos I heard new Chinese lyrics, and those lyrics are of course powerful as well, like a feminist rallying cry. I really love them. They take the hope hidden behind everyday phrasing and say it more directly and more forcefully, which is exactly what we are working toward now: making more women’s voices heard and more women seen. But they feel different to me. I can’t imagine anyone actually saying those words in an everyday conversational tone, and because of that, they feel a little distant and a little unreal to me. So I wanted to try writing my own lyrics, to see whether, standing on their shoulders, I could make a version that carries the same atmosphere as the original.
That’s how I wrote the version below. It draws on many excellent Chinese adaptations I’ve come across, including the Chinese lyrics from the animated series Flowering Heart (菲梦少女), which can be considered something of an official Chinese version. So strictly speaking, this version can’t really be called original, and I want to sincerely thank all the wonderful musicians who have written new Chinese lyrics for this song.
Since this is the first Chinese adaptation I’m publishing, I’d also like to say a little about my approach. I’m very interested in linguistics, and my Korean has gone from nothing at all to a half-understanding. I know that, because of historical contact, spoken Korean still keeps a good share of Sino-Korean words (汉字词). So that the lyrics won’t feel too unfamiliar “even to people who already know the original Korean lyrics”, I try to keep these Sino-Korean words in the same position in each line. That way, when people hear a line, they might think, “some words in this line sound just like the Korean”. My references for these words come from a video series by the Bilibili uploader 「Kpop汉谚混写」. Of course, some words have drifted apart in meaning between modern spoken Korean and Mandarin, and some would create a very awkward rhythm if left where they are. In those cases I move them elsewhere in the same line or a neighboring line, or reluctantly cut them.
I hope this version brings a different kind of strength to everyone who loves this song as much as I do. Maybe I’ll even be bold enough to release a male cover of these lyrics, if I can find the courage and the confidence.
how to read the table
- In the original Korean lyrics, I highlight the Sino-Korean words.
- In the Chinese lyrics, I highlight the Sino-Korean words I kept.
- Under each pair of lines, I first give the most literal translation of the Korean, then explain my choices. The Korean and Chinese words I’m discussing stay as they are, in quotation marks.
- Yellow highlights are Sino-Korean words I didn’t keep. Matching colors across the two columns mark the ones I kept.
line by line
references for the lyrics
- 【汉谚混写】看懂《再次重逢的世界》歌词意思的方法（少女时代第一弹） video
- 【再次重逢的世界】东亚女性集合 “不同的语言 相同的愿望”中韩日英四国语言填词翻唱少女时代出道曲 video
- “热搜换了又换，受害者却是一样的” 中女为全球女性发声 再次重逢的世界 中文版 少女时代 video
- 菲梦少女之歌舞MV第一季01 再次重逢的世界 video