CD07-09: Bukjeju, Song for Grinding Grains
(Bukjeju, Jeju Island/ Go, Su-cheon(64yrs), Kim, Chan-gyu(89yrs)/ 1989)
◆ This is song for grinding grains in Jeju Island. The women of Jeju Island frequently turned the millstone to peel millet or grind wheat. Since song for grinding grains were sung in private spaces just for women, many of the songs are narration. Here, the two singers start out with similar narrations but soon they each continue with two different stories. Among folk songs of Jeju Island, there are many songs with such narrative style.
(Content of Song)
“Grind this millstone and prepare dinner early
When the breakfast was late, how can you have an early dinner?
Swish swosh. I hope the southern winds will blow so that my parents can come riding on a boat
My dear mother, did you give birth to me just to marry me off to a poor poor family?
Of the tree, the good trees become the pillar of the public office and receive bows of the scholars”