Engraving smells of May flowers in heart

It was raining as if bidding farewell to the spring on the wane when I stood at the Bundang Memorial Park in Bundang, some 20 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 16. I found myself standing at the tomb-side of the late Kim Hyun-sik (1958. 1.7 – 1990. 11.1), a famous singer, on the slope of Mt. Youngjang being showered by the sudden rain. I felt like listening to “Like Rain, Like Music,” a famous song he left behind.

The popular singer, once called “the emperor of underground music,” was noted for his heartrending voice. He also deserves to be called one of the original Hallyu singers in the late 1980s who helped create the Korean wave in Japan and other foreign countries.

More than 20 years have already passed since his death. At his grave side, a heavy tombstone having a lot of porous on the surface looked erected with a hope of having him breath freely even after his death. Kim who died of cirrhosis of the liver is said to have suffered short of breath until his final moment.

Kim doesn’t seem to be loney.

That’s because another musician named Lee Young-hoon (1960.3.6 – 2008.2.14), two years younger than him, came to be buried at his neighborhood. Kim is presumed to be happy to have a music friend nearby 18 years after his death. In my imagination, Kim is tuning up his guitar with a new melody composed by Lee for him.

Lee was a famous popular song composer in the period from the late 1980s through the 1990s. He made most of Lee Moon-se’s hit songs such as “A young girl”, “When love passes by” and “Love song of Gwanghwamun.” It is not too much to say that he left behind an inerasable footprint in the history of the Korean popular songs.