Hangang "Cried in Taxi While Listening to Music"
Novelist Han Kang, who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature, has seen a song she mentioned in the past suddenly climb back up the charts. The song is "How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You're the One I Love" by sibling duo AKMU, released in 2019.
According to the domestic music platform Melon on the 13th, AKMU's song "How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You're the One I Love" began to climb back up the daily charts starting from the 10th, when news of Han Kang's Nobel Prize win was announced.
Novelist Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, appeared on the YouTube channel 'Munhakdongne' in 2021 and revealed her playlist. [Photo by YouTube capture]
Released in 2019, the song rose five spots to 34th place on the daily chart dated the 10th compared to the previous day, and then climbed seven more spots to 27th place on the chart dated the 11th. Now, five years after AKMU released the song as the title track of their third full-length album "Sailing," it is surpassing new releases and climbing the charts.
The secret behind the song's resurgence seems to lie with novelist Han Kang. After publishing her novel "No Longer Human" in 2021, Han Kang appeared on the official YouTube channel of the publisher Munhakdongne and shared that she was deeply impressed by this song while writing.
Han Kang appeared on the YouTube channel "Munhakdongne" at the time and said, "After finishing the first draft, I got into a taxi and this song was playing. I thought, 'I know this song, it's famous,' but the lyrics at the end took on a completely different meaning, and I found myself crying without realizing it."
Han Kang mentioned the lyrics, "How can I, how can I love you / Afterward, our love as deep as the sea / Waiting until it all dries up must be parting." She recalled, "Isn't it impossible for the sea to dry up? That image came to mind, and suddenly, I remember crying in the taxi like someone with a story."
Singer Park Hye-won, known by her stage name "HYNN," also attracted attention following the Nobel Prize announcement. Park Hye-won named her stage name after being inspired by a phrase in Han Kang's novel "White," saying, "Even if I get dirty, I will only offer white," and this fact is being revisited once again.
Meanwhile, the playlist Han Kang revealed at the time included AKMU's "How Can I Love the Heartbreak, You're the One I Love," as well as ▲Jo Dong-ik - Lullaby ▲Philip Glass's piano album featuring Etude No. 5 ▲Arvo P?rt - Spiegel im Spiegel (Mirror in the Mirror) ▲Kim Kwang-seok - My Song ▲Andra Day - Rise Up ▲Oh Hyuk - 月亮代表我的心 (The Moon Represents My Heart), among others.
Han Kang said, "I usually listen to a lot of music," adding, "Sometimes I refine my writing in very quiet conditions, but other times I play music so loudly that my ears almost hurt, and then all distractions disappear."
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