Today I want to delve into a song from last month by MOMOLAND. After their disbandment at the beginning of 2023, MOMOLAND reunited last year and released the single ‘Rodeo’, which showcased their signature upbeat and high-energy sound. Now they have released the digital single ‘하얀 봄’ (White Spring), which is a beautiful ballad that evokes first and second-gen songs. No bridge, no mood swings between verses, pre-chorus, and chorus; the music harmoniously evolves without drastic changes. It’s simple, almost minimalist, but it uses that simplicity to instead focus on long melodic lines and harmonic progressions.
This perfectly aligns with the lyrics that revolve around expressing gratitude for love and finding joy in the simplest and most ordinary things.
“하얀 봄이야, 춥지 않아
눈이 좋아 웃는 널 보면
사르르, 사르르
녹아내리는 내 마음은”
“It’s a white spring; it’s not cold.
When I see you smiling because you like the snow,
softly, softly,
my heart melts away.”
1. 하얀 봄이야, 춥지 않아
- 하얀 = “white” (from 하얗다, attributive form)
- 봄 = “spring”
- –이야 = informal copula (“is”)
- 춥다 → 춥지 않아 = negative form (“is not cold”)
→ Simple descriptive sentence using adjective + noun and adjective negation.
2. 눈이 좋아 웃는 널 보면
- 눈 = “snow”
- –이 좋아 = “likes / because (someone) likes”
- 웃다 → 웃는 = present attributive form modifying 너
- 널 = contraction of 너를 (object marker)
- –면 = conditional (“when / if”)
→ Structure: [reason] + [noun-modifying verb] + 보면
(“When I see you who is smiling because you like the snow”)
3. 사르르, 사르르
- Onomatopoeic / mimetic adverb
- Expresses something softly melting, loosening, or gently dissolving
→ Commonly used with verbs like 녹다, 풀리다, 내리다.
4. 녹아내리는 내 마음은
- 녹다 = “to melt”
- 녹아내리다 = “to melt and flow down” (compound verb)
- –는 = present attributive form modifying 마음
- –은 = topic marker
→ 녹아내리는 내 마음은 = “as for my heart that is melting away”
(describes an ongoing state).
Do you prefer the typical K-pop ballad style, or are you more of a fan of MOMOLAND’s high-energy tracks?
