Sunmi's New Song "LALALAY" Explained By A Korean

Sunmi released a new song, “LALALAY”, last month and is considered a perfect all-kill for topping different charts in Korea. As with other songs by Sunmi, there is more than meets the eye with her lyrics and visuals.

This is a song about not giving a crap about what others say and being yourself…

—DKDKTV

In the first verse of the song, Sunmi talks about the people that are talking behind her back and the way she sings and acts in these slides in the music video show that this talking behind her back doesn’t affect her much. It’s more of a minor annoyance.

—DKDKTV

Again Sunmi continues to show that she has zero amount of f*** to give. She says she’s naughty but she’s not a ‘Lalalay’ but even if she was a ‘nallari’ she could give a s*** less about how you feel about her.

—DKDKTV

It is explained that “nallari” is a Korean word used to describe people who try to act cool, usually teenagers. “Cool” meaning partying, smoking, drinking, and while usually used in a negative way it can be positive depending on the context.

I guess the closest English equivalent would be a party bitch, though ‘nallari’ is not as vulgar of a word nor gender specific.

—DKDKTV

The chorus is a simple musical repeat of the word ‘nallari‘.

—DKDKTV

DKDKTV explained that “nallari” has three different meanings in Sunmi’s song. The first, being the most literal, about being a party bitch. He said that this is the most typical meaning most Koreans would understand, as it’s very commonly used. Second, it refers to the Taepyungso, a traditional wind instrument. You can hear the instrument clearly in the chorus—it’s the sharp sound that’s leading the main melody. Finally, the word “nal-la” means “to fly” in Korean and the word “nallari” shares two out of three syllables with the word.

He expanded on the concept of “to fly” and analyzed the butterfly imagery used throughout “LALALAY”, beginning with Sunmi emerging from the suitcase like a butterfly leaving its cocoon.

Sunmi is letting go her past, her dead skin, her worries and flying like a butterfly, free of worries and not giving a single f*** just like the lyrics suggest.

—DKDKTV

People flock Sunmi trying to pick out every little wrongdoing out of her but ironically at the same time they also try to follow her every move, they secretly admire her.

—DKDKTV

He suggested that if we look at the scene of Sunmi going into the hair salon, we’d notice that the people looking through the window wind up getting the exact same hairstyle as her. That visual ties in the lyric, “they are like bees which swarm together around a flower and honey”.