'C'est Si Bon Era' recalls old era of song

[한겨레] Cho Young-nam's book is the first to be written about this era

By Surh Jung-min, Music Correspondent　

Singer Cho Young-nam, 66, held a talk with journalists Tuesday morning at a cafe in Seoul's Jeong-dong to mark the publication of his book "The C'est Si Bon Era." Previously, journalist Kim Jong-cheol published a book called "The C'est Si Bon Story," but this marks the first book written by a major figure in the "C'est Si Bon craze." Cho wrote the book after being contacted by a publishing company following the airing of a special Chuseok episode of the MBC arts and entertainment program "Come On Over" entitled "C'est Si Bon Friends."

"Originally, it began with radio. Choi Yu-ra from 'Cho Young-nam and Choi Yu-ra's Today Is the Radio Age' said, 'Why don't you invite some of your friends, and we can have a special episode?'" Cho said to journalists.

"So the four of us - Song Chang-sik, Yoon Hyung-ju, Lee Jang-hee, and me - just did a performance with guitars, without rehearsing, and the response was terrific. After that, the producer of 'Come On Over' came by and said, 'We should do that on television.' I said, 'If people in their sixties are singing to an acoustic guitar - a neglected instrument - won't people think it's some recital for homeless people or a senior citizen center?' But after the episode finished, I was amazed at the response it got."

When asked why he thought the response was so strong, Cho said, "I think it may because we brought back the sentiments of the analog age, which the digital age had forgotten all about."

In the book, a separate chapter is given over to stories not only about Cho's fellow C'est Si Bon singers such as Lee, Yoon, Song, Kim Se-hwan, and Kim Min-ki, but also his ex-wife, performer Yoon Yeo-jeong.

"I thought a lot about whether I should write that part," Cho said. "We haven't met once since splitting up. But C'est Si Bon was where I first met Yoon Yeo-jeong. It wouldn't be the C'est Si Bon story if I left that part out. Actually, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her talking about me in the movie 'The Actresses' and on the MBC show 'Knee-Drop Guru.' I thought, 'She can't really say anything about it if I tell about her now,' and I wrote about those days. I was too scared to put a face shot in there, though."

C'est Si Bon singers also traded songs, resulting a hit for Kim Se-hwan with Yoon Hyung-ju's "Sitting by the Roadside." When asked whether there was any concept of copyrights at C'est Si Bon, the response came from Yoon and Kim, who had come to offer their support to Cho.

Kim said, "If I heard a song one of them wrote and said, 'I'd like to sing that,' they gave it to me. It is unimaginable these days, but that's the way it was back then."

Yoon said, "Se-hwan acted really cute in front of us to get the song. C'est Si Bon was a community - the kind of relationship where things are yours, but not yours. If I had ten thousand won, it wasn't my money, it was our money. I imagine young people today might be shocked and moved by that."

After the talk was over, the three of them gathered before a piano for a rendition of Yoon's song "Our Story."

"Our stories were as numerous as stars in the night sky," the words said. "They may be gone like the wind, but I will never forget..."

The C'est Si Bon live music cafe may be no more, but the C'est Si Bon in their hearts looked like it might live on forever.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

공식 SNS [통하니][트위터][미투데이]| 구독신청 [한겨레신문][한겨레21]

Copyrights ⓒ 한겨레신문사, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지

<한겨레는 한국온라인신문협회(www.kona.or.kr)의 디지털뉴스이용규칙에 따른 저작권을 행사합니다.>