# Oppa Gangnam Style - awesome Korean music video **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919 "2012-08-09T00:50:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/181 "2012-12-01T04:53:10Z")
How can you not love the song, the video, and the guy? While it’s a completely different style, there’s a similarity between the “Gangnam Style” video and videos like “Hey Ya!” or any number of Beastie Boys videos, or for that matter even something we “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” - a sense that it’s just _fun_. Music takes itself really seriously a lot of the time, and sometimes a video that emphasizes the idea of “let’s have a lot of fun and dance and laugh” can really hit the mark. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/182 "2012-12-01T05:29:56Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > And now the internet’s most beloved “comedian”, Mr. Bill O’Reilly does a [review of Gangnam Style](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpnu1DUpNbY&feature=player_embedded) in the most racially naive and insulting method ever. LOL! The stupid, it burns! [This Mozart](http://youtu.be/YC84wEqMqAM), he is tapping into the fact that the most popular music apparently is that without intelligible words… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/183 "2012-12-01T15:53:23Z")
If Bill O’Reilly loathes the video… he’s taking it too seriously. At worst it’s this year’sMacarena. Silly but harmless fun. It makes kids dance and grownups laugh. I don’t really like it but how can you HATE it? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/184 "2012-12-01T20:49:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Hey Ya!” IIRC, there were members of this board who treated “Hey Ya!” as a sign of the coming Apocalypse. I didn’t hear it until much later but I was immediately smitten. It’s loud, stupid, and you can dance to it, the essence of rock and roll. What’s to hate, or even dislike? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/185 "2012-12-02T16:37:07Z")
There’s an interesting and somewhat touching (without getting sappy) documentary about the Psy phenomenon [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHztmbwEfGU) on YouTube. It helps if you understand Korean, but I think you’ll get the gist even if you don’t. The guy is definitely not a one-hit wonder. Note that the documentary is 43 minutes long. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/186 "2012-12-03T02:58:06Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > [aside] Is there something about English that’s inherently higher pitched than East Asian languages? I notice my own voice dropping octaves when I switch into Japanese mode, and Psy’s is WAY higher when shouting to the crowd in English. Japanese men do speak in a lower register. I think of the old [Sylvania commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KQrf7jrz5U): Japanese Man: “Huh. Kunundehshah. Huhnundushah. Sylvania beat Sony again?” I had a couple Japanese roommates in college. Same deal. That’s about the extent of my Japanese exposure. However, Chinese and Vietnamese are accused of being “sing-song”, and sound like “pong ning ying yong hi nyong nyahaaah.” To say it right, you have to go higher pitch. I don’t know about Korean. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/187 "2012-12-03T03:58:44Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > However, Chinese and Vietnamese are accused of being “sing-song”, and sound like > > “pong ning ying yong hi nyong nyahaaah.” > > To say it right, you have to go higher pitch. Or as [Rush Limbaugh does it](http://youtu.be/VsJzAOH9Xwc). ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/188 "2012-12-03T05:31:41Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > The guy is definitely not a one-hit wonder. I don’t doubt he’ll have another successful song. But the problem is, GNstyle was so successful, it would be difficult to surpass and anything short of it would invite criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/189 "2012-12-03T18:03:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Wait… getting gay cowboys to mime riding a horse is _difficult_? Oh my, I never thought of that…it’s just normally not the music they go for. They are more Ricky Martin (seriously…I know, no country connection there either, but oh well, I don’t understand men.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/190 "2012-12-03T18:23:32Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I don’t doubt he’ll have another successful song. But the problem is, GNstyle was so successful, it would be difficult to surpass and anything short of it would invite criticism. It’s something like his 7th hit single, and it’s from his 6th album. Suddenly hitting it big outside of home is certainly cool for him, but I doubt he’s going to be weeping on the big piles of money it got him when his next one goes back to only charting in South Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/191 "2012-12-03T23:53:33Z")
Wow. The music video on Psy’s official YouTube channel has almost 879,000,000 views! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/192 "2012-12-04T03:17:31Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Wow. The music video on Psy’s official YouTube channel has almost 879,000,000 views! Thank you, Rumpelstiltskin. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/193 "2012-12-04T04:24:59Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > The irony is that I personally think the song has been dissected to death by non-Korean people who keep saying it’s some deep and profound commentary on Korean society. It’s a satire, sure, but mostly it’s just a funny music video. If O’Reilly had been making the point that people are giving the song more meaning than it actually has, I’d agree with him. But my problem with that assumption is that Bill O has clearly not done any research whatsoever nor has his “expert”. I would have totally agreed with the point you so graciously put upon him, but I don’t think it is earned. As far as overanalyzing goes, however, I think that even our dear Cecil has similarly analyzed [“Hotel California”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1053/in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean) and [“American Pie”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/908/what-is-don-mcleans-song-american-pie-all-about) so overanalyzing songs is something done very happily around here 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/194 "2012-12-08T12:53:27Z")
Uh-oh: [PSY apologizes for viral anti-American lyrics](http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/07/showbiz/psy-apology-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_t4) eight years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/195 "2012-12-08T13:00:58Z")
Would be funnier if he apologized for saying “I’m bigger than Buddha.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/196 "2012-12-14T01:31:17Z")
And in what can only be described as a slow news day, the _Bangkok Post_ has unearthed a male beautician near the Burmese border who is a [Psy look-alike](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/325984/psy-look-alike-found-in-kanchanaburi). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/197 "2012-12-14T01:39:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And in what can only be described as a slow news day, the _Bangkok Post_ has unearthed a male beautician near the Burmese border who is a [Psy look-alike](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/325984/psy-look-alike-found-in-kanchanaburi). I’d better be careful here, but, umm there’s really little variation anyway in oriental men. It’s not like one is six feet 2, blond, and has blue eyes. Looking at the picture, don’t they ALL look essentially like that? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/198 "2012-12-14T01:50:24Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’d better be careful here, but, umm there’s really little variation anyway in oriental men. It’s not like one is six feet 2, blond, and has blue eyes. > > Looking at the picture, don’t they ALL look essentially like that? Well, apparently his fellow townsmen thought he was more so. But I know what you mean. My Thai wife of ethnic-Chinese heritage has been mistaken by her fellow Thai citizens at various times for Japanese and Filipina. Not sure about Korean. But I did know a Korean lady in Bangkok who worked as a translator, and she passed for Thai easily. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/199 "2012-12-14T03:29:35Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’d better be careful here, but, umm there’s really little variation anyway in oriental men. It’s not like one is six feet 2, blond, and has blue eyes. > > Looking at the picture, don’t they ALL look essentially like that? You’re kidding me right? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919/200 "2012-12-14T03:30:56Z")
After seeing her photos, I can pretty much guarantee **HazelNutCoffee** does not look like that. Although I can’t promise that was not the result of Photoshopping. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oppa-gangnam-style-awesome-korean-music-video/630919.md?page=11)