The song is a comic satire on many ironies and hypocrisies of the apparently affluent district.
'Gangnam' is the name of the wealthy neighbourhood in Seoul where Psy was born and raised. The place is a strange mixture of upstart yuppies, the best school district in the country (in terms of university entrance exam national average) to cater for their young, upscale entertainment industries for the businessmen, one of the most luxurious shopping malls in the country (probably for the wives), and tens of thousands of socially ambitious middle-class families swarming in for the schools there despite the sky-high cost of living in the area.
When it comes to “Oppan Gangnam Style” - in direct translation, it means “Big brother is Gangnam Style.” But the real meaning is lost in direct translation. “Oppa” literally means “big brother” in Korean (for a younger sister — Korean has a separate word for an older brother from a boy’s perspective). But it can also designate any male old enough to be an older brother. “Oppan Gangnam Style” basically indicates an undesignated male (most probably Psy himself here) telling an unknown younger female that he has a “Gangnam style.”
But who is this woman? A random young girl in a bar? And which of the many facets of Gangnam district is he referring to? The music video showing Psy singing while sitting in the toilet (while shouting “you know what I’m saying?” in English) definitely suggests that he is making fun of himself and the “Gangnam style.” The video also shows stalls filled with horses . Now, horse-riding is an excessively extravagant sport in a tiny country such as Korea where most people save up their whole lives to buy a small apartment in a high-rise building, let alone have an access to an open space to ride a horse in. Only somebody with a bottomless wallet (and tendency to show it off) would indulge in such a thing.
The song is a comic satire on many ironies and hypocrisies of the apparently affluent district.
'Gangnam' is the name of the wealthy neighbourhood in Seoul where Psy was born and raised. The place is a strange mixture of upstart yuppies, the best school district in the country (in terms of university entrance exam national average) to cater for their young, upscale entertainment industries for the businessmen, one of the most luxurious shopping malls in the country (probably for the wives), and tens of thousands of socially ambitious middle-class families swarming in for the schools there despite the sky-high cost of living in the area.
When it comes to “Oppan Gangnam Style” - in direct translation, it means “Big brother is Gangnam Style.” But the real meaning is lost in direct translation. “Oppa” literally means “big brother” in Korean (for a younger sister — Korean has a separate word for an older brother from a boy’s perspective). But it can also designate any male old enough to be an older brother. “Oppan Gangnam Style” basically indicates an undesignated male (most probably Psy himself here) telling an unknown younger female that he has a “Gangnam style.”
But who is this woman? A random young girl in a bar? And which of the many facets of Gangnam district is he referring to? The music video showing Psy singing while sitting in the toilet (while shouting “you know what I’m saying?” in English) definitely suggests that he is making fun of himself and the “Gangnam style.” The video also shows stalls filled with horses . Now, horse-riding is an excessively extravagant sport in a tiny country such as Korea where most people save up their whole lives to buy a small apartment in a high-rise building, let alone have an access to an open space to ride a horse in. Only somebody with a bottomless wallet (and tendency to show it off) would indulge in such a thing.
Bo from Tuneslated.com