K-pop at home: glocalization in the Korean version of “Mercy”

Name: Leisan Luu

Student number: 4078640
Bachelor: Taal- en Cultuurstudies
Verdiepingspakket: Comparative Media Studies
Thesis supervisor: Anne Kustritz
Study year: 5th year
Blok 4
Submission date: 13th of April 2019
Index
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................ 7
Method.................................................................................................................................................. 14
Analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 18
The filmic layer: the music videos.................................................................................................. 18
The narrative layer: the lyrics ........................................................................................................ 21
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 27
Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 29
Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 33
1.1 Lyrics: Girls’ Generation – Dancing Queen (Korean/English) ............................................. 33
1.2 Lyrics: Girls’ Generation – Dancing Queen (English Translation) ...................................... 38
2. Lyrics: Duffy – Mercy ................................................................................................................. 42
3. Lyrics: ABBA – Dancing Queen ................................................................................................ 45

2
Abstract
In the last ten years K-pop has become increasingly globally popular as one of South Korea’s
biggest export products. Within the production of K-pop songs, there is a phenomenon of
localizing Western pop songs to K-pop songs. Localization is a process where a product is
adapted to fit the local market and audience of a country. Having K-pop songs localized to the
Korean audience both indicates a clear Koreanness in these songs, while also embodying
foreign aspects. One of K-pop’s biggest girl groups, Girls’ Generation, released one of these
localized Western songs in 2012 called “Dancing Queen”. “Dancing Queen” is stated to be a
remake of the popular song “Mercy’ of British singer Duffy. Alongside the song, the
accompanying music video of “Mercy was also localized. Interestingly, the localization
process also included the lyrics of the iconic song “Dancing Queen” of Swedish pop group
ABBA, as well as using the same title. By including Western songs into one K-pop song,
there is a case of “double remake”. This double remake shows how female sexuality,
youthfulness and empowerment is both expressed through the use of English code-switching,
as well as suppressed through the process localizing to a Korean culture that still strongly
adheres to traditional Confucian values. The double remake does not only reflect upon the K-
pop success formula that is mostly based on commercial business calculations, but also on
Confucianism, contemporary Korean culture, globalization, American imperialism and
glocalization. This analysis shows that Korean identity is everchanging and transcendent, and
that K-Pop’s Koreanness reflects the different cultural influences that create Korean identity.

3
Introduction
In the last ten years Korean Pop, better known as K-pop, has become increasingly globally
popular and one of South Korea’s biggest export products.1 Despite K-pop being a Korean
product, according to John Lie, sociologist at University of California, there is not much
“Korean” and traditional Korean culture in K-pop. 2 He argues that the global character and
thereby lack of “Koreanness” makes it so attractive to consumers outside of South Korea.
However, within the production of K-pop songs there is a process of localization, in which
popular Western pop songs are adapted into K-pop songs that are catered to the Korean
market and audience.3 Having songs localized to the Korean audience indicates that there is a
presence of Koreanness in K-pop songs, with the localization process showing the different
and conflicting influences that shape Koreanness.

Localization is heavily present in the song “Dancing Queen” that was released in
2012. Girls’ Generation, one of K-pop biggest girl groups, released “Dancing Queen” as a
remake of “Mercy” by Welsh singer Duffy. 4 It was originally recorded in 2008 and was set to
release as the lead single on the album Gee.5 Earlier in the same year Duffy’s original version
was released as a part of the album Rockferry. 6 However, “Dancing Queen” was withdrawn
and instead “Gee” was released as the lead single. 7 “Gee” skyrocketed Girls’ Generation
popularity and made them a household name in K-pop. “Dancing Queen” is clearly a remake
of “Mercy” as the melody is distinctively the same. However, there are big differences in the
lyrics, visual aspects such as dancing and performance and in the music video, that were all

1
Romano, Aja. “How K-pop Became a Global Phenomenon.” Vox. February 26, 2018.
Accessed March 21, 2019. https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/16/16915672/what-is-kpop-
history-explained.
2
Lie, John. “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity,” Korean Observer 43, no. 3 (2012): 360.
3
Somers, Harold, eds. Computers and Translation: A translator's guide
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V., 2003.
4
Girls’ Generation, “Dancing Queen,” track 2 on I Got a Boy, S.M. Entertainment and KT
Music, 2013, compact disc; Duffy “Mercy,” track 7 on Rockferry, A&M, 2008, compact disc;
and Benjamin, Jeff. “Girls' Generation Drop 'Dancing Queen,' Set Date for Album Release.”
Billboard, January 13, 2013. Accessed March 21, 2019.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1481272/girls-generation-drop-dancing-queen-set-
date-for-album-release.
5
Girls’ Generation, I Got A Boy, S.M. Entertainment and KT Music, 2013, compact disc.
6
Duffy, Rockferry, A&M, 2008, compact disc.
7
Herman, Tamar. “The Legacy of Girls' Generation's 'Gee,' 10 Years Later.” Billboard,
January 06, 2019. Accessed June 13, 2019. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/k-
town/8492312/girls-generation-gee-10th-anniversary-legacy.
4
changed to suit the taste of Korean K-pop consumers. “Dancing Queen” lyrically speaks
about Girls’ Generation’s adoration for a woman who is so great at dancing they can’t help
but admire her.8 In “Mercy”, however, Duffy asks her male lover to either take the next step
into a serious relationship or to “release” her from their current one.9 The corresponding
music videos are also vastly different, as “Dancing Queen” portrays the girl group in a
American diner hosting a dancing party, while Duffy performs her song in “Mercy”
surrounded by dancers and a backing band.10 Also, the title choice and lyrics of “Dancing
Queen” are strongly reminiscent and similar of one of the Swedish group ABBA’s most
iconic and well-known songs “Dancing Queen” that was released in 1976.11 It is a Europop
disco hit and lyrically it addresses the listener as a “Dancing Queen” who is still in her late
teens, who goes out on a Friday night to dance.12

In my thesis, I will build on yet challenge the theory of John Lie by using the songs
and music videos of “Dancing Queen” and “Mercy” to discuss how localization within K-pop
is reflective of the current Korean culture and how that goes hand in hand with the
globalization in K-pop. The main research question is: “How does the process of localization
in Girls’ Generation’s ‘Dancing Queen’ reflect on contemporary Korean culture and K-pop?”
In order to answer the main research question, I will first look at the sub-question: “What are
the differences and similarities between the songs and music videos of Duffy’s ‘Mercy’ and
Girls’ Generation’s ‘Dancing Queen’?” Secondly, I will include ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”
and research: “How has ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ incorporated in Girls’ Generation’s
‘Dancing Queen’?” Lastly, I will look at: “How does localization explain the differences and
similarities between Duffy’s ‘Mercy’, ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ and Girls’ Generation’s
‘Dancing Queen’?” By looking at the process of localization in these songs, I am able to state

8
“Girls' Generation – Dancing Queen.” Genius. December 21, 2012. Accessed June 04, 2019.
https://genius.com/Girls-generation-dancing-queen-lyrics.
9
“Duffy – Mercy.” Genius. February 11, 2008. Accessed June 04, 2019.
https://genius.com/Duffy-Mercy-lyrics.
10
SMTOWN. "Girls' Generation 소녀시대 'Dancing Queen' MV." YouTube Video, 4:24,
December 21, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXZxc8GSXnI; and DuffyVEVO.
“Duffy - Mercy.” YouTube Video, 3:29, June 26, 2009,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ZEVA5dy-Y.
11
“Dancing Queen - ABBA.” “Dancing Queen” - ABBA. Accessed June 04, 2019.
https://www.nporadio2.nl/song/34938/dancing-queen.
12
“ABBA – Dancing Queen.” Genius, August 15, 1976. Accessed June 04, 2019.
https://genius.com/Abba-dancing-queen-lyrics.
5
that there is Koreanness in K-pop and discuss how this Koreanness reflects upon Korean
culture and globalism.

6
Theoretical Framework
In this thesis the process of localization in K-pop is analyzed to reflect on the K-pop industry,
globalism and how they connect to Korean culture. In the theoretical framework I draw on the
theory by Van Keulen and Krijnen about localization, which provides the basis for my
analysis of localization. Next, I discuss the history and rise of K-pop by providing a
background and discussing how globalism plays a role in K-pop. Furthermore, the concepts of
Americanization and glocalization are important in my analysis of my corpus. I must also
discuss Korean culture, its history of Confucianism and its effect on gender in Korean society.
Lastly, the concept of English-codeswitching is discussed as it is essential within K-pop
songs. Therefore, the academic relevance of this research is showing that through the process
of localization, not only Koreanness in K-pop reflected, but also that this Koreanness is
influenced by Confucian and contemporary Korean culture, globalism, glocalization and
American imperialism.

According to Harold Somers, localization is an overarching theory that explains how

customization for a local audience is constructed, something more prominent in language and
technological disciplines.13 Within media studies, Jolien van Keulen and Tonny Krijnen
define localization in relation to television, where television show formats are translated to
suit a local audience.14 The localization of these standardized formats concerns national
identity and culture. In their theory they use cultural proximity to measure localization, a term
that is coined by Joe Straubhaar:

…the concept of cultural identity, which is complex and multi-layered, and

consists of geographical, cultural and linguistic aspects like nationality,
ethnicity, religion, and gender. Likewise, different levels of cultural proximity
are distinguishable, such as geographic, cultural-linguistic, genre, thematic and
value proximity features.15

Van Keulen and Krijnen also quote Albert Moran in their article, who explains that in order to
transform a national television show into a show with a different national context, it must be
localized on a linguistic, cultural and intertextual level.16 The linguistic level lies in elements

13
Somers, eds. Computers and Translation: A translator's guide.
14
Keulen, Jolien Van, and Tonny Krijnen. “The Limitations of Localization: A Cross-cultural
Comparative Study of Farmer Wants a Wife.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 17,
no. 3 (2013): 277-92.
15
Ibid, 281.
16
Ibid, 282.
7
such as settings and montages of the format that can either be removed, replaced, altered and
adjusted in the adaption of the format. These linguistic codes do not only point out the
differences in adaptations in narrative and audio-visual style but also depict a level of
representation. Cultural levels can mostly be found in the narrative and the symbolic layer of
the show, which explains what the show is about and what the meaning behind it is. The
intertextuality is established by knowledge of a particular society and the possibilities within
it; these can be organizational traditions and habits that influence the adaptation of a format.
Other intertextual codes include cultural aspects, media, politics, economics and the
geographic context of a country. In their method, Van Keulen and Krijnen connect these the
linguistic, cultural and intertextual codes to John Fiske’s audio-visual layers.17 Fiske divides
these into three intertwined layers “…with the filmic layer supporting the narrative, while the
symbolic layer is found in the narrative and the filmic layer.”18 Van Keulen en Krijnen
employ the linguistic, cultural and intertextual codes with the audio-visual layers within the
following table:

Table 1. Van Keulen and Krijnen’s localization table for television.

Linguistic Intertextual Cultural codes
codes codes
Filmic layer Mise-en-scène Production
Clothing material
Environment Customs
Accommodation Knowledge
Colors Limitations
Setting
Nature
Staging
Camera
positions
Sound
Narrative layer Characters Genre features Cultural identity (focusing on
Acts Role of religion, gender, age and social
Editing broadcaster class)
Mode of address History
Story pace Traditions
Story structure Conduct and aims
Episode
structure
Season structure
Symbolic layer Norms and values
Convictions and assumptions

17
Ibid, 284.
18
Ibid, 284.
8
 Manners and behaviour
Lifestyle
Gender roles
Social stereotyping
Cultural oppositions
Central theme/message

Source: Keulen, Jolien Van, and Tonny Krijnen. "The Limitations of Localization: A Cross-
cultural Comparative Study of Farmer Wants a Wife." International Journal of Cultural
Studies 17, no. 3 (2013), 7.

I use the theory of localization by Van Keulen and Krijnen by analyzing the linguistic,
cultural and intertextuality codes and filmic, narrative and symbolic layers of the lyrics and
music videos instead of television shows. I believe this theory is relevant for my research, as
it serves to analyze how music is adapted in a different national context by altering lyrical and
visual elements to fit the Korean audience.19

In order to analyze the South Korean cultural and societal background in K-pop, I
must also discuss the K-pop music industry itself. Sarah Leung discusses the rise of K-pop
and the globalization of the K-pop industry in her article “Catching the K-Pop Wave:
Globality in the Production, Distribution, and Consumption of South Korean Popular
Music”.20 According to Leung, K-pop’s success comes from the nature of Korea’s economic
growth, which stems from the exponential success and increasing global demand of Korean
export products between the 1960s and 1980s.21 John Lie also states that K-pop is “…largely
as another instance of South Korean export success”.22 Similar to the Korean export business,
K-pop’s success comes from both globalization and technological developments.23
Globalization of K-pop found its gateway in the 1990s and 2000s when it first gained access
to Japan and Taiwan, while technological transformations as the rise of YouTube and digital
music helped K-pop to become even more global.24 Lie also argues that K-pop has always
been an international business, with the first emergence of the genre being SeoTaiji and the
Boys in 1992, who combined music that wasn’t local: American pop, hip-hop and rap music,

19
Ibid, 282.
20
Leung, Sarah, “Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of South Korean Popular Music” (2012). Senior Capstone Projects.149.
21
Ibid, 10.
22
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity,” 361.
23
Ibid, 353.
24
Ibid, 353.
9
and Japanese pop music. According to Leung, it was also this foreign influence, that came
from Korean immigrants that grew up in Western cities that “would eventually introduce
styles of hip-hop, rap, and R&B to South Korea”, transforming the Korean music industry.25

Aside from globalization in K-pop and its international character, there is also a strong
presence of Americanization in K-pop. I discuss the concept of Americanization with the
definition of Ulrich Beck, Nathan Sznaider, and Rainer Winter, who describe
Americanization as:

…a powerful one-directional process that tends to overwhelm competing

processes as well as the strength of local forces that might resist, modify and/or
transform American models in hybrid forms. Moreover, the notion of
Americanization is tied to a particular nation – the USA – but it has a
differential impact on many specific nations.26

Americanization is the American cultural, political and economic imperialism that has
influenced countries in industrialism, consumption, media and more, specifically in Europe,
Asia and South America. It is historically rooted, according to Ji-Hyun Ahn. 27 She explains
that Korea endured a series of national disasters around 1950, including the division in two
Koreas and the Korean War. Chuyun Oh describes that in the following years South Korea
entered rapid modernization.28 These years included quick economic growth and changing
politics. This also resulted in social dislocation that, according to Lie, allowed for the Korean
audience to access the American popular culture that had its dominance in 1950 and 1960.29
According to Patrick Mendis, after the war, Korea adhered to capitalism and democracy and
being open to the global market.30 He argues that South Korea has been influenced by

25
Leung, “Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of South Korean Popular Music,” 12-13.
26
Beck, Ulrich, Natan Sznaider, and Rainer Winter. “Theoretical Perspectives”, Global
America?: The Cultural Consequences of Globalization. Liverpool: Liverpool University
Press, 2003, 35.
27
Ahn, Ji-Hyun. “The New Face of Korea” Mixed-race Politics and Neoliberal
Multiculturalism in South Korean Media. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 37.
28
Oh, Chuyun, “The Politics of the Dancing Body: Radicalized and Gendered Femininity in
Korean Pop” The Korean Wave, ed. Yasue Kuwahara (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2014), 62.
29
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity”, 343.
30
Mendis, Patrick. “Americanization of Globalization: Is the United States the Un-centralized
World Power for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness?” The Public Manager, 2005, 6-
7.
10
Americanization, as South Korean society and culture now consists of a mix of Confucianism
and a Western outlook that reflects how Korean culture and popular media have been
influenced by Americanization.

Historically, Confucianism is a religion that is central to Korea’s traditional and

contemporary culture and thereby key to understanding South Korean culture and society. I
challenge the previous mentioned statements of John Lie, in which he states that K-pop is not
Korean because traditional Confucian South Korean society and culture is not apparent in K-
pop.31 According to Lie, Confucianism stresses respect for the elders and ancestors. 32 There
is also a strong emphasis on order, tradition, hierarchy and patriarchy. Tomas Sleziak explains
that after World War II, these values were key to the rapid recovery and development of
South Korea.33 He also argues that Confucian familial, orderly and quiet lifestyle, emphasis
on personal and family honor, and sense of collective belonging to a certain group do not only
attribute to the economic success, but also to the popular culture which includes the K-pop
industry.34

As my thesis includes a case study of female performers, it is important to understand

the influence of Confucianism on the roles of women in K-pop. I discuss the issues of
femininity and the male gaze with the article of Leung, who argues that these issues stem
from the influence of Confucianism in Korea. The traditional roles of women in
Confucianism are in defined regards to men. Kavita Karan and Katherine T. Frith describe
that “…the husband was metaphorically referred to as ‘heaven,’ to signify his superiority, and
his wife (as ‘earth’) was supposed to serve him with reverence.”35 Chuyun Oh specifically
zooms in on the femininity issues in K-pop by using Girls’ Generation as an example. She
mentions that there is a “hypergirlish-femininity” in K-pop girl groups which comes from
Confucian values that project women as submissive and fragile and idealizes female purity

31
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity,” 339.
32
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity”, 341.
33
Sleziak, Tomasz. “The role of Confucianism in contemporary South Korean society.”
Rocznik Orientalistyczny/Yearbook of Oriental Studies, 66(1) (2013): 29.
34
Ibid, 31
35
Kavita Karan and Katherine T. Frith, “Commercializing Asian Women: Images in Media,”
Media Report to
Women 35, no. 2 (2007): 13-18.
11
and cuteness.36 Moreover, K-pop girl groups such as Girls’ Generation are constructed
through a male gaze.37 Leung draws in her article on the research of Heather Willoughby, who
observed that K-pop girl groups are constructed by “male producers, managers and media
makers” who created an idea of the ideal Korean girl groups that both embody “sex appeal”
and “demure sophistication”.38

In my thesis, I use the concept of glocalization to analyze both the global and national
influences in K-pop. According to Hyejung Ju, the phenomenon of glocalization in media and
popular culture is “the reciprocal interventions of media production, distribution, and
consumption as the result of interpenetration of the global and the local.”39 Ju further
discusses that it requires at least two foreign elements to be adapted by mingling it with
existing culture elements, making it easier for local audiences to access the content and
welcome it in their daily lives. By using her theory on glocalization in the K-pop business I
can connect the differences and similarities between the songs and music videos to
localization and glocalization.

In the adaptation of the lyrics of Duffy’s “Mercy” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” into
a K-pop songs, there is a clear appearance of code-switching.40 According to Jamie Shinhee
Lee, codeswitching is a phenomenon that came from hybridizing not only local, national and
regional elements but also global elements. In K-pop this is mostly used as a mix of English
and Korean to create a hybridized set of lyrics, an important part of the K-pop success
formula. In Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”, there are certain words, sentences and
expressions that are deliberately sung in English instead of singing the whole song in Korean.
According to C. Bruce Lawrence, this influence of the English language is instilled in South
Korea by students who learn English from elementary school until university, and the
government’s efforts to popularize and familiarize the language with the netizens and

36
Oh, “The Politics of the Dancing Body: Radicalized and Gendered Femininity in Korean
Pop,” 68.
37
Leung, “Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of South Korean Popular Music”, 56-57.
38
Ibid, 56.
39
Ju, Hyejung. “Transformations of the Korean Media Industry by the Korean Wave: The
Perspective of Glocalization” The Korean Wave, ed. Yasue Kuwahara ( New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2014), 34.
40
Lee, Jamie Shinhee. “Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of Self-assertion and
Resistance.” World Englishes 23, no. 3 (2004): 432.
12
culture.41 He discusses that English is heavily used in the chorus, intro, title and verses of K-
pop songs by analyzing 24 K-pop songs in his article.42 Furthermore, Lawrence discusses that
English code-switching is used in order to talk about love, express sexuality, to defy authority
an conventional norms and values, and allows combining global and local dialogues while
rejecting the hegemony of English.43 Lawrence concludes that English code-switching enables
a resistance against conservative Korean culture and the hegemony of the English language.
By applying the theory of code-switching, I’m able to nuance the meaning and construction
behind the localization of the lyrics in Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”.

41
Lawrence, C. Bruce. “The Verbal Art of Borrowing: Analysis of English Borrowing in
Korean Pop Songs.” Asian Englishes13, no. 2 (2010): 43.
42
Ibid, 48.
43
Ibid, 50-52.
13
Method
This research uses textual analysis to analyze how localization is embedded in the K-pop
adaption of “Mercy”. Alan McKee describes textual analysis in his article as “…a way of
gathering and analyzing information in academic research” that helps us to “…make and
share sense about the world we live in.”44 He explains that texts in a textual analysis are not
only written texts, but can also include programs, television shows, music videos and songs.
All these texts play a role in the media and portray messages that are a part of the construction
of our world view and thereby have a profound effect on our lives.45 McKee stresses that the
most important aspects of textual analysis are the context and by whom the text is interpreted
”by ‘context’, I mean other texts that surround a text, which provide useful information for
making sense of it, which teach us how to interpret texts (and are, in turn, texts themselves,
interpreted in other contexts).”46

The two main texts I analyze are the songs and corresponding music videos “Mercy”
and “Dancing Queen”. First, I look at the textual and visual differences between the lyrics and
music videos of Duffy’s “Mercy” and Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”. The lyrics of
both songs are not only different in language, but also in meaning. Looking at the visual
differences, I analyze both the music videos and focus on the narratives, performance,
dancing and the stylistic elements of colors and outfits. I also include a third song ABBA’s
“Dancing Queen”, this iconic song has not only an identical song title, but also lyrical
similarities. By including this song in my analysis of the lyrics, I am be able to give a
complete analysis of the localization of the lyrics of Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”. As
Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” is only stated as a remake of Duffy’s “Mercy”, and
does not mention ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”, I choose not to include the music video of
ABBA.

Textual analysis is very suitable for my thesis as I am both analyzing lyrical texts and
music videos in the same context. However, to execute a musicological analysis on these
songs is not possible with textual analysis. Furthermore, Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing
Queen” and Duffy’s “Mercy” differences lie mostly in the lyrics and the music videos, as the
melody of the two songs are incredibly similar. There are notable musical differences between

44
McKee, Alan. “What is textual analysis?” Textual analysis: A beginner’s guide, London:
SAGE, 2003. 3; and ibid, 8.
45
Ibid, 3.
46
Ibid, 11.
14
the original and the remake, however the scope of this research won’t allow for such an
extensive analysis. Moreover, according to McKee it is not necessary to concentrate on every
aspect of a text, because “most of the information that you generate might be quite
uninteresting. For all texts have some elements that are more important than others.”47
Therefore, I concentrate only on the lyrical differences and similarities, and the visual
elements in both music videos.

To provide a context to the adaptation process of “Mercy” to “Dancing Queen” I

compare the music videos of Duffy’s “Mercy” and Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”.
Next, I analyze the lyrics of Duffy’s “Mercy”, Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” and
ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. Using the theory of localization employed by Van Keulen and
Krijnen, I concentrate on the linguistic, intertextual and cultural codes in the filmic, narrative
and symbolic layers of the music videos and the lyrics. For my research, the coding table of
Van Keulen and Krijnen for television shows (previously mentioned in the theoretical
framework) is adapted to the following table that is more suitable for analyzing the lyrics and
music videos:

Table 2. Localization coding table for lyrics and music videos.

Linguistic Intertextual Cultural

Filmic Clothing K-pop business
layer Colors K-pop success
Setting formula
Camera shots
Performance
Dancing
Music video structure
Narrative Artists K-pop business Cultural identity (focusing on
layer Mode of address K-pop success language and gender)
Lyrics formula
Symbolic History
layer Norms and values
Gender roles
Social stereotyping
Cultural oppositions
Central theme/message

I have chosen to not include all the linguistic, intertextual and cultural codes that are
employed by Van Keulen and Krijnen, as they are not all relevant to my case study and the

47
Ibid, 15.
15
scope my thesis also does not allow for such an extensive amount of codes. To analyze the
lyrics and music videos, there is a division of the music videos in the filmic layer and the
lyrics in the narrative layer. In the filmic layer, the linguistic codes include the colors, setting,
the structure of the music video, and the clothing, performance and dancing of Girls’
Generation and Duffy in the videos. Instead of camera positions, mise-en-scène and
environment, camera shots and the setting are more relevant to the music videos. There are
also no elements of accommodation or nature apparent in the music videos and there will be
no focus on the staging or sound of the music videos, so these codes are also left out.

In the narrative layer all three linguistic, intertextual and cultural codes are analyzed.
In the linguistic codes of the narrative layer the characters are Duffy and Girls’ Generation
themselves, the artists. The editing, story pace, story structure and season structure are not
relevant, as I will not be concentrating on the narratives of both music videos, because they
follow very different storylines. Instead, the linguistic codes include the lyrics of Duffy’s
“Mercy”, Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and the mode
of address in the lyrics. Cultural codes in the narrative layer are cultural identity, specifically
the English and Korean language and the female gender of both artists. The intertextual codes
in the filmic and narrative layer both include the K-pop business and K-pop formula, instead
of production material, customs, knowledge, limitations, genre features and the role of the
broadcaster, as the K-pop business and formula have a direct connection to the localization
process.

Lastly, in the symbolic layer the focus is on the cultural codes that consist of norms
and values, gender roles, social stereotyping, cultural oppositions and central theme/message
that is reflected and conveyed in both the music videos and lyrics and in South Korean
culture. Moreover, the history of South Korea is also included to touch upon Confucianism.
The convictions and assumptions, and manners and behavior and lifestyle are aspects that are
too broad to analyze from only two music videos.

This method is strongly suitable to my thesis, because it allows me to analyze the

lyrics on both cultural and language aspects, while also enabling an analysis of the visual
aspects of the music videos. These cultural, linguistic and visual aspects can be directly
connected to the cultural meaning and K-pop business through the adapted table. “Mercy” and
Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” also offer an appropriate corpus alongside ABBA’s
“Dancing Queen”, as “Mercy” was localized to such an extend that the only recognizable
similarity is the melody and song structure. Furthermore, Girls’ Generation is a girl group that
16
has had one of the most prominent careers in K-pop and has been called pioneers of the so-
called Korean Wave, the global popularity and rise of Korean culture and entertainment.48 As
the lyrics of “Dancing Queen” are partly in English and Korean, I will use translations of the
lyrics in my analysis.49 When English-codeswitching was used for certain lyrics, I deliberately
will state so. Lastly, the complete music video of “Dancing Queen” has three different
narratives. The video starts off with an intro in the present, while the video ends with a
preview of their next single at the time “I Got A Boy”.50 In between the intro and the ending
is the actual music video for “Dancing Queen”, which was recorded in 2008, and reused for
its purpose with the release in 2012. For my analysis I will only concentrate on the actual
music video of “Dancing Queen” when referring to the music video of “Dancing Queen”.

48
“Girls' Generation and the New Korean Wave.” Asia Sentinel. October 21, 2011. Accessed
March 21, 2019. https://www.asiasentinel.com/society/girls-generation-and-the-new-korean-
wave/.
49
Breezy. “Girls' Generation (소녀시대) - Dancing Queen » Color Coded Lyrics.” Color
Coded Lyrics. November 06, 2018. Accessed June 04, 2019.
https://colorcodedlyrics.com/2012/12/girls-generation-sonyeosidae-dancing-queen.
50
Girls’ Generation, “I Got A Boy,” track 1 on I Got a Boy, S.M. Entertainment and KT
Music, 2013, compact disc.
17
Analysis
Through the analysis of the filmic layer, this research shows how the process of localization is
linked to sexuality in contemporary Korean culture, and American imperialism and globalism
in K-pop. The narrative layer further explains how the process of localization also reflects on
the position of femininity and women empowerment in K-pop and how that is inevitably
connected to Confucianism in Korean culture. The influence of both Korean culture and
American imperialism and globalism thereby also extends to glocalization.

The filmic layer: the music videos

In the filmic layer, on a linguistic level, there are differences in performance and dancing on a
between the music videos of Duffy’s “Mercy” and Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”. The
song title “Dancing Queen” has manifested itself as the central element of dance in the music
video. The music video structure consists of three different segments: an American diner,
close-ups and medium shots of the members, and a dance choreography against a white
backdrop. Aside from the segment with the white backdrop, dance choreography also takes
place in the American diner. About a third of the shots in “Dancing Queen” are about
dancing, which is performed by all the members of Girls’ Generation in a synchronized
choreography. The choreography of “Dancing Queen” consists of catlike movements and
movements that are reminiscent of retro and disco dance. There are highlights in the
choreography where the girls stroke their legs and shake their hips near the end of the chorus
and during the lyric “your sexiness makes me dizzy”. The dance is mostly seen during the
chorus and the bridge. Close-up shots are interspersed throughout the whole video, showing
the individual girls performing with cute facial expressions. In “Mercy”, Duffy is lightly
dancing on a lighted stage platform and performing her song, while being surrounded by
Northern Soul dancers in a dance hall. 51 According to David Nowell, Northern Soul was a
music scene that originated in England around the 1960s, with its peak in the 1970s.52 Duffy
is the only one who is clearly visible, as the music video progresses the lighting becomes
lighter and the dancers become more visible, and at the end some of the dancers catch fire. I
will discuss the importance of the dancing and performance in the symbolic layer.

51
“Mercy by Duffy Creative Music Video Choreographer.” Natricia Bernard. Accessed June
04, 2019. https://www.natriciabernard.com/showreel/videos/duffy-Mercy/.
52
Nowell, David. “I Can´t Help Myself” The Story of Northern Soul: A Definitive History of
the Dance Scene That Refuses to Die. London: Portico Books, 2015.
18
 Another filmic difference between the music videos is the clothing. Throughout the
“Dancing Queen” music video Girls’ Generation wear a combination of colorful jeans and a t-
shirt or blouse (some with a jacket), styled with pumps in the American diner. For the bridge
there is a separate section where all the members wear the same white t-shirt and denim jeans
with heeled boots. Both outfits have similarities in the fact that most of the shirts are cropped
and bare the midriff of the body, while the jeans and pumps/heeled boots combination
highlight the legs. In the “Mercy” music video, Duffy also wears a gray medium length dress
with pink heels, while her dancers wear clothing that is not distinctively recognizable, because
of the irregular lighting.

When analyzing these filmic differences on an intertextual and symbolic level, they
show very interesting signs of localization. On an intertextual level, the emphasis on
choreography in “Dancing Queen” shows how dancing itself is very much a part of K-pop.
According to John Lie, K-pop introduced dance choreography as a central and crucial element
of the music, when it was becoming increasing popular in South-Korea.53 Just as the lyrics
and music, dance choreography is of equal importance in the K-pop success formula. The
choreography and clothing in “Dancing Queen” express sexuality, with dance movements that
include stroking legs and shaking hips during the lyric “your sexiness makes me dizzy”, and
clothing that emphasizes these legs and show bare skin. The close-ups showing cute facial
expressions also indicate Chuyun Oh’s hypergirlish-femininity image. As stated in the
theoretical framework, the traditional Confucian values have influenced this hypergirlish-
femininity image and idealize girls to be pure and fragile. A paradox of innocence and
sexuality is expressed in the “Dancing Queen” music video, because the hypergirlish-feminity
stems from the influence of Confucianism on Korean culture, that according to Lie, did not
permit the showing any skin in traditional Korean music.54 According to Leung, the innocent
yet sexual characteristics that girl groups such as Girls’ Generation portray are emphasized in
their music videos.55 She discusses a different music video of Girls’ Generation called “Oh!”,
released in 2010, and argues that the girl group has stuck to this same formula of “similar
homogenizing, infantilizing and objectifying characteristics”.56 She states that it is “extremely

53
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity,” 349.
54
Ibid, 341.
55
Leung, “Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of South Korean Popular Music,” 56.
56
Ibid, 61-62.
19
common” for their songs to express these characteristics: this was also apparent in Gee, which
was released in 2008 instead of “Dancing Queen”, and follows the same concept as “Dancing
Queen”.57 Hypergirlish-femininity is sustained through the image of a young group of girls
throwing a dance party, which in combation with the dancing and outfits in “Dancing Queen”
enables the expression of sexuality. This creates the homogenizing, infantilizing and
objectifying formula that is key to K-pop girl groups. Moreover, the close-ups with cute,
infantile facial expressions are a part of a method of highlighting the group and its individual
members. According to Lie, this is also deliberate, as it has proven to be a success formula
and is “thus dictated in part by cold-blooded business calculations”.58 The nine members are
all distinct, they vary in body types and speak multiple languages, set up to go global as K-
pop has always been directed towards globalism.59 The process of localization does not only
reflects contemporary and Confucian Korean culture, but also the globalism of K-pop and
how its formula is constructed through both global influences and Korean culture.

The linguistic codes of setting and colors in the filmic layers of “Mercy” and
“Dancing Queen” indicate two different styles of “vintage-ness”. In the “Mercy” music video
the color scheme looks monochromatic and has a vintage, almost grainy look. The setting is a
large dance hall with chandeliers, with a platform that is lighted up. The microphone that
Duffy uses is a ribbon microphone, widely used from the 1920s till the late 1960s.60
Contrastingly, Girls’ Generation portray a very vibrant theme in their music video, the color
palette containing bright and pastel colors with the white and soft pink backgrounds. In the
main setting, the American diner, the colors of the interior and furniture consist of a lot of soft
pink and pastel hues, while the checkerboard tile floor with pastel green and pastel orange
tiles is very similar to the popular style of American diners from the 1950s. According to
Andrew Hurley, the American diner in the 1950s had “… pastel colors for "brightness and
richer appearance, as well as for their psychological effects", and whole interiors would be

57
Ibid, 61-62; and Benjamin, “Girls' Generation Drop 'Dancing Queen,' Set Date for Album
Release.”
58
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity”, 358.
59
Ibid, 356.
60
“Why Ribbon Mics Are the New Standard.” AEA Ribbon Mics & Preamps, November 29,
2018. Accessed June 04, 2019. https://www.aearibbonmics.com/why-ribbon-mics-are-the-
new-standard/.
20
colored with “…combinations of pink, turquoise, aqua, rose, chartreuse, and coral.”61 The
furniture in the music video includes a jukebox, diner tables with accompanying couches and
round bar stools, which are very similar to the furniture of these diners, as described by
Hurley.62 He discusses that most diners were also equipped with booths consisting of tables
with couches or chairs that could fit a family of four. The bar serves as a background in
“Dancing Queen”, with signs that indicate food served such as “coffee, buttered popcorn, beef
burger, hot dog and ice cream”. These signs were also used by American diners according to
Hurley, as they did not print costly menus but rather listed the food they offered above the
bar.63 Burgers and hotdogs, shown on the food signs, are also typical of American diner food
served after the second World War, according to Hurley 64

On a symbolic level, the setting, colors and dancing in the music video give “Mercy” a
local vintage-ness reminiscent of the 1960s. The monochromatic color scheme, usage of a
ribbon microphone and the large presence of Northern Soul dancers give “Mercy” a vintage-
ness connected to the 1960s in Britain. In the “Dancing Queen” music video however, the
setting and colors show an American style of vintage-ness. Instead fitting of the vintage-ness
of Korea in the 1950s and showing typical Korean food on the food signs, the setting and
colors were Americanized. This shows the Americanization in the localization of the vintage-
ness of the “Mercy” music video, this has resulted in a Korean hybrid form of American
1950s vintage in the music video of “Dancing Queen”. Thus, the filmic layer shows us how
there are contradictions in Korean culture. The influence of Confucianism is still present in
the hypergirlish-femininity of Girls’ Generation, but is also oppressed by the clear expression
of sexuality in the “Dancing Queen” music video. Moreover, there is a strong influence of
Americanization in “Dancing Queen” that shows K-pop’s global nature and indicates that
Korean culture has also been influenced by Americanization.

The narrative layer: the lyrics

In the narrative layer, there are interesting similarities and differences between the lyrics of
Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” and Duffy’s “Mercy”. These differences show the

61
Hurley, Andrew. “From Hash House to Family Restaurant: The Transformation of the
Diner and Post-World War II Consumer Culture.” The Journal of American History83, no. 4
(1997): 1296-1297.
62
Ibid, 1295.
63
Ibid, 1286.
64
Ibid, 1299.
21
process of localization. On a linguistic level, the most prominent difference between the two
songs is the language. While “Mercy” is a British song, entirely sung in English, “Dancing
Queen” is a Korean song with both Korean and English lyrics. According to C. Bruce
Lawrence, it is very common in K-pop songs that there is a mixture of both Korean and
English in the lyrics, also known to as ‘Konglish’.65 This is a clear example of Jamie Shinhee
Lee’s concept of code-switching. Lee also discusses how the presence of English code-
switching in popular music of countries where English is not the native language, such as
South Korea, has increased over time.66 Lawrence found that the English language was
borrowed in almost every part of K-Pop songs: the title, intro, verses and chorus. This is also
the case in “Dancing Queen”: about 42% of the lyrics are in English and these English lyrics
occur everywhere in the song, in the intro, verses, chorus and bridge.

Another significant difference is the meaning of the lyrics. According to Duffy herself,
“Mercy” is about sexual intercourse.67 Despite Duffy’s claim that there is a clear sexual layer
in the song, this sexuality is expressed in an indirect way. In the lyrics, Duffy struggles with
her relationship not progressing into a serious one, as she “begs” her male lover to either
release her from his grip and of their relationship, or to take the next step towards a serious
relationship. Lyrics such as “My moral got me on my knees” and the appearance of the word
“mercy” twenty-four times, “begging” nineteen times and “release” ten times indicate a
certain pressure and wish to be released, it is so stressed that the singer is literally begging:
“you got me begging you for mercy”. However, there are no direct words or lyrics indicating
sexual intercourse. Contrastingly, the lyrics of Girls’ Generation seem to express sexuality
more directly than Duffy’s lyrics, with lyrics such as “your dancing makes me hot” and “your
sexiness that makes me dizzy” literally expressing sexuality. This stronger expression of
sexuality in “Dancing Queen”, however, is not directed towards a man, but rather celebrates
the sexuality of a woman. Moreover, “Dancing Queen” does not depict a romantic
relationship. The lyrics in “Dancing Queen” that express sexuality, such as “the way you
shake your body”, “your dancing makes me hot” and the word “sexy” are all sung in English,
while the lyrics that indicate platonic and inspirational love such as “that elegant
performance” and “your powerful style” are sung in Korean.

65
Lawrence, “The Verbal Art of Borrowing: Analysis of English Borrowing in Korean Pop
Songs,” 46.
66
Lee, “Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of Self-assertion and Resistance,” 429.
67
Dawson, Kim. “I'm Duffy, Not Dusty.” Dailystar.co.uk. March 27, 2008. Accessed June 04,
2019. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/playlist/33352/I-m-Duffy-not-Dusty.
22
 This difference in meaning is reflected in the change of modes of address. Duffy
strongly declares her love to “a man, who can take my hand” at the very beginning of the first
verse, starting with the lyric “I love you”. Her sexual expression in the song is therefore
directed towards a male lover. While on one hand, the lyrics “leaving only my heart
pounding” and “the star in my heart” could argue that Girls’ Generation declare a romantic
love towards a woman, lyrics such as “your dancing that captivated my heart” and “after some
time, I’m on the stage, dancing and singing like you” declare more inspirational and platonic
infatuation towards an idol-figure. According to John Lie, “the hegemonic pop-music theme
of love” has always been a ruling theme of K-pop songs.68 However in the case of Girls’
Generation’s “Dancing Queen”, the hegemonic view of a woman-to-male relationship in
“Mercy” was not translated or used in “Dancing Queen”, but rather replaced with a platonic
and inspirational relationship, where a woman is declared their hero with lyrics the “You are
my hero”.

On a symbolic level, the process of localization of the lyrics of “Mercy” reflects how
there is a clear divide in use of English and Korean in K-pop. The use of English code-
switching in K-pop has become a standard part of the formula used in K-pop. Lawrence states
that English is used in Korean Pop songs to fit “…Korean phonetic, syntactic and cultural
patterns.”69 The choice and pattern of English usage is also not at random according to Lee,
who argues that this type of code-switching is meticulously planned and formulated. 70 Lee
also calls K-pop code-switching unique, because it is not made up spontaneously as normally
occurs with code-switching.71 The English code-switching in “Dancing Queen” is used
deliberately to convey a certain meaning. Most of the usage of English-codeswitching in
“Dancing Queen” is used to express sexuality. Lee states in her article that English usage in a
song is mostly used to express “…an assertive, pleasure-seeking, and self-indulgent liberal’s
position…”, in contrast to the Korean lyrics in the same song which are used to vocalize a
more “…reserved, wholesome, and introspective conformist’s view.”72 So while Korean
language is used depict the more wholesome part of the lyrics, English enables the expression

68
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity”, 356.
69
Lawrence, “The Verbal Art of Borrowing: Analysis of English Borrowing in Korean Pop
Songs,” 42.
70
Lee, Jamie Shinhee. “Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of Self-assertion and
Resistance.”, 434.
71
Ibid.
72
Ibid, 446.
23
of sexuality in “Dancing Queen”. The sexual layer in “Mercy” seems to be completely
changed to a platonic woman-to-woman relationship, however, it is also preserved in the
localization process by using English-codeswitching. This type of usage of code-switching
enables expressions of sexuality according to Jamie Shinhee Lee.73 She also argues that code-
switching functions as empowering for young South Korean music artists and groups, as is the
case with “Dancing Queen”, where women empowerment and sexuality is expressed in
English.

This clear division in the lyrics is a reflection of remaining Confucianism in Korean

culture and its effect on the role of women. As earlier mentioned, girl groups like Girls’
Generation must uphold hypergirlish-femininity. Through the use of Korean language, this
image can be sustained, while the use of English enables the expression of sexuality. The
English-codeswitching also indicates rebellion against the conservative Confucian culture.
Furthermore, this rebellion includes the message of women empowerment in the lyrics of
“Dancing Queen”. It however stays debatable if the message of women empowerment is not
just a part of the K-pop success formula, as English code-switching is meticulously and
deliberately used in the localization process. Moreover, women “remain somewhat
constrained by various industrial and social pressures” of Confucianism, making women
empowerment still very much inferior in K-pop according to Sarah Leung. 74

In the narrative layer, there are also interesting similarities between the lyrics of Girls’
Generation’s “Dancing Queen” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”, showing a second process of
localization. Besides the identical title, there are also lyrical similarities. Both songs are an
ode to a person that is declared a “dancing queen”, celebrating and adoring their dancing
abilities. ABBA also shines a light on youthfulness in their song, emphasizing the fact that the
subject is 17 years old. The song gives an homage to going out in the lyrics “looking out for a
place to go”, “you come to look for a king” and “night is young and the music’s high”. This is
also incorporated in Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”, in the lyrics “Dancing party that
makes young people excited” with the words “dancing party” sung in English. On a linguistic
level there is a slight difference in mode of address: Girls’ Generation’s version implies an
infatuation as they sing “You are my dancing queen”, instead of ABBA’s “You are the
dancing queen.” The change of the word “the” into “my” causes a direct change in address.

73
Ibid, 438.
74
Leung, Sarah. “Catching the K-Pop Wave: Globality in the Production, Distribution, and
Consumption of South Korean Popular Music”, 68; and ibid, 55.
24
While ABBA has a more motivational feel that encourages the listener to “dance”, “having
the time of your life” and to go out, Girls’ Generation are idolizing a woman they look up to.

In the symbolic level of the narrative, the lyrical similarities shows how, according to
John Lie, the K-pop industry works the same as the Korean export business.75 The choice for
not only the title of the song, but also the subject of the song to be the same as ABBA’s iconic
“Dancing Queen” indicates how there is globalization in the localization process of “Dancing
Queen”. Moreover, in Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” there is a case of a “double
remake”. In the process of remaking “Mercy”, the melody was remediated. However, instead
of using and translating the existing lyrics of “Mercy”, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” lyrics were
incorporated into the song. This choice for using not one, but two popular songs can also aim
towards a marketing strategy within K-pop: the relevance and iconic-ness of ABBA’s
“Dancing Queen” was used to double up with the popularity and success of Duffy’s “Mercy”
in order to ensure and strengthen the success outcome of Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing
Queen”. The change in mode of address shows another use of English-codeswitching that
enables opposition towards the “old Confucian” way of living. According to Lie, traditional
Confucian norms and values are based on respecting elders and focus on familial
relationships, however, the English lyrics in “Dancing Queen” allow a celebration of
youthfulness and opposition of the contemporary South Korean culture towards
Confucianism.76 Lee also states that English code-switching is empowering for young South
Koreans to stand up against those Confucian norms and values.77

The narrative layer reflects the division of Korean language and English code-
switching that indicates the remaining influence of Confucianism on the role of women in
Korean culture. As in the filmic layer, the contradiction of Confucian influence is still present
in the hypergirlish-femininity of Girls’ Generation in Korean lyrics, but is also oppressed by
the clear expression of sexuality, youthfulness and women empowerment through English-
codeswitching. This oppression however stays debatable as feminism is still relatively absent
in the K-pop industry. The double remake of including both “Mercy” and ABBA’s “Dancing
Queen” is also another reflection of the K-pop business and success formula.

75
Lie, “What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and
National Identity”, 355.
76
Ibid, 341.
77
Lee, “Linguistic Hybridization in K-Pop: Discourse of Self-assertion and Resistance,” 1.
25
 The filmic, narrative and symbolic layer do not only reflect on the localization but also
the glocalization of “Dancing Queen”. Using the previously mentioned definition of
glocalization of Hyejung Ju, glocalization requires at least two foreign elements to be adapted
by mingling it with Korean culture elements. In the case of Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing
Queen”, these adapted elements are the lyrics that consist of the localized version of the lyrics
from “Mercy” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”, and the music video of Girls Generation’s
“Dancing Queen” that was localized as well as Americanized from “Mercy. The English
code-switching expresses sexuality, youthfulness and empowerment, while maintaining the
Confucian hypergirlish-femininity, in combination with the expression of sexuality and
Americanization in the localized music video of “Dancing Queen” shows the mingling of both
British, Swedish, American and Korean culture.

The academic relevance of this thesis lies in the glocalization of Duffy’s “Mercy” and
ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” into Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”, challenging the notion
of John Lie who states that there is no Koreanness in K-pop on a symbolic layer by indicating
there is certainly Koreanness in K-pop. This Koreanness is a contradiction of Confucianism in
Korean culture, with traditional Confucianism and sexual, youthful and women
empowerment. Women empowerment however stays debatable in the K-pop industry. The
glocalization in Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” also reflects on the contemporary
Korean identity which Oh calls “multicultural mutant Koreanness.”78 The transcending and
everchanging Koreanness reflects how Korean culture is not only a polarizing culture with
both traditional Confucian ideals and contemporary modern values, but a global climate
where Americanization and globalization is a part of Koreanness.

78
Oh, Chuyun. “The Politics of the Dancing Body: Racialized and Gendered Femininity in
Korean Pop”, 65.
26
Conclusion
In the filmic layer, the linguistic codes of clothing and dancing in the “Dancing Queen” music
video reflects the contradiction in Korean culture, where Confucian values are both still
apparent and being opposed against. This is indicated in Girls’ Generation hypergirlish-
femininity yet sexual appearance and dancing. This formula of girl groups being both
innocent and sexual is also part of K-pop’s success formula directed towards globalism.
Globalism can also be seen in the linguistic codes of setting and colors: while the “Mercy”
music video depicts a local vintage-ness, the “Dancing Queen” video shows an American
vintage-ness that stems from American imperialism and K-pop’s global character.

In the narrative layer, the clear division of Korean lyrics and English-codeswitching
underlines this contradiction in Korean culture. While the Korean language takes up the
wholesome lyrics in “Dancing Queen”, English code-switching is used to express sexuality,
youthfulness and women empowerment. As English code-switching is part of the K-pop
success formula, it stays debatable if these expressions of sexuality, youthfulness and women
empowerment are for feminism in K-pop. The use of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” also
indicates how there is a double remake in Girls’ Generation “Dancing Queen”, as two
Western songs were used to make one K-pop song. The double remake also indicates the
glocalization process in Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen”. The glocalization reflects how
there is not only traditional Confucianism and contemporary Korean culture in “Dancing
Queen”, but also British, Swedish and American culture.

“Dancing Queen” reveals the contradicting global and local influences that come
together in glocalization, which influence the expression of sexuality, youthfulness and
empowerment. In “Dancing Queen” Girls’ Generation are shown in a more sexualized way
than how Duffy is shown in the “Mercy” music video, yet the sexual meaning of “Mercy” is
replaced with a localized aspirational message. This localized message is at the same time
released with an Americanized video, creating a glocalized text. Glocalization challenges
John Lie’s statement that there is no Koreanness in K-pop, as K-pop does embody Korean
culture, but therefore also has influences of Americanization and globalization, because these
cultural forces are present in Korean culture and society. This Koreanness thus consist of
polarizing Confucianism and contemporary Korean culture, as well as Americanization and
globalization which make the Korean identity transcending and everchanging. “Dancing
Queen” reflects this transcending and everchanging identity.

27
 As mentioned earlier in the method, this research does not include a musicological
analysis. However, a musicological analysis would add another layer to the glocalization of
“Mercy” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. The melodic differences between “Mercy” and
Girls’ Generation’s “Dancing Queen” could be analyzed to see if there is more to the process
of glocalization in K-pop that also reflects how the Korean culture is constructed. It is also
worth mentioning that there are other distinctive examples like I.O.I. who made a remake of
Salt-N-Pepa’s song Whatta Man. However, the scope of this research did not allow for a more
extensive corpus.79 Nonetheless, including multiple remakes could broaden the analysis on
how glocalization takes place in the K-pop industry. Also, the choice of not remaking one
Western song into a K-pop song but including another popular and iconic pops song can point
towards the marketing strategy within K-pop. I however did not do a marketing research on
this, so this could also be relevant for future research.

79
LoveKpopSubs. "I.O.I - Whatta Man (Good Man) MV [English Subs Romanization
Hangul] HD." YouTube. August 08, 2016. Accessed March 21, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6mUxyrVqwk.
28
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Appendix

1.1 Lyrics: Girls’ Generation – Dancing Queen (Korean/English)

[Intro]

Girls’ Generation

Let’s dance

[Jess/Tiff] Hit the beat and take it to the fast line

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

[Verse 1]

무대 위 너를 처음 봤을 때

내 주위에 시간들은 모두 멈추고

가슴만 뛰어

[Pre-chorus]

평범한 나의 인생을 바꿔 준

넌 나의 Dancing Queen

지루한 나의 일상을 깨워 준

하룻밤의 파티

33
[Chorus]

내 맘을 사로잡는 Dancing

그 화려한 솜씨

너의 그 이기적인 맵시

그 아찔한 Sexy

숨 막힐 듯해 Yeah yeah

[Verse 2]

한참을 지나 내가 무대 위에서

그때 그대처럼 춤추고 노래해

마치 꿈같아 정말로

[Pre-chorus]

평범한 나의 인생을 바꿔 준

넌 나의 Dancing Queen

지루한 나의 일상을 깨워 준

하룻밤의 꿈

[Chorus]

내 맘을 사로잡는 Dancing

34
그 화려한 솜씨

너의 그 이기적인 맵시

그 아찔한 Sexy

리듬에 몸을 맡겨 나 Yeah yes

[Bridge]

넌 나의 Dancing Queen

(I don’t care what anyone thinks

Cause you’re the one who makes me dance)

누가 뭐래도 영원히

(You’re the one who makes me sing

Can ’t nobody be my Dancing Queen but you)

내 마음속의 스타

(I get the chills when I see you move

See you groove)

넌 나의 Hero

넌 나의 Hero

넌 나의 Hero

(The way you shake your body

Is “Look at me everybody”

Your dancing makes me hot)

35
[Outro]

Dancing (Dancing)

그 화려한 Dancing

(너의 화려한 Dancing)

니 이기적인 맵시

(Oh 너의 이기적인 맵시)

(Ooh yeah) 그 아찔한 Sexy

리듬에 몸을 맡겨 나 Yeah yeah

날 사로잡은 Dancing

니 그 화려한 솜씨

그 이기적인 맵시 (Whoo whoo)

니 그 아찔한 Sexy

숨 막힐 뜻한 너

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Bring it on

(Ooh la ooh la) 파티 (Eeh)

36
젊음을 불태울 Dancing 파티

(티) 모두 다 함께해 파티

젊음을 불태울 Dancing 파티

37
1.2 Lyrics: Girls’ Generation – Dancing Queen (English Translation)
[Intro]

Girls’ Generation

Let’s dance

Hit the beat and take it to the fast line

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

Yeah yeah yeah

[Verse 1]

When I first saw you on the stage

Time around me all froze

Leaving only my heart pounding

[Pre-chorus]

It’s you who changed my ordinary life

You are my Dancing Queen

It’s you who woke me up in my boring daily life

Party all night long

[Chorus]

Your dancing that captivated my heart

That elegant performance

Your powerful style

Your sexiness that makes me dizzy

38
As If I’m suffocating yeah yeah

[Verse 2]

After some time, I’m on the stage

Dancing and singing like you

It seems like a dream, really

[Pre-chorus]

It’s you who changed my ordinary life

You are my Dancing Queen

It’s you who woke me up in my boring daily life

A dream all night long

[Chorus]

Your dancing that captivated my heart

That elegant performance

Your powerful style

Your sexiness that makes me dizzy

Leaving my body to the rhythm yeah yes

[Bridge]

You are my Dancing Queen

(I don’t care what anyone thinks

Cause you’re the one who makes me dance)

39
No matter what happens, forever

(You’re the one who makes me sing

Can’t nobody be my Dancing Queen but you)

The star in my heart

(I get the chills when I see you move

See you groove)

You are my hero

You are my hero

You are my hero

(The way you shake your body

Is “Look at me everybody”

Your dancing makes me hot)

[Outro]

Dancing (Dancing)

That elegant dancing

(Your elegant dancing)

Your powerful style

(Oh your powerful style)

Your sexiness that makes me dizzy

Leaving my body to the rhythm yeah yeah

Your dancing that captivated me

That elegant performance

40
Your powerful style

Your sexiness that makes me dizzy

As if you are driving me out of breath

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Bring it on

(Ooh la ooh la) Party (Eeh)

Dancing party that makes young people excited

Everyone partying together

Dancing party that makes young people excited

41
2. Lyrics: Duffy – Mercy
[Intro]
Hit the beat
And take it to the verse, now
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]
I love you
But I gotta stay true
My morals got me on my knees
I'm begging, please
Stop playing games

[Pre-Chorus]
I don't know what this is, but you got me good
Just like you knew you would
I don't know what you do, but you do it well
I'm under your spell

[Chorus]
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
I said release me

[Verse 2]
Now you think that I
Will be something on the side
But you got to understand
That I need a man

42
Who can take my hand, yes I do

[Pre-Chorus]
I don't know what this is, but you got me good
Just like you knew you would
I don't know what you do, but you do it well
I'm under your spell

[Chorus]
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
You got me begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
I said you'd better release me
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Bridge]
I'm begging you for mercy
You look at me and think we're the same kind
'Cause you don't know what I got and
Just why won't you release me?
I'm gonna get more than I'm asking for
But I just don't want to waste my time
I'm begging you for mercy
You know that I'll be the other girl
Just like there's nothing in this world
You got me begging
I know that I'm gonna get me some
I just don't know where to get it from
You got me begging
You got me begging

[Outro]
Mercy, why won't you release me?

43
I'm begging you for mercy
Why won't you release me?
You got me begging you for mercy, yeah
I'm begging you for mercy (Mercy, mercy, show me some mercy)
I'm begging you for mercy (Mercy, mercy, show me some mercy)
I'm begging you for mercy (Mercy, mercy, show me some mercy)
I'm begging you for mercy (Show me some mercy, show me some mercy)
Why won't you release me?
Yeah, yeah, break it down
Mercy, show me some mercy
You got me begging
Begging you for mercy
You got me begging
Down on my knees, I beg
You got me begging
Begging you for mercy
You got me begging..

44
3. Lyrics: ABBA – Dancing Queen
[Intro]

You can dance, you can jive

Having the time of your life

Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen

[Verse 1]

Friday night and the lights are low

Looking out for a place to go

Where they play the right music, getting in the swing

You come to look for a king

Anybody could be that guy

Night is young and the music's high

With a bit of rock music, everything is fine

You're in the mood for a dance

And when you get the chance

[Chorus]

You are the dancing queen

Young and sweet, only seventeen

Dancing queen

Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah

You can dance, you can jive

Having the time of your life

45
Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen

[Verse 2]

You're a teaser, you turn 'em on

Leave 'em burning and then you're gone

Looking out for another, anyone will do

You're in the mood for a dance

And when you get the chance

[Chorus]

You are the dancing queen

Young and sweet, only seventeen

Dancing queen

Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah

You can dance, you can jive

Having the time of your life

Ooh, see that girl, watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen

[Outro]

Digging the dancing queen

46