English lyrics to Kim Yoon Ah’s Song on the Sinking of the Sewol Ferry

In her 2016 solo album, Kim Yoon Ah (김윤아) released River (강), a song written on the sinking of the Sewol Ferry.

The ferry heading to South Korea’s Jeju Island carried mostly school students. It started sinking on 16th April 2014 and led to the death of over 300 people. The 2018 documentary In the Absence accounts the events that unfolded from that day.

On the 6th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry disaster, an official clip of Kim Yoon Ah’s live performance of the song River was uploaded. Here’s the emotional and powerful delivery of that song from Season 2 of JTBC’s busking show Begin Again (비긴어게인) and the English translation of the lyrics below.

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Translated Lyrics to ‘River’ (강) by Kim Yoon Ah (김윤아)

Your name became a song
Flowing like a river within my heart
If I follow the flowing river
Would I reach you
Would I reach you someday

The longing became the wind
Wandering endlessly within my heart
I call out your name as the river flows
To a place of no return
Who would then hold your hand

The loneliness that comes from solitude
The heart that shattered in pieces
And the memories that cannot be held on to
Overflow from that river

Even your name, even your voice
Even the moments when I held you in embrace
Scatter in vain
To the river
To that river

Your name became a song
Flowing like a river within my heart
If I throw myself into the flowing river
Would I see you again
The river flows and just fades away

More Lyrics

Wildflower by Park Hyo Shin

Twenty five, twenty one by Jaurim

Songs by Kim Yoon Ah’s Band ‘Jaurim’