“Everyone takes that road, just have fun and go.”

Singer Lee Moon-sae, who is considered a ‘living legend’ in the music industry with numerous hit songs, defined his 40-year career in singing in one phrase. He said that the phrase he most often said to his family, friends, and juniors was “Let‘s have fun and go well”. To Lee Moon-sae, ‘singing’ was the only way to create “a life that one can say one lived well without regrets in a world where it is difficult to live well or go well”.

With this one belief, he has kept himself on stage for over 40 years without even looking at any ‘side jobs’, and is now preparing his 17th full-length album. The new song ‘My Blues’, which he wrote and composed himself while recalling his past, has already secured a spot on his 17th regular album, which is currently in production with the goal of being released next year.

Lee Moon-sae, who pre-released the sound source on the 13th, said at a press conference to commemorate the release of the new song held at the Stanford Hotel Korea in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the same day, “I wrote the song because I wanted to instill the courage that anyone can walk the same path as me.”

“‘My Blues’ started when I was practicing guitar at home, and I just ‘popped’the lyrics and melody just came out at the same time, so it’s a very unique song. I believe that my story of ‘I‘ve lived like this, and this is how it’s going to go’, as a senior in life, will be able to provide encouragement and comfort to young people. It‘s like I gained courage from watching my brother Cho Yong-pil.“

When introducing another pre-released song, ”Love Even in Breakup,“ he recalled one of his representative songs, ”Old Love,“ the title song of his 7th regular album released in 1991. This is because the song, ”recalling the meaning of love and breakup,“ is very similar to ”Old Love,“ which is like a ”monologue of one’s own.“

”Actually, when I released “Old Love,” I didn‘t know it would create such a big response. It was a song that I wanted to listen to alone, not a song that people would sing along to. The new song, “Love Even in Breakup,” is exactly that kind of song. It also goes well with autumn. That’s why I‘m wondering if it will do well. The main character in the music video is actor Yoon Kye-sang. If I had been 4 years younger, I could have been the main character. Hahaha!”

The 17th regular album will include the two songs being released today as well as ‘Warm is better than hot’, which was released in December of last year. The other tracks are still ‘unfinished,’, but Lee Moon-sae emphasized, “I have no intention of rushing to finish them.”

“Unlike when I used to make music boldly and without knowing anything, making new music is getting harder and harder. I have to analyze and think more closely about various factors such as musical perfection and timing. But my mindset is no different from when I made my first regular album. Back then, I never thought I would release 17 albums like this, but I just wanted to make good music, and the years have piled up to where I am now. It’s the same this time. I want to build up good music and release an album that I can be proud of. Of course, ‘retirement’ is something that I can never do. As a singer, you have to grab the mic if there‘s even one person in the audience who applauds.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com