In 2018, Kiha and the Faces released “Cho Shim” as a single from their fifth and final album. Video.
Three short translation notes:
1. 초심 = cho shim = 初心 = original intent and 조심 = jo shim = 操心 (?) = caution, a watchful heart, are near-homophones. Cho shim is a legal term (my collaborator guessed the sense based on dim remembrance of hanja, so I checked it on dict.naver.com), and jo shim is a common word.
2. There are so many ways to read, and thus probably to misread, the lyrics that I won’t try. Much depends upon when “original” is placed. The word used here for “long ago” may also be translated “once upon a time,” closer to decades ago than last week or last year.
3. In Korean of my collaborator’s vintage, giving something to a dog (as idiom) means throwing away something that’s unimportant.
I like the music, not the video. My collaborator says she dislikes both the video’s setting (too ggangpae) and the music. Perhaps we need someone who’s sixteen years old to think that both are … whatever has superseded “phat” and “dope” and “sick,” all of which I find vaguely objectionable. At least “cool” doesn’t sideswipe anyone.
Text: see bottom.
Workpersonlike rendering into English:
Don’t lose your original intention/goal
so it’s said [i.e. so I’m told]
Everyone put their mouths together [i.e. they agree]
so it’s said
In truth, however, I
don’t remember
what kind of person I was long ago.I’m different from my former self.
Every single day, [with] exactly the same thinking,
Exactly the same way of speaking, exactly the same facial expression
until I die–how can I live like that.Give that original intention to a dog.
It’s a relief to throw it down with a clatter.
Give that original intention to a dog.
Don’t be so cautious. Change yourself.Tonight I’ll
sleep soundly [i.e. without worries: k’ul k’ul is onomatopoeic].
Even if someone puts me piggy-back without my knowing
I’ll sleep.
Having gotten up, I wash my face.
If I look in the mirror,
a face I’ve never seen since I was born
will greet me favorably.I’m different from my former self.
Every single day, [with] exactly the same thinking,
Exactly the same way of speaking, exactly the same facial expression
until I die–how can I live like that.
Give that original intention to a dog.[“kae” = dog is repeated many times here]
Give that original intention to a dog.
It’s a relief to throw it down with a clatter.
Give that original intention to a dog.
Don’t be so cautious. Change yourself.
Here’s what google.com (search) suggests as the lyrics and what I’ve used as a basis—but it omits the repetitions of kae. I’ve added whitespace for stanzas and a bracketed note:
초심을 잃지 말라
말씀하시네
모두가 입을 모아
말씀하시네
하지만 사실 나는
기억이 안 나
옛날에 내가 어떤
놈이었는지나는 옛날이랑은 다른 사람
어떻게 맨날 맨날 똑같은 생각
똑같은 말투 똑같은 표정으로
죽을 때까지 살아갈 수가 있겠어초심 따위 개나 줘 버려
시원하게 내팽개쳐 버려
초심 따위 개나 줘 버려
조심하지 마 변해 버려오늘 밤 나는 쿨쿨
잠이 들 거야
누가 업어가도 모르게
잠이 들 거야
일어나서 세수를 하고
거울을 보면
난생 처음 보는 얼굴이
나를 반겨 줄 거야나는 옛날이랑은 다른 사람
어떻게 맨날 맨날 똑같은 생각
똑같은 말투 똑같은 표정으로
죽을 때까지 살아갈 수가 있겠어초심 따위 개나 줘 버려
초심 따위 개나 줘 버려
시원하게 내팽개쳐 버려
초심 따위 개나 줘 버려
조심하지 마 변해 버려
FTR, what Google Translate makes of it is
Do not lose your initials
You say it.
Everyone put their mouths together.
You say it.
But in fact,
I do not remember.
Once upon a time
He was
I am different from the old one
How I always think the same thing every time
With the same expression
I can live until I die.
Give me some novices.
Cool off, please.
Give me some novices.
Do not be careful.
Tonight I am cool
I’ll sleep.
Whoever does not know
I’ll sleep.
Get up and do the tax
If you look in the mirror
The face I’ve never seen before
I will welcome you.
I am different from the old one
How I always think the same thing every time
With the same expression
I can live until I die.
Give me some novices.
Give me some novices.
Cool off, please.
Give me some novices.
Do not be careful.
um no, even unaided I could do better than that