An Outsiders' Inside Guide
This is the song Man-dong has playing on the radio in Snowdrop EP01 when Young-ro and Seol-hee sneak down to retrieve the ddeok parcel Young-ro left outside when she made her daring climb through the dorm window. The song is by Han Jeong-mu and was released in 1950.
‘After My Love Left’ is the song Young-ro sings and dances to with her roommates in Snowdrop EP01. The song is also playing in Roma Café as Young-ro sits and waits for Soo-ho at the end of the same episode, and appears again in EP02 during the sauna sequence.
‘At the Moonlit Window’ by the City Kids is the song playing over the speakers in Roma Café when the Room 207 girls arrive for the group blind date in Snowdrop EP01. Unlike some of the other music the show employs, I get the sense this one was chosen less for its lyrics and more for the fact that it’s a bona fide 80s anthem.
The song ‘The Way You Looked When You Sent Me Away with a Smile’ by Lee Eun-ha (1986) plays during the group blind date sequence in EP01 of Snowdrop when the girls and boys are pairing off. It’s yet another iconic song of the age.
Obviously, this one requires no translation, but we could hardly leave it out. The song was originally released by Neil Sedaka in 1959 and the lyrics make reference to the titles of popular songs from the late 1950s.
This is the song the student demonstrators are singing in EP01/EP02 when Gang-mu and his team chase Soo-ho through the streets. Interestingly, it appeared in the JTBC raw but not the Disney+ version.
‘If I’ is the song that Soo-ho sings in the EP01 bonus scene of Snowdrop. Careful listeners will notice how the lyrics reflect part of his character arc.
This is the song the members of the Dongshim Society are singing in EP02 when Chang-soo gets the news that Operation Phoenix has gone sideways. Along with the song ‘The Last Five Minutes,’ ‘To the Front We Go’ is arguably one of the most the most widely-recognised South Korean army songs.
‘Tonight’ is the song that Bun-ok sings and dances to in EP02 as she washes up for bed, very nearly discovering Soo-ho. The song was first released in April of 1986 by singer Kim Wan-sun, sometimes referred to as the ‘Korean Madonna.’
Dongsimcho (同心草), meaning ‘grass of the same heart,’ derives its lyrics from a Tang Dynasty poem by Xue Tao. It plays in Snowdrop EP04 as Soo-ho thinks back on his parting with Young-ro.