The Title Is Just 'Song'

In three lines

• The music video for Kim Yeon-ji's 'Norae' arrived on August 29.
• The English title is 'Song'.
• A song has been given the title 'Song'.

What arrived yesterday

Item	Detail
Artist	Kim Yeon-ji
Song	'Norae'
English title	Song
Release	August 29

A title that points at itself

The song is called 'Song'. The name of the form has been put where the content usually goes.

A title like that points inward. It is the same move as calling a painting 'Painting' or a book 'Book'. It does not look outside itself for something to refer to; it closes the loop.

That is also why two-syllable titles are rare. The shorter a title, the wider its reach, and 'Song' is about as wide as they come.

What a wide title does

If the title is wide, the song has to do the narrowing. The word 'song' settles nothing on its own.

So this kind of title hands the work over. The name explains nothing, which means the sound has to explain everything.

It is also an opening. Since the title has decided nothing, the song can go anywhere. Before you press play, there is nothing to predict.

The English title makes the same choice

The English title is 'Song'. Exactly the same move — the name of the form.

Both languages went the same way. Not reaching for a different word in translation suggests the wideness is deliberate.

'Song' also carries no article. Not 'A Song', not 'The Song', just 'Song'. The refusal to specify is stated one more time.

Discovery notes

First, listen with the title forgotten. Decide for yourself what kind of song this is.

Then look at the title again. What the word 'song' is pointing at inside this particular song is the thing to check.

Last, think about 'Song' without its article. It is not one of them, and it is not that one either.

Just give it a listen, trust me.