Don’t get us wrong–we love Psy.  Love him.  Ric and I are probably responsible for at least 300,000 of those millions of YouTube video hits, and we NEVER get tired of the ubiquitous “horse dance”.  However, all good things come to an end, and sometimes you need a break from even the most epic of music videos. So, for your listening pleasure, we offer seven KPop alternatives to “Gangnam Style”–songs that, despite their lack of horse dance, are pretty catchy and definitely worth a listen.  Or twenty.

1)  Lee Hi “1.2.3.4″:  You won’t believe that such a big voice is coming from such a little body.  Her outrageous eyes even remind me a little of Christina Aguilera.

2)  B1A4 “Baby Goodnight”:    Check out the translated lyrics.  These guys may look like pretty boys, but this song is all about leaving your girlfriend at home and going out without her knowledge.  This is a particular favorite of Ric’s students.

3)  Yoseob Yang “Caffeine”:  This track combines two Korean obsessions:  boy band members who sing love songs and coffee.  Plus, the video is reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie.

4)  Girl’s Day “Twinkle Twinkle”:  This video is “Baby One More Time” meets Toni Basil’s “Mickey” meets Mean Girls.  Definitely entertaining.

5)  Sistar “Loving U”:  This song was almost as popular as “Gangnam Style” over here during the summer of 2012.  It’s infinitely catchy, with just enough English words to get firmly lodged in your head.

6)  Girls’ Generation:  ”TTS-Twinkle”:  This was the very first KPop song we heard.  The night we flew into Incheon Airport in Seoul, the airport TVs were all broadcasting Girls’ Generation’s appearance on Music Bang, a popular Korean music show.  My jet-lagged brain interpreted the chorus as “Sometimes I twinkle….” and it stuck.

7)  Infinite H ft. Bumkey “Special Girl”:  A singer with pink hair, smooth dance moves, and MC Hammer style skinny pants.  And the song is pretty cool, too.

This is by no means an exhaustive or even a “best of” list.  These are just a few of the flood of KPop tunes that you hear played EVERYWHERE in Korea.  For some reason, these seem to lodge in our heads a little more firmly than others, but we are by no means music critics or even Kpop connoisseurs.  Happy listening!