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All About "Gangnam Style"

All About "Gangnam Style"


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It is the song sweeping the world -- with a video that has gone beyond viral.

Gangnam Style has launched a thousand parodies and spin offs. And it has launched it's singer -- Psy -- into international superstardom. He now has a U-S record deal, and has appeared on the MTV Music awards, Saturday night live, and the Today Show.

But is there more to the song than just a catchy tune? An article in "Atlantic Monthly" says yes.

Psy's song takes part of it's name from the Gangnam section in the of the city of Seoul. It is considered the richest area of the city -- and the county of South Korea. The lifestyle of those living there is considered an ultimate goal for many Koreans -- even if they can't afford it.

Psy's song points out many still pretend to -- and put themselves in debt to do it. In fact, the Atlantic article looks at South Korea's sky high credit card debt. In 2010, the average household carried credit card debt worth a staggering 155 percent of their disposable income. And there are five credit cards for every adult there.

And the video plays up the lyrics -- with Psy playing a "wannabe" Gangnam man. If you notice, he doesn't quite fit in -- and doesn't participate in the riches -- but just dresses like he does.

Sounds a little different now, doesn't it?

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