The story behind Lee Kwang Soo’s theme song in Running Man is pretty sad

Last Updated on 2016-05-18 , 4:57 pm

If you’re a Running Man fan, you would be very familiar with Lee Kwang Soo. Born in 1985, he’s the youngest member who often betray, lie and sabo his team members, and is also one of the weakest members.

And if you’re a fan, you should also be very familiar with his theme song. If not (why not?!), here’s how it sounds like.

So, if you, like many, think that this is a new composition for our favourite Kwang Soo, you’re wrong: like other theme songs for other members, this is also an old composition that the producers has used just for him, and it gels with his character so well that people immediately associate him to the song.

But do you know that the song “Saint Agnes and the Burning Train” isn’t supposed to be a funny song?

Composed by British musician Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, more commonly known as Sting, the song is in the album The Soul Cages that was released in 1991. The album is not just an album—it is a concept album, meaning that all the songs in the album combine to create a “theme”, a “story” or a “meaning”.

In this album, Sting intends to create the “story” of his reflection with his father, who had then just passed away. The album is also a dedication to his father. In other words, it is apparently a pretty meaningful album with a “story”—and, well, it’s supposed to make people cry and cherish what they have now.

In fact, the title itself contains a subtle and powerful thought: Agnes is Sting’s grandmother’s name, and the burning train refers to a train that caught fire when his grandmother was in it to visit him. It implies how fragile life could be, with the line between life and death thinner than one can imagine—an apt and subtle way to describe the minutes before his father’s demise.

And if you focus on the song, the theory is that the beautiful melody refers to his grandmother, and the consistent background is the sound of the train. The sudden change at the later part of the song is the fire.

You must be surprised now that this song apparently contained such deep meaning…but has, well, somehow being associated with a humorous connotation now.

In any case, the next time you hear this in Running Man, maybe you should laugh at Kwang Soo’s silly face and antics, but not at the song.