“This Song Will Play at My Funeral,” He Said. It Did: “Dream of a Freshwater Eel”

Part 6 of 11 in Shin Hae-chul: The Demon King K-pop Keeps Bringing Back

No. 6, “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (Minmuljangeoui Kkum), is the song Shin Hae-chul picked in advance for his own funeral, and both halves of his prediction came true. The day after he died it played at his memorial altar, and 15 years after its release it went to No. 1 on the streaming charts.

Shin Hae-chul – “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (Lyrics Video, Bugs!) — 630,000 views

Its combined views come to about 8.5 million. It first appeared on Homemade Cookies & 99 Crom Live, released Nov. 25, 1999, with words, music and arrangement by Shin (Melon). It came out while he had broken up N.EX.T and was studying techno in Britain. Of all his songs, this is the one I treasure most and the one I find hardest to listen to. Every time, I miss him too much.

“It’ll take off when I die”

In a 2010 interview he said this about the song: “Every fan knows it, but it’s a difficult song that never took off. It’ll take off when I die. It’s the song that will play at my funeral, and its lyrics will be my epitaph” (Financial News, Oct. 29, 2014).

Four years later, on Oct. 28, 2014, the song played in Room 23 of the Asan Medical Center funeral hall in Seoul. The next afternoon “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” was No. 1 on the real-time charts of Naver Music and Daum Music (Financial News, Oct. 29, 2014). The Seoul Economic Daily noted it was “15 years after its release” (Oct. 28, 2014). The words actually carved on his gravestone are the title of a different N.EX.T song, “Here, I Stand For You” (Korea Economic Daily, Oct. 11, 2026).

Video of him singing it survives on OhmyTV.

Shin Hae-chul – “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (live, OhmyTV) — 630,000 views

Also read: IU, DAY6 and Squid Game All Brought Him Back. Who Was Shin Hae-chul?

Against the river, to the sea

Freshwater eels grow up in rivers, then swim thousands of miles to the deep ocean to spawn and die. The narrator of the song carves and cuts himself down to squeeze through a narrow gate. There is almost nothing left to throw away, but in the mirror he sees one thing still there: his pride. He shakes his head to erase his hometown, the faces he misses and warm evenings, and hears a voice telling him to keep going without rest.

저 강들이 모여드는 곳 성난 파도 아래 깊이 / 한번만이라도 이룰 수 있다면 나 언젠가

Where all those rivers meet, deep beneath the raging waves, / if I could reach it even once, someday

(Words and music by Shin Hae-chul; key lines quoted)

If he can reach that place, the song promises, he’ll cry and laugh until his heart bursts and end the long journey with no regrets. The second verse is more honest. Bearing the weight of loneliness is hard, but harder is the fear of being forgotten without meaning anything. The last line says it’s all to learn who he is, which no one will tell him.

K.Will, Ha Hyun-woo, Han Dong-geun

In October 2015, on the first anniversary of his death, K.Will brought the audience of KBS’s Immortal Songs to tears with this song.

K.Will – “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (Immortal Songs 2, KBS, 2015) — 710,000 views

In 2016, Ha Hyun-woo, the “Music Captain of Our Town” who won MBC’s King of Mask Singer nine times in a row, sang it too, and that performance was released in June 2016 along with “Invitation to Everyday Life” and “Lazenca, Save Us” (Melon). MBC’s compilation of his Music Captain stages has 56.78 million views.

Ha Hyun-woo – King of Mask Singer stage compilation (MBC, several songs) — 56.78 million views

Actor Bong Tae-gyu sang it on KBS’s Yu Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook in 2018, and Han Dong-geun sang it on his own channel.

Bong Tae-gyu – “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (Yu Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook, KBS, 2018) — 50,000 views

Han Dong-geun – “Dream of a Freshwater Eel” (cover, official channel) — 100,000 views

At the first-anniversary memorial, fans sang it together (MBN). The man who feared being forgotten without meaning anything has been called back by the same song for 12 years. Don’t worry. We haven’t forgotten you.

Next, No. 5: “Don’t Look So Sad.” In 2025 his daughter gave that title back to his fans.

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Sources: Melon (Homemade Cookies & 99 Crom Live, Nov. 25, 1999; King of Mask Singer Ep. 62, June 5, 2016; credits and lyrics); Financial News (Oct. 29, 2014); Seoul Economic Daily (Oct. 28, 2014); Korea Economic Daily (Oct. 11, 2026); MBN News video of fans singing at the first-anniversary memorial. View counts as shown on YouTube, Oct. 25, 2026.