Expat musician Philip Knudsen has released “Children Don’t You Play On Earth,” a reggae single in Korean.

Knudsen, a vocal coach of 15 years who was trained in his home country of Denmark, also runs barbershop quartet the Barbers of Seoul, but performs reggae as a solo artist.

The song’s original lyrics were written by high school friend Stig Geer while the two worked on a songwriting project in 2004, and rewritten in Korean -- as “Jigu-eso Noljima” -- by local songwriter Sung Nock-won.

“Stig’s idea was for the song to be written from the perspective of an alien, who is singing it as a warning to his own kind -- a warning about Earth,” said Knudsen. “So the ‘Children’ from the song’s title are in fact meant to be the alien’s children.”

Knudsen has recorded a full-length album in English, with Danish producer yo Akim, and plans to put it out late this year or early next year. Before that, he will release singles, including a love song called “Neo-wa Hamkkemyeon (Be With You).”

The single has been released for download through MusicCube, on most major Korean music outlets and on vinyl through www.easternstandardsounds.com

(paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)