What does 모모 mean?

 ANSWER: Some people?

In 1977, I first arrived in Korea in the U.S.navy and stayed there until the fall of 1979. In 1978, a song sung by Korean singer Kim Man-jun (김만준) became a hit. The song's name was 모모.

At the time, I understood 모모 to be the name of a young girl from a novel entitled "Momo," written by Michael Ende, but now I wonder if the 모모 in the Kim Man-jun song was also meant to mean "some people," which in Korean can also translate as 모모 (某某).

Using 모모 to mean "some people," here is my translation of the lyrics of the Kim Man-jun song 모모.

모모는 철부지, 모모는 무지개
Some people are childlike, some people are rainbows.

모모는 생을 쫓아가는 시계바늘이다.
Some people are the hands of a clock pursuing life.

모모는 방랑자, 모모는 외로운 그림자
Some people are wanderers, some people are lonely shadows,

너무 기뻐서 박수를 치듯이 날개짓하며
Flapping their wings as if they are clapping for being so happy.

날아가는 니스의 새들을 꿈꾸는 모모는 환상가
Some people are dreamers, dreaming of the flying birds of Nice (French city?)

그런데 왜 모모 앞에 있는 생은 행복한가?
But why are the future lives of some people happy?

인간은 사랑 없이 살 수 없다는 것을 
Human beings cannot live without love, it is said,

모모는 잘 알 고 있기 때문이다.
So it is because some people know this.