Eric Nam Reveals That Recording "Love Song" Was A Minor Nightmare From Critiques On His Korean Pronunciation

In a highlight clip from Eric Nam‘s podcast K-Pop Daebak, his brother asked him to name any love songs that popped into his mind. He instantly thought of his own song “Love Song” from his debut mini-album Cloud 9.

The memory that the song made Eric recall wasn’t quite as lovely and sweet as the song itself sounds.

Before the discussion went any further, he stated, “Let me say this… As I was recording it, I had a really hard time.”

Part of the reason it had been so difficult for him was that it had been the first or second song he’d ever recorded in Korea. There was a much more pressing reason.

Since Eric was born and raised in the U.S., he speaks English fluently, making it harder for him to have the correct pronunciation when speaking Korean. When he’d started singing in Korea, that’s when he noticed people often correcting his pronunciation, “I had a very big complex about it.”

Because of this, the line “I love you” in “Love Song” took him hours to record when he was in the booth. By Korean standards, he said, “Apparently, my pronunciation of love was incorrect.”

Instead of pronouncing it like someone who’s fluent in English, they’d wanted him to do a Korean pronunciation of the word. It didn’t work out that way, “I couldn’t do it. So, it took hours.”

If Eric was frustrated by recalling the memory, no one could imagine how much of a nightmare it had been in the moment. Learning and speaking another language can be difficult on its own. To have someone you’re working with, on top of many other people, constantly pointing out your flaws would get to anyone.