Some thoughts on the recording of “Queendom” (2021), Red Velvet. This behind-the-scenes video is interesting because (maybe) it reveals something about the way K-pop companies and singers think about English lyrics.

(1/6)

#KpopEnglishProject #RedVelvet #Queendom #Wendy #Irene
(2/6)

The video is the standard compilation of candid clips of the recording process. There are three places in it where Wendy (a fluent English speaker who spent part of her childhood in Canada) gives Irene some pointers about her English pronunciation:
(3/6)

“We are queens in the RED castle”

“Don’t need crowns, 타고났지 [born to] DAZZLE”

“모일수록 아름답게 [The more we’re together, the more beautifully we’re] shining BLING-BLING”

But isn’t that good? Isn’t it good if Wendy (who has this stuff down) coaches Irene? Of course!
(4/6)

But here’s my question:

What if Wendy wasn’t there?

I’m not suggesting it would have been a disaster. If Irene’s pronunciation of “red,” “dazzle,” and “bling-bling” had been a bit off, nothing bad would have happened. “Queendom” would still have earned its seven wins.
(5/6)

But it makes me think SM (Red Velvet’s company) isn’t watching this aspect of the production vigilantly. Wendy was there and took it upon herself (it appears) to give some tips. Is the company’s (presumed) attitude about English lyrics themselves the same?
(6/6)

Are they similarly casual in that regard? Is this how we get the kind of sometimes-lacking, sometimes-worse-than-lacking English I’ve been chronicling and correcting here? Is this a valuable, instructive peek behind the curtain?

Here’s the video:

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More from @KpopEnglishProj

Mar 18
“Trigger” (2022), CRAXY. There’s something funny going on in CRAXY’s latest single. And by “funny,” I mean not so good. You know by now that this not-so-good English is going to crop up in the chorus. Let’s take a look:

(1/8)

#KpopEnglishProject #CRAXY #Trigger #kpop #lyrics
(2/8)

“Pull the trigger like you loaded”

What’s wrong with that? Maybe it’s just me, but when I hear “loaded” in that line, I think of two things:

Pull the trigger like you’re drunk

and then

Pull the trigger like you’re rich.

Clearly, neither one is the intended meaning.
(3/8)

Then again, the intended meaning is a bit of a stretch. Because what they mean is something like “Pull the trigger as though you, yourself, are a weapon” or “Pull the trigger as though you are powerful.” As it is, the line makes me laugh.

How to fix it? I have some ideas.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 17
“Close” (2021), AB6IX. One recurring English phrase in this stylish and propulsive song threatens to gum everything up. Well, no, it’s not that big a problem. But it is a really bad line.

It shows up in the chorus:

(1/7)

#KpopEnglishProject #AB6IX #Close #ABNEW #kpop #lyrics
(2/7)

“And close your eyes
눈을 감아 그냥 내게 맡겨 널 [Close your eyes, just leave it to me]
Like a blind
불빛 하나 없는 [No light at all]”

And it shows up here (and in a similar context):

“Close your eyes
그냥 날 믿고 [Just trust me] like a blind”
(3/7)

“Like a blind” doesn’t work at all. “A blind” doesn’t mean “a blind person.” And even if it did, would the line work? Don’t know. But I do know that, as written, it’s a no-go. It’s the kind of not-quite-there English lyric that English-speaking K-pop fans learn to ignore.
Read 7 tweets

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