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The latest protests commemorating victims of the November 24 hearth in Urumqi and criticizing harsh pandemic measures and repressive authorities insurance policies employed all kinds of protest-themed slogans, art work, poems, essays, and songs. A number of the songs, similar to “Do You Hear the Individuals Sing?” or “The Internationale,” are acquainted from earlier protests, whereas others are new, referencing particular protest occasions from the final two weeks.
Over 130 years after it was written—and almost a century after its lyrics had been translated into Chinese language—the “The Internationale” continues to resonate as a strong message of defiance. It has been carried out by symphony orchestras and heavy steel bands. Movies of tons of of Tsinghua College college students singing these stirring lyrics (“Nor gods, nor emperors on which to rely”) in Beijing on November 27 known as to thoughts Shanghai’s locked-down residents blasting the tune from their home windows final April, and the Tiananmen Sq. protesters singing the identical anthem again within the spring of 1989.
By way of musical fashion, the 4 protest songs beneath vary from people ballads to marching anthems to Sichuanese rap, however all make reference to a number of the numerous calls for articulated by protesters: permit public mourning for the victims of the Urumqi hearth, loosen COVID restrictions, respect residents’ rights, put an finish to heavy-handed policing, and oppose the unchecked energy wielded by Xi Jinping.
One other protest anthem making a latest resurgence is the “Glory to Hong Kong,” initially sung by Hongkongers demonstrating in opposition to the 2019 extradition invoice. At two worldwide rugby tournaments this 12 months, organizers both mislabeled the Chinese language nationwide anthem “March of the Volunteers” as “Glory to Hong Kong,” or performed the latter by mistake as a substitute of the nationwide anthem. This has led Hong Kong authorities to open an investigation into potential nationwide safety legislation violations, and to stress Google to censor the protest anthem in searches.
“Urumqi East”
Courtesy of an nameless netizen, the protest tune “Urumqi East” has been making the rounds on the Chinese language Web. The accompanying video consists of scenes from the November 26-27 protests close to Shanghai’s Urumqi Center Highway, in addition to some basic viral content material such because the “zombies taking nucleic acid checks” and “PPE-clad ‘large whites’ dancing.” The tune and lyrics had been tailored from Taiwanese singer-songwriter Lo Ta-yu’s (Luo Dayou’s) oft-banned basic “Queen’s Highway East,” which described the anxieties and fears of Hong Kongers concerning the territory’s 1997 handover. The next is a partial translation of the lyrics to “Urumqi East”:
Why does Urumqi Highway have to be beneath management?
Down this avenue, the individuals flowed
Staff took away the signal
Standing right here, you’ll be able to nonetheless hear the gang roar
A clean piece of paper was confiscated
The cries echo from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou
Converse your worry, they’ll detain you
Nice coverage comes from the “Nice Chief”
Attempt to escape the flames, they’ll arrest you
Who is aware of when the subsequent hearth will likely be? [Chinese]
“If You Gained’t Take the Lead”
This protest tune expresses solidarity for the scholar protesters on the Nanjing Institute of Communication who held up clean items of paper at a memorial for the victims of the November 24 Urumqi hearth. The next is a full translation of the lyrics to “If You Gained’t Take the Lead”:
Lyrics by: The scholars of the Communication College of China, Nanjing
Music by: One other clean piece of paper
Sung by: Each clean piece of paper
Should you received’t take the lead, please be part of the gang
Should you received’t be part of the gang, please take our aspect
Should you received’t take our aspect, please shout on-line
Should you received’t shout on-line, please shut your eyes,
Sit again and benefit from the rights we’ve earned for you
However don’t mock us, or flip a blind eye
As a result of the daylight we fought for and received
belongs to everybody [Chinese]
“Down with Tyranny … No Extra Emperor Xi!”
Some on-line protest songs expressed a extra overt political message. The primary tune, a rousing anthem, advocates the overthrow of Xi Jinping. Some netizens declare that the tune was tailored from an earlier revolutionary tune: “Anthem of the Revolutionary Military” (Gemingjun Ge, 革命军歌). The accompanying video consists of scenes from latest protests and an incident in Yinchuan, Ninxia province, through which a person complained that he was unable to breathe as a policeman knelt on his neck. The lyrics are as follows:
Wielding sickles and toting weapons
Advancing towards the enemy line
Down with tyranny
Down with the mighty
Assured equality for all
No extra will the Chinese language individuals be dominated by Emperor Xi
All shall be glad and wholesome [Chinese]
Sichuanese Rap: “Can’t Think about What Your Ache Was Like…”
One other fashionable tune with a strong protest message is that this untitled Sichuan dialect rap. The rapper affords a blistering criticism of those that would stay apathetic within the face of others’ struggling, and empathizes with the ache of those that died within the hearth. The lyrics are intensive, and here’s a partial translation:
Highway’s open, however they don’t run
It’s darkish out, and you’ll’t see
Life’s low-cost, like weeds
What’s extra necessary—to reside or be free?
[…] Drawback solved, simply shut your mouth, attaboy
Block that ‘internet and cells, yeah, attaboy
Sit tight, keep blind, yeah, attaboy
Ain’t contact you, who cares, yeah, attaboy
Don’t assume an excessive amount of, eat up, yeah, attaboy
Don’t count on you to know justice
However the clever ones know
You’re too scared to make a transfer
They block no matter’s true
Empty winter streets
Caught at dwelling, alone
Staring on the pink exterior,
Can’t think about what your ache was like [Chinese]
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