The song's lyrics is simple, which, as we will see, only reinforces its theme.
(the - means I do not know what the singer is singing there; also I hope the repetition of “create another” has been clearly denoted by the indentations)
First of all, a comment on the general Chinese music and society: This set of lyrics is the epitome of the prevalent ambiguity of Chinese rock. The ambiguity functions in 2 ways: 1) it individualizes the content for everybody, enabling the listeners themselves to fill in the gap between music and words and to channel in part of their own lives into this piece and 2) it decreases the likelihood of censorship by the government. The first function must come as obvious to every listener of music with words. The second statement, however, may give the impression of a totalitarian Chinese regime. This second function is rarely manually put in the music but more likely a “side effect” from the first function. Thus, artists do not meticulously change their art to bypass the government, for that will go against their spirit of independence. In fact, artists with truly radical lyrics will “bypass” the government by releasing their music underground. Moreover, an absolute totalitarian will more likely censor ambiguity, discarding all possible sources of demagogue material; hence, the effectiveness of ambiguity to filter through inspection only speaks for the relative cultural liberalism of the government.
Now, back to this song.
Right from the start, the title “copycat” already insinuates that Miserable Faith attempts to assault the uncreative atmosphere of China. In fact, the general structure of this song mocks that atmosphere with its repetitive structure: Most of the verses parallel one another with the anaphora “create another” and only about 3 different guitar/bass lines exist. The citing of historic figures also creates a motif of cyclical time, which MF warns is the outcome (metaphorically) of such an atmosphere.
The first stanza mentions 4 philosophers. Marx and Engels coauthored the Communist Manifesto which originated the Communist economic theory. Lu Xun was a figurehead of the modern Chinese literature and a Communist sympathizer though he never joined the Chinese Communist Party. Nietzsche was a German thinker whose ideas led to the ideologies of nihilism and existentialism. By alluding to these 4 philosophers who had fundamentally influenced the modern Chinese society, economy, and government, MF hints that copying pre-existing ideas, though maybe groundbreaking in the past, add little to the present status. Looking deeper, we may find that MF applauds the current Chinese government. “Create another Marx, create another Engels” may refer to Mao's strict adherence to the idea of communes for economical production, which was marked by lack of motivation in the peasants and laborers and subsequently the failure of generating surplus for modernization and the Great Chinese Famine. In contrast, the economical reforms often called “socialism with Chinese characteristics” instituted in 1978 --- adopting “whatever works” --- opened up the market to foreign investors and abolished the communes. The end result, as seen by the world today, is a prospering nation and a growing world power. Thematically, Nietzsche's idea of Eternal Return, the hypothesis that time is cyclic instead of linear and that the world recurs in the same sequence of events over and over again, is exactly what MF fears if copying others' work become prevalent.
The 2nd stanza mentions 4 dictators or World War 2. Hitler, Mussolini, Hideki Tojo, and Stalin were respectively ruling Germany, Italy, Japan, and Soviets, which were all parts of the Axis or Axis sympathizer. They all committed atrocities: Hitler's Holocaust, Mussolini's Ethiopian Invasion and “weapon testing” in the Spanish Civil War, Hideki Tojo's Asian Holocaust, and Stalin's domestic reign of terror that sent around 3 million Soviets to their graves. It's likely that MF used these 4 contemporary despots of WWII to refer to Mao, whose reign and death count resembled Stalin's, and through this strategy MF successfully bypasses government censor and warns China of a second Mao. The possibility of such an event is not unlikely. First, China officially promotes a “personality cult” of Mao by painting him as a messiah (metaphorically without the religious sense) that brought China out of its backward agrarian state. All the state-mandated 6 year educational systems employ textbooks insinuating such godlike characteristics. Thus, all the young Chinese of today exhibit the deepest reverence toward him. Though this strategy bonds the nation together in a unifying force, most of the populace do not observe a cause-and-effect relationship between Mao's policies and the destruction ushered in by the Great Chinese Famine and Cultural Revolution. Hence future officers of the Communist Party might make the same mistakes.
The next set of names involve influential scientists and engineers whose ideas and creations formed the foundation of the modern scientific world. Newton established the laws of physics along with refining calculus; Watt refined steam engine to a commercially plausible product and ushered in the Industrial Revolution; Darwin proposed the theory of evolution which affected the modern conservationist movements; and Einstein, of course, and his theories of relativity made possible the atomic bomb. These people are the idols of students of China's scientifically-oriented education system. China has placed heavy emphasis on math and science every since its independence to, at first, quickly modernize, and, now, to become a super power. In the early days scientific achievement was even equivalent to patriotism. Here MF seems to hint at 2 points: 1) scientific ideas, like philosophies, have no values for copying and probably need reformulation as new evidence come up; 2) the social pressure applied on young men and women to pursue scientific careers may not be beneficial in the long run. The more people that focus on science, the less people that contribute to the arts and culture like the Miserable Faith. The end result might compare to the classical Sparta, which minimized its cultural lives to maximize its military might. This configuration led them to dominate Greece as an equal to Athens, but in the end, though both fell to Rome, Athens was hailed as the “cradle of Western Civilization” while Sparta was lost to obscurity. Hence MF, as a leader of Chinese rock, may have suggested a balance of science and culture as the ideal approach.
Though I can't figure out 2 of the next 4 names, it seemed clear that they belong to revolutionaries of the 20th century. Gandhi's civil disobedience eventually won India a peaceful independence, while che Guevara helped Fidel Castro to overthrow the CIA-backed Cuban dictator Batista. Though these names connote bravery, patriotism, and leadership, MF seems to focus on their abilities to change society here more than those qualities. By discourage the “copying” of these greats, MF seems to advocate a stable society with only gradual reforms instead of the radical transformations ushered in by these men. It supports the stage-by-stage economic reforms of China, opposes the extreme leftist Communism and the extreme Rightist Fascism, and here disprove of radical reforms. Thus, if we must categorize MF politically, we should label it as a mild liberal.
The next 8 names contain Metallica, Radiohead, Nirvana, and Suede, so it seems to list giants of rock. Notice that while all the previous names belong to people already deceased, these names belong to bands that still perform and release new CDs. Thus, MF returns to the present and its own circle to deliver its central criticism of the uncreative spirit of Chinese rock, which, like a child trying to understand the mature world, imitates famous works like those of the aforementioned names. Thus Chinese rock has so far only been defined in comparison with western rock and contributed little of its own unique mix of culture (of course, there are a few major exceptions, as we'll see in later blog posts). Now, looking back again at all the previous names, we find that only one is Chinese. MF may have created this pattern to lament the comprehensive Westernization of China in the past century (and ironically they used a western form of music to express this idea).
Now let's come back and look at the chorus. “Threat” here does not necessarily mean a declaration of malicious intents, but just a general, neutrally connoted influence. For philosophers and scientists, it's their “threat” of radical ideological change; for dictators, it's their “threat” of reign of terror; for revolutionaries, it's their “threat” of societal upheaval; for musicians, it's their “threat” of creating new cultural trends. As one declares the name of the person he or she copies, all such “threat,” or potential for impact, dissipates. The chorus thus highlights the theme of this piece: that replicating others' work avail to nothing.
Create another Marx
Engels
Lu Xun
Nietzsche
Create another Hitler
Mussolini
Hideki Tojo
Stalin
Create another Marx
Engels
Hitler
Stalin
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
Create another Marx
Engels
Hitler
Stalin
Newton
Watt
Einstein
Darwin
Gandhi
che Guevara
-
-
-
-
Metallica
Nirvana
-
Radiohead
Suede
-
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
crushed
crushed
crushed
crushed
Engels
Lu Xun
Nietzsche
Create another Hitler
Mussolini
Hideki Tojo
Stalin
Create another Marx
Engels
Hitler
Stalin
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
copycat, copycat
threat already crushed by slogan
Create another Marx
Engels
Hitler
Stalin
Newton
Watt
Einstein
Darwin
Gandhi
che Guevara
-
-
-
-
Metallica
Nirvana
-
Radiohead
Suede
-
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
threat already crushed by slogan
crushed
crushed
crushed
crushed
(the - means I do not know what the singer is singing there; also I hope the repetition of “create another” has been clearly denoted by the indentations)
First of all, a comment on the general Chinese music and society: This set of lyrics is the epitome of the prevalent ambiguity of Chinese rock. The ambiguity functions in 2 ways: 1) it individualizes the content for everybody, enabling the listeners themselves to fill in the gap between music and words and to channel in part of their own lives into this piece and 2) it decreases the likelihood of censorship by the government. The first function must come as obvious to every listener of music with words. The second statement, however, may give the impression of a totalitarian Chinese regime. This second function is rarely manually put in the music but more likely a “side effect” from the first function. Thus, artists do not meticulously change their art to bypass the government, for that will go against their spirit of independence. In fact, artists with truly radical lyrics will “bypass” the government by releasing their music underground. Moreover, an absolute totalitarian will more likely censor ambiguity, discarding all possible sources of demagogue material; hence, the effectiveness of ambiguity to filter through inspection only speaks for the relative cultural liberalism of the government.
Now, back to this song.
Right from the start, the title “copycat” already insinuates that Miserable Faith attempts to assault the uncreative atmosphere of China. In fact, the general structure of this song mocks that atmosphere with its repetitive structure: Most of the verses parallel one another with the anaphora “create another” and only about 3 different guitar/bass lines exist. The citing of historic figures also creates a motif of cyclical time, which MF warns is the outcome (metaphorically) of such an atmosphere.
The first stanza mentions 4 philosophers. Marx and Engels coauthored the Communist Manifesto which originated the Communist economic theory. Lu Xun was a figurehead of the modern Chinese literature and a Communist sympathizer though he never joined the Chinese Communist Party. Nietzsche was a German thinker whose ideas led to the ideologies of nihilism and existentialism. By alluding to these 4 philosophers who had fundamentally influenced the modern Chinese society, economy, and government, MF hints that copying pre-existing ideas, though maybe groundbreaking in the past, add little to the present status. Looking deeper, we may find that MF applauds the current Chinese government. “Create another Marx, create another Engels” may refer to Mao's strict adherence to the idea of communes for economical production, which was marked by lack of motivation in the peasants and laborers and subsequently the failure of generating surplus for modernization and the Great Chinese Famine. In contrast, the economical reforms often called “socialism with Chinese characteristics” instituted in 1978 --- adopting “whatever works” --- opened up the market to foreign investors and abolished the communes. The end result, as seen by the world today, is a prospering nation and a growing world power. Thematically, Nietzsche's idea of Eternal Return, the hypothesis that time is cyclic instead of linear and that the world recurs in the same sequence of events over and over again, is exactly what MF fears if copying others' work become prevalent.
The 2nd stanza mentions 4 dictators or World War 2. Hitler, Mussolini, Hideki Tojo, and Stalin were respectively ruling Germany, Italy, Japan, and Soviets, which were all parts of the Axis or Axis sympathizer. They all committed atrocities: Hitler's Holocaust, Mussolini's Ethiopian Invasion and “weapon testing” in the Spanish Civil War, Hideki Tojo's Asian Holocaust, and Stalin's domestic reign of terror that sent around 3 million Soviets to their graves. It's likely that MF used these 4 contemporary despots of WWII to refer to Mao, whose reign and death count resembled Stalin's, and through this strategy MF successfully bypasses government censor and warns China of a second Mao. The possibility of such an event is not unlikely. First, China officially promotes a “personality cult” of Mao by painting him as a messiah (metaphorically without the religious sense) that brought China out of its backward agrarian state. All the state-mandated 6 year educational systems employ textbooks insinuating such godlike characteristics. Thus, all the young Chinese of today exhibit the deepest reverence toward him. Though this strategy bonds the nation together in a unifying force, most of the populace do not observe a cause-and-effect relationship between Mao's policies and the destruction ushered in by the Great Chinese Famine and Cultural Revolution. Hence future officers of the Communist Party might make the same mistakes.
The next set of names involve influential scientists and engineers whose ideas and creations formed the foundation of the modern scientific world. Newton established the laws of physics along with refining calculus; Watt refined steam engine to a commercially plausible product and ushered in the Industrial Revolution; Darwin proposed the theory of evolution which affected the modern conservationist movements; and Einstein, of course, and his theories of relativity made possible the atomic bomb. These people are the idols of students of China's scientifically-oriented education system. China has placed heavy emphasis on math and science every since its independence to, at first, quickly modernize, and, now, to become a super power. In the early days scientific achievement was even equivalent to patriotism. Here MF seems to hint at 2 points: 1) scientific ideas, like philosophies, have no values for copying and probably need reformulation as new evidence come up; 2) the social pressure applied on young men and women to pursue scientific careers may not be beneficial in the long run. The more people that focus on science, the less people that contribute to the arts and culture like the Miserable Faith. The end result might compare to the classical Sparta, which minimized its cultural lives to maximize its military might. This configuration led them to dominate Greece as an equal to Athens, but in the end, though both fell to Rome, Athens was hailed as the “cradle of Western Civilization” while Sparta was lost to obscurity. Hence MF, as a leader of Chinese rock, may have suggested a balance of science and culture as the ideal approach.
Though I can't figure out 2 of the next 4 names, it seemed clear that they belong to revolutionaries of the 20th century. Gandhi's civil disobedience eventually won India a peaceful independence, while che Guevara helped Fidel Castro to overthrow the CIA-backed Cuban dictator Batista. Though these names connote bravery, patriotism, and leadership, MF seems to focus on their abilities to change society here more than those qualities. By discourage the “copying” of these greats, MF seems to advocate a stable society with only gradual reforms instead of the radical transformations ushered in by these men. It supports the stage-by-stage economic reforms of China, opposes the extreme leftist Communism and the extreme Rightist Fascism, and here disprove of radical reforms. Thus, if we must categorize MF politically, we should label it as a mild liberal.
The next 8 names contain Metallica, Radiohead, Nirvana, and Suede, so it seems to list giants of rock. Notice that while all the previous names belong to people already deceased, these names belong to bands that still perform and release new CDs. Thus, MF returns to the present and its own circle to deliver its central criticism of the uncreative spirit of Chinese rock, which, like a child trying to understand the mature world, imitates famous works like those of the aforementioned names. Thus Chinese rock has so far only been defined in comparison with western rock and contributed little of its own unique mix of culture (of course, there are a few major exceptions, as we'll see in later blog posts). Now, looking back again at all the previous names, we find that only one is Chinese. MF may have created this pattern to lament the comprehensive Westernization of China in the past century (and ironically they used a western form of music to express this idea).
Now let's come back and look at the chorus. “Threat” here does not necessarily mean a declaration of malicious intents, but just a general, neutrally connoted influence. For philosophers and scientists, it's their “threat” of radical ideological change; for dictators, it's their “threat” of reign of terror; for revolutionaries, it's their “threat” of societal upheaval; for musicians, it's their “threat” of creating new cultural trends. As one declares the name of the person he or she copies, all such “threat,” or potential for impact, dissipates. The chorus thus highlights the theme of this piece: that replicating others' work avail to nothing.
