23 September 2010

The (Mighty) Chinese Red Army Orchestra

Note: This post is about a recent Internet meme. It has nothing related to politics or what has happened between China and Japan recently regarding the Senkaku / Diaoyutai Islands


The Chinese Red Army may be capable of fighting a war, but is also a mighty orchestra?

You may or may not have heard about it, but the "Chinese Red Army Orchestra" has been an Internet meme of some kind over the Chinese-speaking communities, especially for the past month. Ranging from Michael Jackson's Beat It to Saint Seiya's anime opening song, what can the Red Army not do? :o

YouTube videos available after the jump!

The original video clip is from a 1967 musical singing Red Army Long March Song Cycle (紅軍長征組歌) to commemorate the said event back in the 30s. The first parody clip was first created and released within China back in July, and it soon spreads to Hong Kong and Taiwanese communities. As the clip features solo, group singing, as well as a good variety of instrument performance, the clip can be parodied for all sorts of songs, as long as the editing is done well.

Below are a few examples of what the Red Army is capable of doing:

Michael Jackson's Beat it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2CQqxyQM1U

Honey - Park Jin-young

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZilZxnbi9ck

GO!!! - FLOW (Naruto 3rd opening song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcLu1a1FVuY

Saint Seiya opening song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NvVBSnKNBE

There are a lot more of these songs including those of Chibi Maruko, Sergeant Frog (Keroro Gunso), Lady Gaga, Wonder Girls, and even World Cup 2010's theme song. o_O;;

Soon after a flood of these videos came in, the netizens claimed,
"From Michael Jackson to anime songs, there's nothing that the Red Army cannot sing." ^^;

Info source:
The Encyclopedia of Virtual Communities in Hong Kong (EVCHK, Chinese wikia site)

6 comments:

  1. I didn't know there were so many variations beside the beat it one @.@ still like beat it more tho =P

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  2. @ AstrayP03 (Zhe):
    The Beat it one is definitely one of the most popular ones out there. The Saint Seiya one is pretty good too - my sister couldn't stop laughing from it ^^

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  3. You forgot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one!

    http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/-3M3BtlF-w4/

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  4. @ Peter:
    Ah must have overlooked this TMNT one. Thanks for the link!

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  5. LOL the Saint Saiya one is total win!

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  6. @ radiant:
    The Saint Seiya one is truly epic - it's my sister's favourite so far!

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