MOREN MAO
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ISSUE 1MARCH 2024
From the 90s’ most prominent punk star to the best indie rock band of the 21st century, this newsletter explores the impact of censorship and authoritarian control on the yaogun community. Composed of translated excerpts from interviews, album booklets, and internet comments, accompanied by lyrical analysis and curated playlists.
New Little Bar music venue located in the Yulin Subdistrict of Chengdu. The original Little Bar location was the birthplace of underground music in Chengdu, China. Photographed by 蔡鸣 (Cai Min), 2009.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
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GENERATION DEFINED BY A LONGING FOR FREEDOM
MUSICIAN:
何勇 (HE YONG)
FACING CENSORSHIP
Album cover of Garbage Dump (1994)
Listen to Garbage Dump here:
YOUTUBE:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n6fNXtzkRbTP9teVXgl00eg-BJH2iS9ow&si=YXQe4AXzB23vMYPV
SPOTIFY:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3HNsewV5fH9oMbxeGrN5Hu?si=AOcdcZjITsGQkV7DbYzEgw
In 1994, punk singer He Yong debuted Garbage Dump (垃圾场), the only album of his music career. The title track was written during the pro-democracy movement of 1989 (Huang, 2001: 184). “Garbage Dump” (垃圾场) is composed of direct criticisms of the Chinese social state in the late 80s and early 90s, with lyrics such as:
The world we live in is
Akin to a garbage dump
People are like insects,
Fighting with each other
We eat our conscience,
And shit out ideology
Alluding to society’s meaningless quarreling, people’s lack of compassion, and the refusal of ideological reform and acceptance of new thought. He Yong also hinted at the ever-growing wealth gap in China:
Some are trying to lose weight
While others are starving to death
This cleverly and concisely pinpoints the problem, that while the elite few have the freedom of choice, the ordinary and impoverished do not, they are doomed to suffer. “Garbage Dump” is delivered by passionate screams, there is no better way to convey the urgency and despair than to scream out the lyrics, to become a voice for people without the means to express themselves. The song is fittingly ended by repeated cries of:
Is there any hope?
Is there any hope?
In October 2022, He Yong’s “Garbage Dump” received widespread censorship in China. You’re unable to find the song on Chinese streaming platforms, or its lyrics, or physical CDs. Almost 30 years after its debut, the song remains relevant and its censorship is the best proof of "Garbage Dump's" sincerity. Similarly, the ninth track, titled “Ghost” (幽灵), was blacklisted as early as 2018 for directly referencing the massacre on June 4th, 1989. The outro incorporates the wailing, screaming, and gunshots as recorded during the massacre. Today, only seven out of the total nine tracks are available online.
THE QILIN DIARY
From left to right, Zhang Chu (张楚), He Yong (何勇), and Dou Wei (窦唯), three of the most prominent 90s rock stars. Photographed by Gao Yuan.
The pessimistic nature of “Garbage Dump” contrasts with “Bell Drum Tower” (钟鼓楼), a song reminiscent of He Yong’s childhood in a serene and mundane Beijing. “Bell Drum Tower” is a nostalgic longing for the past, instead of outrage for the present. In 2004, at the Helan Mountains Rock Music Festival, after performing “Bell Drum Tower,” He Yong looked out to the crowd and said, “The Bell Drum Tower didn’t change, it’s that we’ve all grown up” (Hai, March 21, 2015).
A decade passed between releasing Garbage Dump and the 2004 music festival, He Yong continuously ran into trouble with the law and struggled with mental health issues. At the 2004 performance, he rambled about the yaogun community’s past and remarked that they’ve all changed. “Bell Drum Tower” ends with:
Who asked such a difficult question?
There are correct answers everywhere
Exasperation concludes the songs. When the correct answer is everywhere, when life in China offers youths plenty of new opportunities and choices, they end up not knowing what to choose.
The original title of this album was The Qilin Diary (麒麟日记). Qilin originates from Chinese mythology, it is a benevolent chimera creature symbolizing good omen, prosperity, and kindness. Representations of the Qilin can be found in artworks across East and Southeast Asia. In China, the Qilin often appears as stone statues, decorating offices, homes, and guarding front porches. In the album booklet of Garbage Dump, He Yong included a quote:
“On the Bell Drum Tower in Beijing, there is a stone statue of a Qilin, it has stood there for centuries, gazing silently at the sky, the land, and the people, always waiting for something. And one day, with a strong gust of wind, it will take off soaring.”
I imagine He Yong saw himself as the Qilin, waiting for such a day to come. Where the wind that carries away the Qilin will also arrive with promises of freedom and true prosperity.
The two titles of He Yong’s first and only album seem to convey distinctly opposite meanings, though their content remains the same. Garbage Dump paints an explicit and unapologetic portrait of the 90s China, it is critical with vengeance. But The Qilin Diary also suggests a layer of idealism beneath the surface of the songs, that even though a garbage dump exists, it is still shrouded in optimism for the future. In an interview, He Yong was described as an angry youth, he responded with “There is actually love in my anger” (Da, September 16, 2004). I do not doubt that he is speaking the truth, that underneath all acts of social and cultural rebellion, rests genuine love and desire for freedom and equality.
Photographed by 高原 (Gao Yuan):
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