Jacko’s ‘Beat It’, Red Army style

If you thought you’d never hear the Chinese People’s Liberation army orchestra (or Red Army orchestra) grooving to "Waving Flags" or Michael Jackson's "Beat it", think twice. Chinese web users have made these unlikely performance a reality.

"Wavings flags". Video posted on Chinasmack.

"This juxtaposition between old and new is a real novelty"

"Terroir" is a Canadian blogger in China; he contributes to the site Chinasmack and wishes to remain anonymous.

In the middle of June of this year, a video was uploaded to the Chinese internet in which a Red Army Orchestra performance was synched to “Waving Flag”, the song by K’naan used by Coca Cola for promoting this year’s World Cup Championship. This juxtaposition of old and new and East and West was proved a novelty, and it shot to Internet fame early July when the same footage of the Red Army Orchestra was synched to Michael Jackson’s "Beat It".

"Beat it".Postée sur YouTube par Dinosum.

While the synching of "Waving Flags" was done well, this “Beat It” version is far superior, showing an understanding of musical syncopation, call and response, instrument textures and layering, and even a Chinese "erhu" (traditional Chinese instrument) version of of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo.

"Some "netcizens" worry that comparing the Red Army to a black singer, albeit the most famous, beloved one-gloved black entertainer of all time, could attract the attention of Chinese "harmonising" censors. So far, however, the video has known unhindered success, and attracted many knock-offs and other variations. ". The hit "We will Rock You" matches the original song (which was a call to arms and to national unity) so well that it's quite chilling. 

It appears that the Chinese online community is ready to subvert and displace the political propaganda from a few generations ago, and the Web might just give them a chance to do so!"

"Ultraman". Video posted on YouTube by JianTheFilmmaker.