Blossom

 

        Change Your Lifestyle                      Goodbye Jack

Chinese Characteristics

 

This is one of my favorite songs of Miserable Faith. The beginning of the song, "Chinese characteristics/ reasonably exist/All the behaviors that are banned/Law does not guarantee to stop them" indicates the problem of Socialism with Chinese characteristics--the lack of transparency. People who own the powers-- in most cases politicians-- corruptively use their power for their own advantages. The law becomes only a symbol without any actual power. The sentence, "Your page is a blank/Imagine what you have in the future/All the power you have/That means all to you/All the power you have/That is your future" is repeated again and again, which clearly reflects the reality of the Chinese society--your effort does not necessarily determine your future, but your power does. A child born in a family with a political background means that he/she has a better opportunity in education, occupation and in general, in the future. It is just amazing that in China, where politics is such a sensitive topic, there is a band like Miserable Faith that voices their dissatisfaction with the society. 

 

 

Goodbye Jack

 

At the beginning of the music video, it tells us that Jack was a dog raised in a bar in Yunnang who was always watching people pass by, and was getting old. One day, the dog passed away after people poisoned him. The lyrics, "Today is like a post card that is designed already/Waiting to be stamped and sent away", communicate a dark and blue tone--that Jack is waiting for his destiny to come. He has no control of his future, which has been designed already. In my opinion, like the theme expressed in Chinese Characteristics, "Jack" symbolizes everybody in the Socialist society--the moment you are born, you are like a blank page that is waiting to be written. Yet in reality, all sorts of certain factors, like the social system and your family background, have determined what is going to be written on your "page". Maybe at first we are like Jack, trying to make an effort with a full heart of hope, but our dreams will be eventually "poisoned" by the reality as we continue growing up and experience more. However, the song's climax, "Let me be more happy/Don't leave the questions inside your heart," does encourage us to do something, rather than just sit there and keep silent, waiting for the death of our dreams. To me, that is what Miserable Death is doing--they show their anger to the unfair world through their songs--and they succeed!

 

 

Like A Bitch

 

The repetitive pattern throughout the entire song, "Pretending... the peaceful world. Pretending... the world's peace. Pretending... " and "Selling... your honesty. Selling... your passion. Selling... like a bitch," emphasizes how distorted the Chinese society is. Passion, honesty and conscience, all those invaluable qualities, become unvalued by people; even worse, we try our best to trade off between these qualities and worthless ones like vanity, power and money. In addressing this current social situation, Miserable Faith makes the bold statement "Selling like a bitch" in each stanza of the song to show their contempt for it. Yet, the very last sentence of the lyrics "Use your passion/to act like a Real Bitch" uses the term differently. In my view, it is the turning point: Miserable Faith is telling us to be brave, to keep our passion toward the truth and to protect the truth. Let's be as brave as the Real bitch; let's be Real! I really like the fact that even though Miserable Faith's songs show the dark side of the society, they eventually tell us that our passion, our righteousness and our dreams are still valued and can make a difference to the world if we try--their songs give us hope and courage to move on!