Nonsense song ‘Little Apple’ even making soldiers dance
Print Edition
CHINA may have found its own “Gangnam Style.” From Beijing parks to Shanghai skyscrapers and in Guangzhou factories to karaoke rooms in Macau, people are singing “Little Apple” — a song apparently so catchy it has even won over the army and police.
Calling themselves the Chopsticks Brothers, Xiao Yang and Wang Taili are neither brothers nor composers, but are responsible for a hit that has become a nationwide phenomenon.
“Xiao Pingguo” (Little Apple) was originally intended to promote their latest film when it was released in July, but has proven to be the kind of song that gets stuck in the brain.
“This song is easy to follow, the pace is basic and repetitive. Even the old ladies in public parks are learning it quickly,” said Zeng Qiumei, a marketing manager from Sichuan Province.
The accompanying music video has notched up more than 50 million views on Chinese video sites such as Sohu, iQiyi and Youku.
The surreal six-minute clip begins with a botched plastic surgery operation before cutting to Xiao and Wang naked in the Garden of Eden.They then appear in a number of sequences, including dressed as mermaids on a beach or acting as village children.
The lyrics are largely nonsense, with the chorus running “You’re my little apple, you’re my little apple.” Even so, the tune has become ubiquitous — whether playing on smartphone ringtones to shopping malls, nightclubs and gyms.
The People’s Liberation Army in the northwestern city of Xi’an has used the song in a recruitment video, while police in east China’s Shandong Province have modified the lyrics for a broadcast about phone-banking scams.
And a clip showing soldiers dancing to Xiao Pingguo with child survivors of an August earthquake that killed 600 people in the country’s southwest became an online sensation.
There are countless other amateur videos of groups of people dancing to the song, including air stewardesses, cheerleaders, firefighters and students.
One parody brings together North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon.
Zheng Xiaomin, a 76-year-old retiree in Beijing, said the Xiao Pingguo dance phenomenon has brought more people together.
“In a park, it is usually embarrassing to be seen putting your hands on the shoulder or hip of a partner,” she said. “But with Xiao Pingguo that’s not the case.”
However, it is unlikely “Little Apple” will become the global phenomenon that was “Gangnam Style,” the 2012 hit by South Korea’s Psy viewed on YouTube more than 2.1 billion times.
Critics say Xiao Pingguo lacks the Westernized ingredients that helped Psy find such success.
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