Parody: Chained Melody

[gato]

A Chinese take on the classic American ballad "Unchained Melody" (Macromedia Flash)

http://www.i-popple.com/flash/hk.swf

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm

Chained Melody (2/15/2006) The Macromedia Flash file Chained Melody by Hu Laiping ( via Massage Milk) is incredibly funny, and yet there is a poignant social message about how the grassroots people endure. If you don't understand Chinese, here is the script. The music is sung to the tune Unchained Melody (made famous by the Righteous Brothers) to Chinese lyrics (some of them in Changde (Hunan) dialect).

In the first act, the street vendor explains what he plans to sell (e.g. potatoes at one RMB per jin). In the second act, a woman asks for the price of potato. He gets greedy and says, "Five RMB per jin." She says, "Wow! This is robbery!" He pulls out a knife and says, "Yes, this is robbery. Now hand me over all your money." Whereupon she beats the crap out of him because she is a Taikwondo expert. In the third act, a tough guy asks for the price of potato. He gets scared and says, "Half an RMB per jin." Whereupon the tough guy beats the crap out of the street vendor for failing to recognize the top thug in the street market. In the fourth act, the street vendor is hauled away by the police for creating incidents. The street vendor is first read his rights: "You have the right not to defecate. But if you do, each piece of turd can be and will be used as evidence against you!" You can enjoy it even if you don't understand any Chinese.