FM 90.1【言樂坊】

May 23, 1958: Mao Tse Tung initiates the Great Leap Forward, his second five-year plan for the People's Republic of China. In addition to imposing impossibly high quotas on mainland farmers (to produce both grain in their fields and shoddy steel in their backyard furnaces) the Chairman insists that the countrys four greatest evilsrats, mosquitoes, flies and sparrowsmust be exterminated in order to maximize production. Villagers are instructed to scream and bang pots and pans to keep the sparrows in flight until the birds die of exhaustion. Soon, the sparrow population is drastically reduced, leaving no natural predator for the countrys locustswhich proceed to decimate Chinas crops. The result is possibly the worst famine in human history. Between 1958 and 1961, as many as 43 million Chinese die of starvation. Meanwhile, local government authorities falsify agricultural reports in order to avoid Maos often senseless wrath. Soldiers are dispatched to villages to find grain that the peasants are accused of hiding. Thousands of villagers are tortured and murdered in the search for grain stores that never existed. When they run out of bark and grass to eat, peasants in some provinces resort to cannibalism.

The Chairman: Where is the grain? The people deceive their country. Relieve them of the ravages of the sparrow, and they welcome the havoc of the locust. What guidance will they accept, if not Mine? What punishment shall I mete out, if not everything at My disposal?

The Proletariat: How is it that our Leader cannot see us starving? Why do we continue to toil in vain? Is not revolution in the hearts and minds of the people? If political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, perhaps we are harvesting the wrong crops.

This is an exact quote I found from the myspace page of the L.A.-based post rock/atmospheric/metal band Red Sparowes (formed by members of heavy metal bigwigs Isis, Neurosis, etc.) The band debuted in 2005 with an astounding release "At the Soundless Dawn" and is now on tour in support of their sophomore album "Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun". The album is said to follow the story of Great Leap Forward 大躍進, a fanatic period of rapid industrialization led by Chairman Mao that has been told on many movies and books. Regardless what your sentiments are towards the Cultural Revolution, I highly recommend you catch this band live. They will be playing at the Pat's Pub in Vancouver on March 20. Trust me... this time you might want to bring your ear plug.



"Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun" (2006) Tracklist:

1. The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses
2. We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down On Our Mute Faces With a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye
3. Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe
4. A Message of Avarice Rained Down Upon Us and Carried Us Away Into False Dreams of Endless Riches.
5. 'Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In.'
6. And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, the Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole
7. Millions Starved and Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter
8. Finally, as That Blazing Sun Shone Down Upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry; and Only Then Did We Begin to Think for Ourselves

um... i guess they are trying to show off their literary prowess with these titles. :)

樂團官方網頁: Red Sparowes
樂團 Myspace: Red Sparowes