MLA, "Ice Cream Tonight" in the era of freedom collapse

On August 30, 2021, my little airport (MLA) released their tenth album.

The name of the album is as always, serious, literary and out-of-the-box. MLA's unique style.

"Tears of SABINA"

Two years ago, my friend S was traveling in Europe and was treated coldly by the foreign boy she liked. He called her Vienna and asked if he could help her write a song. The song was finished a few weeks later, but she had a new love and no one knew how to deal with the song. For young people, a few months can feel like a lifetime. My Little Airport's 10th pure love album "Tears of SABINA" has a total of 16 songs, recording multiple moments of emotion.

The simple album introduction, concise words, and abundant emotions are just like their lyrics.

An album contains 16 songs, which is considered a "big album" in the current pop music world. The length of the song is on the short side, and most of the lyrics are exquisite and short. There isn't much lyrical discussion in a song, it's mostly a line drawing or a private voice.

Many songs in the "Tears of SABINA" album have received a lot of playback and praise, such as the title song "Poetry and Dance Street", "Every Time You Go" which depicts a lost love, and has a Nanyang flavor. The interlude is very similar to "I Don't Know" from the theme song "Where We Go" from the movie "Days of Wild".

But what we want to talk about today is an "unpopular" song in this album, the thirteenth song of "Tears of SABINA": "Ice Cream Tonight". It has only been played 765,420 times on the music streaming media Spotify (as of the morning of October 12, 2023), which is inferior to other "hot" songs.

But even this seemingly inconspicuous song with a somewhat "nonsensical" title buries the memories and complex emotions of Hong Kong two years ago.

Tonight’s ice cream from that violent summer

The song is titled "Tonight's Ice Cream," and "Tonight" is paired with "Ice Cream." The combination of time and object is novel. The simple four-letter word can give the listener a slightly childlike image. This feeling may make the listener mistakenly believe that this song is a relaxed and happy song. The title is cleverly designed and creates tension with the lyrics.

Music was played, and it started with a piece of cold and slightly weird electronic music. To be precise, it was Mozart's "Requiem Mass in D minor" - "Entry Chant". Accompanied by the cold music, the skit begins:

何も言うことはない

Non ho niente da dire

Ich habe nichts zu sagen

No tengo nada que decir

Je n'ai rien à dire

The five languages ​​are Japanese, Italian, German, Spanish, and French. It seems like reciting scriptures, but the Chinese meaning is only one:

" I have nothing to say ."

This is a weak yet firm statement, a classic phrase often used by demonstrators arrested by the police.

We can’t help but recall four years ago, in 2019, and that violent summer of Hong Kong’s anti-extradition movement.

During the anti-extradition movement, a large number of demonstrators were subjected to excessive violence and arrests by the police. "Ice Cream Tonight" begins with the "I have nothing to say" monologue in five languages, instantly pulling us back from reality to that year. Helplessness, indignation, sadness, like a contradiction, but also like a necessity, are integrated into this simple sentence. As for the prelude "Entering the Hall", the author agrees with some people that it may be to commemorate the victims of the anti-extradition movement.

Sometimes I feel proud

Sometimes I don’t regret it

used to express anger like this

Stepping into the text of the lyrics, there are three simple and straightforward inner monologues. Here, the lyricist Lin Ah P puts himself into a protester and uses the protestor as the protagonist to express his true feelings. Regarding "Expressing Anger", the protagonists are "proud" and "no regrets". The two words are clear and clear. What is hidden behind them is the dissatisfaction and loss of Hong Kong's young generation towards politics and society. After 10 years, the stagnation of political reform, the pain of accelerating integration between China and Hong Kong, the continued expansion of social inequality, the erosion of the rule of law, and the gradual forgetting of justice have left the new generation of young people in Hong Kong confused, at a loss, and unable to find a way out. The Hong Kong they are familiar with seems to be changing quietly little by little. The Hong Kong government's push to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance will undoubtedly reignite the previously suppressed anger of young people. Therefore, "expressing anger" is understandable, and "expressing anger" with "proudness" and "without regret" is the destiny of historical development.

I can eat more ice cream tonight

Imagine being arrested at noon tomorrow

Childlike language shows that the protagonist is younger or still has a childlike mind. After "expressing anger", I will also think "I can eat more ice cream tonight", which is a kind of happiness unique to children. But then the writing changed, and the topic immediately turned serious: "Imagine being arrested tomorrow at noon." The protagonist began to seriously think about the consequences of her/his "expressing anger". Tonight's street demonstration, the police may arrest the protagonist himself at noon tomorrow. . This also reflects Hong Kong’s authoritarian rule of law from the side: after the handover of sovereignty in 1997, the Provisional Legislative Council of Hong Kong re-tightened the Public Order Ordinance, which was relatively loose during the British Hong Kong period, such as changing the process and assembly notification system to a "no-objection notice" system. When the number of people in an assembly exceeds 50, and when the number of people in a procession exceeds 30, it is illegal if a "Notice of No-Objection" is obtained from the Hong Kong Police Force. The "Notice of No-Objection" system has eroded the rights of the Hong Kong people in a sense. The right to demonstrate.

There are still some wishes that have not been fulfilled yet. I have not yet gone to Egypt, Greece, or Peru. I have not yet gotten along better with you.

The protagonist continues to think about the regrets after "I will be arrested at noon tomorrow." The protagonist has many wishes and likes to travel. The author believes that the lyricist Lin A P used "Egypt, Greece, and Peru" as three countries located in Africa, Europe, and America. , refers to the entire world. The protagonist, like other young people, has his own hobbies and life pursuits, but the last sentence, "I haven't gotten along better with you yet" seems to be the protagonist's biggest knot and regret. Who is this "you"? The author did not say clearly. According to the author's humble opinion, the protagonist feels that the one who does not get along better with "you" should be one of his parents. If it is a boyfriend/girlfriend, the author does not need to use the words "once" and "better" to describe it. When teenagers grow up, they will inevitably have tense relationships with their parents, due to maturing self-awareness or conflicts of values. The protagonist may not have a harmonious relationship with his parents due to the above reasons, but at the moment when he is thinking about being arrested, what he cares about most is his parents at home.

Je n'ai rien à dire

Non ho niente da dire

This skit is a repetition of the beginning, forming a repetition. The two sentences are still in French and Italian: "I have nothing to say." The author will not elaborate here.

The endless night going on outside and countless people in the distance are all related to me

The above four sentences are not the original work of the lyricist Lin Ah P. They were written by the famous modern Chinese writer Lu Xun, selected from the article "This Is Also Life" in "Collected Essays of Qie Jie Ting". These four sentences are popular among the people. When Lu Xun wrote this sentence, it was August 23, 1936, only one month before Lu Xun's death. In 1936, China was invaded by foreign enemies, the authorities were ineffective, and the people were in poverty. One month before he died of illness, Lu Xun still did not change his original intention, caring about society and caring for the people. Lin A P quoted Lu Xun's famous sayings and expressed it through the protagonist's voice. The protagonist is highly similar to Lu Xun (or is the same type of person): he has a high sense of social responsibility and group identity. The protagonist does not feel that the protest on the streets is for her/himself. She/he, like Lu Xun back then, has a high degree of humanistic care and an urgent and sincere hope that society can change. Lu Xun's famous sayings create a clever fit in the lyrics. They are both in "night", and they are also "countless people". This treatment by the lyricist Lin A P is undoubtedly a clever move.

Tonight I can walk eight thousand miles and imagine that tomorrow there will be an amnesty for everyone. Tonight I can imagine that at noon tomorrow (Je n'ai rien à dire)

"Eight Thousand Miles of Road" is an allusion. The original sentence comes from the well-known Yue Fei's "Man Jiang Hong", that is, "Thirty years of fame and dust, eight thousand miles of road of clouds and moon." Yue Fei used "eight thousand miles of clouds and moons" to describe his long journey of conquering the south and the north, fighting against the Jin Dynasty and defending the country. Later generations also used it to metaphorize the long journey. The "eight thousand miles" in "I can walk eight thousand miles tonight" is undoubtedly a false reference. The protagonist cannot "walk eight thousand miles" in one night. But the protagonist expresses her/his determination: "You can walk eight thousand miles", that is, you are willing to do your best for the goal, no matter how far away the end is, or how difficult it is to achieve the goal. "Imagine that everyone will be pardoned at noon tomorrow", is the protagonist imagining that the authorities will compromise tomorrow and the police will pardon all arrested protesters? This statement is not unreasonable and unsatisfactory. But in the author’s humble opinion, this should be because the protagonist imagined that the demonstrations were ultimately successful, reforms were restarted, the government was reorganized, and bad laws were rewritten, and all the arrested demonstrators were eventually acquitted by the authorities. Coming to the last line of the whole song: "Tonight I can imagine tomorrow at noon." It has an open ending, with a sense of unfulfilled intention. The protagonist "imagine tomorrow at noon", but what is "tomorrow at noon"? Is it sunny and sunny, or is it dark clouds and stormy weather? At that moment, no one knew.

New Hong Kong, obliteration and resistance to forgetting

The protagonist in "Ice Cream Tonight" did not know at the time that just one year later, the "tomorrow noon" she/he imagined had arrived, the "Hong Kong National Security Law" was hurriedly implemented, and the familiar Hong Kong had completed its 20th anniversary. Three years of bumpy roads have officially come to an end. The era of "liberal autocracy" in Hong Kong is over, the Iron Curtain has been drawn down, authoritarianism has taken hold, and the post-National Security Law era has begun.

Mass arrests, mass prosecutions, and mass exiles have been the collective memory of Hong Kong for three years. The anti-extradition movement that lasted for more than a year from beginning to end was easily defined by the Hong Kong government as a short "black violence" and it tried to forcefully turn this page of history. They forcibly distorted collective memory, erased all traces of movement, removed "sensitive" books and materials from shelves, and then pretended that everything was business as usual. However, no matter how much pain and helplessness there is, days will continue and life will return to normal. My Little Airport (MLA) released its ninth album "You Said You'll Find Me Later" in 2018. After three years of silence, "Tears of SABINA" was released gently, without being restless or agitated, and without being hoarse, but it refused to be forgotten. Whether it is "Classmate K", "Ice Cream Tonight" or "Smoke" in the album, they are all "soft" records of history. Lin A P said that this is a "pure love album". In our opinion, this kind of "pure love" is not only the love of personal partners, but also the love for Hong Kong, the people "locally", and the love of that bygone era.

In the dark age, the independent spirit seems so weak and pale. Restless news, alienation from the mainstream, and more importantly, great uncertainty about the future. When the establishment has become politically correct, or even the only option, other independent voices are seen as deviant. MLA still insists on recording the past in the present, which can be regarded as an examination and response to history. In the post-national security law era, what is indispensable and should be left behind is a cold gaze and a sense of humor in viewing a highly politicized society, although Hong Kong no longer leaves much room for them.

Fortunately, MLA is still releasing songs and holding shows (concerts). They are using their own voices to continue to speak for Hong Kong and this era, and leave some independent spirit behind, even though Hong Kong is now turned upside down. In their limited space for expression, they recorded more stories like "Ice Cream Tonight". Since you don’t know what will happen tomorrow, seize today and remember yesterday.