"Mao Mao" is a song by Claude Channes recorded in 1967 and prominently featured in Jean-Luc Godard elaborately warped condemnation of political naivety titled "La Chinoise". The film is about a group of radical left students who live in a fancy apartment in Paris and prepare to do "da rhevolyuscheaun, bebe!" (earrape pun intended) because the world needs an inciting incident for changes to kick in. Over the course of the film - all they do is explain their complex reasoning to one another in increasingly bizarre ways. The points make no sense whatsoever but it is damn entertaining. As watching monkeys plays with fecalia. The whole affair ends with a whimper as they attempt to do a terrorist attack but it goes south and they retire from revolutionary activity because "nah!" and "shit!".
Song "Mao Mao" is conveniently placed in the middle of the film as a sort of interlude. It is built around incredibly catchy hook "Ma-Oh, Ma-Oh" and is accompanied by congnitive dissonance inducing montage of red zealots hang around with other "Little Red Books". But it is not about singing praise to that infamous chinese chairman (even if you read a wiki article about him - you will think he was kinda fucking bloodlusty moron). In fact "Mao Mao"-hook got more in common with general french chanson tradition to drop some onomatopoeia to round things up. Which is a neat and affectionate punch into Mao's fuckface. Take that, bitch - you're demoted into a onomatopoeia hook! Cry now!
Musically it is overcaffeinated polka. It tries to be menacing but ends up being cute. It charges endless one-two beat amped by synchronized guitar strum while sixties "beebee" organ is stomping in the background. Channes' spitting scenery-chewing phrasing is accompanied by sax-flute combo. It tries to add scope but makes it circus-like. Middle section with "little red book that makes everything move" is styled as a lullaby. It sounds ridiculous and this is the point.
The lyrics itself are equally scathing. It is so much tongue-in-cheek it seems like the tongues is going to protrude through the cheek. Claude Channes namedrops all sorts of bad things happening in the world all primarily concerning "military involvement of USA in Vietnam". It is built around thoughteliminating cliched noisy nothing-phrases that rounded by the hook which makes one thing clear. All that young and dashing political activists are actually doing is simply attention grabbing charging of that stupid power mantra "Ma-Oh, Ma-Oh". Because in their minds - it actually is doing something to change the state of things. Via Mysterious Ways, apparently.
"La Chinoise" studies the phenomenon of useful idiots who make right optics and some noise in the right frequency for those who are interested in spreading the infectious ideas of "reasonable alternative" further into spoiled minds of slackers. Useful idiots don't want to know the full story - they're pissed at "the system" that seemingly "abuses" them to do stuff like going to work and paying taxes. Because of that ire they are enamoured with what propaganda has to offer. And why not? It is so good - it is not like this "fucking shit" where you need to something on your own - with it you feel the care of the system and so on and so forth. Useful idiots perceive propaganda as a secret knowledge no one really understands. Sometimes they can be stupid enough to something stupid and turn their lives into living hell all while the cold, unemotive propaganda will draw them as martyrs of sorts. Russians do it all the time.
"La Chinoise" is considered to be a twisted adaptation of Fyodor Dostoesky's "The Possessed". It takes basics but everything else is Godard's own ideas. He seems to be sympathetic albeit ambiguous towards the characters. He does not show them explicitly as useful idiots - but the tone of the film tells the opposite. They are fucking stupid spoiled kids. Down with it.
"La Chinoise" is considered to be a twisted adaptation of Fyodor Dostoesky's "The Possessed". It takes basics but everything else is Godard's own ideas. He seems to be sympathetic albeit ambiguous towards the characters. He does not show them explicitly as useful idiots - but the tone of the film tells the opposite. They are fucking stupid spoiled kids. Down with it.
Below is another version of the song sung in italian by Gian Pieretti. The arrangement is more laidback and relaxed than original. It lacks the bite but replaces it with sincere delivery. As if it was performed by a student on a protest rally. Take a listen:
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