“HAVE you gotten married?”

    “Have you received a salary raise??”

    “Have you bought a house???”

    Are you familiar with these questions starting with “have you” and ending in at least one question mark?

    If your answer is yes and you are getting sick of answering these questions, you probably have become a member of the “home-fear group.”

    The “home-fear group” refers to those feeling anxious about returning home during the Spring Festival. They have deep concerns about going back home for such factors as heavy economic pressure, high costs of the festival, the troubles of buying tickets, the long distance of the journey and exposure of private matters relating to family or love life.

    Now, a special song has been tailor-made for this group.

    After the popularity of the “So Far, the Sofa is So Far” in the past year, Shanghai Rainbow Indoor Chorus has released another song called “What I Do is for Your Own Good” on Tuesday.

    The seven-minute song utilizes a choir-style singing and rap. The beginning of the song is sung by the choir, which involves a family scene where a recently returned young adult is bombarded by questions from family members. After the “question attack” from relatives, the young man decides to reflect on his past and also defend himself through rap.

    The song has gone viral since a video of the show was posted online Tuesday, garnering over 120,000 views in under seven hours.

    It is worthwhile to note that none of the singers are professionals but actually are music-lovers with diverse careers, including programmers, designers and accountants, as well as graduate students in anthropology and chemistry. As it is not a serious song, some funny sounds and postures are added for entertainment.

    “I wanted to present some of my thoughts on this social phenomenon,” said Jin Chengzhi, the choir’s conductor and composer. “Parents care most about your work, love life, or studies,” he told Shanghai-based online publication Sixth Tone. “Each time I come up against these sudden onslaughts of questions, I always have a sense of panic.”

    But no matter how disheartening the experience can be, Jin believes that humor is the best way to approach the subject. “I don’t want to take too serious a tone and tell people that this is the reality,” he said. “I’d rather be more playful. That’s what Mozart attempted to do many years ago.”

    “I like the fact that these people are making good music out of their mundane office or student lives,” said Wang Xiaoting, director of programming at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. But the 35-year-old admitted that it was both “pleasing and annoying” that a comedic song was garnering so much attention. “The front man of the chorus seems to have grasped a formula that is a bit predictable to me,” he said.

    According to the official Weibo account of Shanghai Rainbow Indoor Chorus, this is more than just a funny song, but a useful guide for young people. A careful listen to some of the lyrics will inspire you on how to wisely answer many “Spring Festival-specific” questions.

    “It is a very interesting yet brainwashing song, truly describing the embarrassing situation quite a few young Chinese people have been trapped in,” Sina Weibo user Santilin Clouds said.

    Generally speaking, a hit song can reflect on the mood of listeners at a certain period, and “What I Do is for Your Own Good” is no exception. Many young people have expressed their sense of identity to it.

    “I am not used to the change in my position, from a receiver to a giver of red envelops. And I just graduated from college last year and have not saved much money yet, which really frustrates me,” said Zhang Qian, a 24-year-old woman working at a State-owned enterprise.

    “I am very happy to return home for a reunion during the festival and cherish the valuable moments to spent with my parents. However, I am already 32 years old but still single, a knot in my family members’ hearts that cannot be untied for many years,” said Peng Xiaochun, an English teacher working at a public high school.

    According to a survey recently conducted among 1,918 young people by the research center at China Youth Daily, an overwhelming 86.4 percent of interviewees think it is necessary to return to their hometown during the Spring Festival. However, nearly half of them (42.6 percent) have expressed their concerns for returning, as they are afraid of losing face for an average life or career.

    “Mediocre performance in school or work cannot be the excuse for not coming back. Spring Festival is a golden opportunity for strengthening family bonds, but many young people have not realized the significance of it,” Ma Jiezhen, a Guangzhou-based folklorist said.

    At the beginning of the music video, a classic line from “Forrest Gump” is cited: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

    “Indeed, we may not be that good but we will work hard in the future. That’s enough! After all, the essence of spending the Spring Festival is reunion not compression,” the song echoes the theme at the ending.

    (SD-Agencies)