“Fat Brother” by Johan Pitkanen

I’ve been recently (mildly) obsessed with the controversy surrounding “Fat Brother“, the portly man that has been repeatedly spotted by Chinese netizens in the audience for the yearly CCTV Spring Festival Gala, always laughing, smiling, and clapping enthusiastically. I recall reading the article about him on chinaSMACK years back and decided to watch the opening to the CCTV Gala this year to see if I could spot him.

It didn’t take long.

Less than 30 minutes into the spectacle, there he was again, the cameras delivering the Big Guy to the viewing audience for yet another year.

I’m a musician (singer/songwriter) who also teaches English in Xi’an. I’ve been in China since 2006 and really have made it my second home.

So after spotting Fat Brother in the audience for 2015, I was inspired to create something which seems to have been missing: a song dedicated to the almighty “Fat Brother”.

It’s one of those awkward moments: “Was I actually inspired by this?”

From a morbid sociological curiosity to a songwriting reality, yes, I was.

Lyrics: (original English, with Chinese translation)

Fat Brother, who are you?
胖哥,你是谁?
Fat Brother, tell the truth.
胖哥,说实话。
Fat Brother, it seems to me
胖哥,看来。。。
Fat Brother, you’re a mystery.
胖哥,你是个秘密。

 
The lights come on,
台灯亮
They take the stage
人上台
It’s New Year’s Eve
除夕
You take your place,
你坐下

 
Fat brother.
胖哥。
Fat brother, what’s your name?
胖哥，你怎么称呼？
Fat brother, are you sane?
胖哥，你没神经病吧？
Fat brother, where’s your family?
胖哥，你家人了？
Fat brother, you’re a mystery.
胖哥，你是个秘密。

 
The lights come on,
台灯亮
They take the stage
人上台
It’s New Year’s Eve
每除夕
You take your place,
你坐下

 
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

Will you be there in 2016, Fat brother?
2016年你会在场吗，胖哥？

 
Tell me when to clap, tell me when to laugh
告诉我什么时候该鼓掌，告诉我什么时候该笑

Tell me when to clap and laugh…
告诉我什么时候鼓掌什么时候笑

 
Fat brother
胖哥