#trending: What is the Chinese 'Samsung' song and why is it viral on TikTok?

UNITED STATES — In a recent TikTok trend, its users from the United States and beyond are filming themselves dramatically lip-syncing to a Chinese song, even if they do not understand the lyrics. 

The videos feature a snippet of the song and a caption that showed a tough choice that had to be made in order for them to sing it, for instance, "Give up (desirable item) or sing in Chinese".

The juxtaposition of the song's sentimental tone with the absurdity of the question is what makes this meme funny and also perhaps why many people have started doing the same lately.

WHAT IS THE ‘SAMSUNG’ SONG?

The viral song This Life’s Fate (今生缘), released in 2009 by Chinese folk singer Chuan Zi, remains as one of his most popular songs to date.

Delivered in a powerful, melancholic tune, the song is rousing even without understanding the lyrics, which is perhaps what drew TikTok users from all over the world to take part in the latest trend. 

The Chinese phrase “cang sang” (沧桑) sung in the chorus, sounds like South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung to non-Chinese speakers, which is how it became dubbed as the “Samsung” song by online users.

"Cang sang" translates to "great changes" or "life's ups and downs".

In one video, a woman gives her own interpretation of the song with English words that sound phonetically similar: “All men cheat, some choose to cheat via Samsung.

“Could he lie? I’ll shout it over: ‘YES!’”

This has prompted Samsung Nordics, the official TikTok account for Samsung in the Nordic countries, to jump on the bandwagon and reply on TikTok: “Via what? Excuse me?!”

The video, posted four days ago, has received more than 2.4 million views as of Friday (April 12).

The song first surfaced on TikTok in March last year, when “user75337357558191” posted a clip of Chinese singer Wang San performing a rendition of the song. The video then transitioned to show the tearful reactions of the audiences and judges on a talent show, though it is possible that the two clips were edited together. 

It seems like the song had touched the hearts of non-Chinese speaking audiences as well.

One TikTok user asked: “Why is everyone crying?”

Another commented: “Why am I crying over Samsung?”

A third enthused: “I feel like he's singing about my problems.”

The trend of lip-syncing to the song with a witty caption, however, started over a week ago. It is unclear who sparked this TikTok trend.

Social video insights platform Tubular showed that the viral "Samsung" song trend has amassed 19.6 million views and 1.9 million engagements across countries such as China, Germany, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and the US in the last month.

A video by TikTok creator “bozoam”, which received 2.6 million views and more than 600,000 likes in a week as of Friday, has this caption: “Learn Chinese or stop being delusional about that girl.” 

Another TikToker said: “Admit you were wrong or sing in Chinese.” 

Referring to American fast food chain Chipotle, someone wrote: “Learn Chinese or never be able to eat Chipotle again.”

SO, WHAT IS THE SONG ABOUT?

Malaysia-based TV host and content creator Mark Odea took things up a notch by filming a parody of the song with similar sounding English lyrics dubbed over it. 

This time, it is about women cheating.

"Women cheat," he sings. "'Would you lie', you shout. 'It's over ya.'"

The song, however, is not about men — or women — cheating. Rather, it is a heartwarming song about friendship helping to overcome the hardships of life.