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Last week I was watching many reaction videos on Youtube of Let 3's Mama ŠČ performance on Dora selection for Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) and it was very interesting, to say the least.

For most of the Youtubers doing reaction videos of ESC 2023 entries, when they stumbled up on Croatian entry Mama ŠČ by Let 3 it was mostly like this...

And Now for Something Completely Different


And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

At least when compared to the current competition for ESC 2023...

So what was going on?
Let's start from the beginning...
But where is the beginning?

Perhaps here...

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Eurovision Song Contest 2023

European Song Contest (ESC) 2023 is taking place in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

The 2022 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Turin, Italy, was won by Ukraine with the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra, so in accordance with Eurovision tradition, the EBU initially offered Ukraine the opportunity to organise the 2023 contest. Ukraine had hosted the contest twice before, in 2005 and 2017, both times in Kyiv. However, in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has been judged too dangerous to hold the event in Ukraine. The previous time the contest was not held in the previous year's winning country was in 1980.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

A historical overview of all Eurovision Song Contest winners (1956-2022) you can see here.

ESC 2023 is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after Ukraine was unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to security concerns caused by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA - PBC), the contest will be held at the Liverpool Arena, and will consist of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May, and a final on 13 May 2023.

(Non) Participating Countries

Thirty-seven countries participates in the ESC 2023 contest, which is the lowest number of participating countries in a single edition since 2014.

Participating countries:
🇦🇱 Albania, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇦🇺 Australia, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇸🇪 Sweden
🇦🇲 Armenia, 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇬🇪 Georgia, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇸🇲 San Marino
🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇨🇿 Czechia, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇷🇴 Romania

Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia ceased their participation, mainly due to the economic impact of the 2021–2023 global energy crisis.

The Russian Federation has been excluded from the competition in ESC 2023.

Decision to Exclude Russian Federation

A top executive at the Eurovision Song Contest has said the decision to exclude Russia in 2022 was “hard”. How Europe feels very much affects the contest.

Martin Osterdahl, the executive supervisor of Eurovision, said in a recent interview:

Although the contest was not political it must always reflect the basic values of democracy. It is also that when you look back in time you see that the Eurovision Song Contest is like a log book of what has happened in Europe, what the trends have been in Europe. But, also, what is the kind of mood and sentiment of Europe, and what is the social context of Europe at the time.

Why was Russia excluded from Eurovision in 2022?

There was international outcry when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with the cultural arena becoming an expression for anti-Putin sentiment.

Russia’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest was objected by neighbouring Finland, who was the first to say they wouldn’t compete with Russia, while Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway all called for Russia to be excluded.

Eventually the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) excluded Russia from the contest, with Russian national broadcasters suspending their memberships and the EBU preventing them from participating in future contests.

Osterdahl: When we say that we are not political, what we always should stand up for are the basic and ultimate values of democracy. Everyone is right to be who they are. This will be a Eurovision Song Contest that really shows the values that we talk about – solidarity, reaching out, uniting through music.

In that context the Croatian entry for ESC 2023, Let 3's Mama ŠČ won Croatian national competition for ESC 2023 entry in the competition of 18 songs with majority of votes, both by juries in 10 Croatian TV studios and by televotes from the audience.

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Mama ŠČ on Dora at Croatian TV and Eurovision Youtube Channels


Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! | HRT Dora | 15.9K subscribers

The video of Mama ŠČ performance by Let 3, published on the Croatian Radio TV (HRT) channel, with 15.9K subscribers on Youtube (in real life almost every household in Croatia is forced to be subscribed to HRT, whether they watch it or not, kind of a TV tax or license for Croatian residents, as is in some other countries in Europe like Germany for instance) went viral and got exposure to more than 3 million views on Youtube and still counting...

After Mama ŠČ and Let 3, the winners of Croatian Dora song contest for ESC being, perhaps a bit reluctantly, accepted by European Broadcasting Union (EBU) after checking the footage and the lyrics translation to English and after getting permission by HRT to share materials with EBU, Mama ŠČ's echo is repeating the pattern on ESC Youtube channel and being now viewed for more than 1.3 million times.


Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! | Croatia 🇭🇷 | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023 | Eurovision Song Contest | 5.15M subscribers

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Or better to start here, from my personal experience...

My Personal Experience

What I have seen was impossible to be unseen or forgotten, but was difficult to describe it in words... However, let me try... And anyway, writing is a good way to deal with traumas...

After watching and listening the Mama ŠČ performance by Let 3 myself, with intense flashy lightning on the scene, hectically fast punk drum roll thunder and electric guitar electrocution intro to what appeared, after the flashing on the scene scene ceased, to be a pretty steady and relatively slow, almost seducing military march matched by colorful military drag uniform style in glittery and pastelle colored outfits in flesh as well as on the video wall, being dominated by what seemed to be female clones in green and white aerobic outfits with stripes, led by a trans cheer leader, accompanied by hypnotically monotonous tacts of the tractor engine in idle mode and light, almost relaxed marching in Macarena style, strengthened by occasional revving of the heavy diesel engine, with a catchy tune and a deep lead singer's voice, with some even deeper, relatively subtle autotune undertones and the chorus of the rest of the Let 3 members. It felt overwhelming and shocking, but seductive and hypnotic at the same time, being suddenly interrupted by breaks of something completely different, breaking the hypnotic spell just when I started getting used to the rhythm and getting into the zone, leaving me stressed and on the edge.

So after recovering from initial shock of my visual, audio and perhaps a few other perception sensors, with a grain of disappointment by minimalism and seeming triviality of its lyrics, with additional alphabetic sounds rafals in ascending, interleaved and reverse order being played at the same time, spitting sounds like bullets, sawing death, destruction and chaos on the scene, with drag soldiers dropping on the floor and twitching under the rain of alphabet sounds, leaving only the lead singer-general standing... Followed by drag soldiers coming back shortly after and getting up again, this time as zombies in a grotesque march and the music turning into the opera part, mixing harmony, order and chaos of sounds and visuals into an intriguing confusion...

Speaking Croatian und understanding all the words in the lyrics didn't seem as much of an advantage... The lyrics which were escalating from childish to banally, and then angrily critical in less than 90 seconds, suddenly seemed not so trivial anymore, but cryptic and intriguing. The visuals, being also flashy, sharply contrastive and colorful, were also hinting to meanings more or less hidden in the plain sight with the final touch of the sudden Diabolus ex Machina appearance in the form of the 6th Njinle character carying, erecting and igniting a couple of nuclear missiles made of papier-mâché... After the final salute, it was like waking up from a nightmare into the reality that felt just the same as the grim dream itself...

So the story was more visual, theatrical and satyrical to be more precise... However, my attention was fully present and my curiosity woke up as well, hungry as hell... The song cut deep, its symbolism started working subconsciously and I was hooked, I was ready to dive in...

Deep...

So, let's see the lyrics first...

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Lyrics

LET 3 - Mama ŠČ! Lyrics

[Stanza 1]
Mama kupila traktora
ŠČ!
Mama kupila traktora
ŠČ!
Mama kupila traktora
Trajna-nina,
Armagedon nona
ŠČ!

Mama kupila traktora
ŠČ!
Mama kupila traktora
ŠČ!
Mama kupila traktora
Trajna-nina,
Armagedon nona
TRAKTOR

[Stanza 2]
Mama ljubila morona
ŠČ!
Mama ljubila morona
ŠČ!
Mama ljubila morona
Trajna-nina,
Armagedon nona

[Pre-Chorus]
A-b-c-č-ć-d-dž-đ [e-f-g-h] (A|b|c|č|ć|d|dž|đ|e|f|g|h)
I-j-k-l-lj-m-n-nj-O (A|b|c|č|ć|d|dž|đ)
(O-p-r-s, O-p-r-s-š-t), (Đ|dž|d|ć|č|c|b|a)
[u-v-z-ž] (H-d-z, h-d-z)
Mama, mama, mama, ja se idem igrat'
Mama, idem u rat

[Chorus]
Onaj mali psihopat (Rat, rat)
Mali, podli psihopat (Rat, rat)
Krokodilski psihopat (Rat, rat)
Mama, idem u rat

[Post-Chorus]
TRAKTOR

[Stanza 3]
Mama ljubila morona
ŠČ!
Mama ljubila morona
ŠČ!
Mama ljubila morona
Trajna-nina
Armagedon, nona

[Chorus] x 2
Onaj mali psihopat
Mali, podli psihopat
Krokodilski psihopat
Mama, idem u rat

Mama, mama, mama

[Chorus]
Onaj mali psihopat
Mali, podli psihopat
Krokodilski psihopat
Mama, idem u rat
ŠČ!

---

English Translation

Let (Flight) 3 - Mama ŠČ! Lyrics

[Stanza 1]
Mom bought a tractor
Sh-Ch!
Mom bought a tractor
Sh-Ch!
Mom bought a tractor
Trolling little girl,
Armageddon granny
Sh-Ch!

Mom bought a tractor
Sh-Ch!
Mom bought a tractor
Sh-Ch!
Mom bought a tractor
Trolling little girl,
Armageddon granny
TRACTOR

[Stanza 2]
Mom kissed the moron
Sh-Ch!
Mom kissed the moron
Sh-Ch!
Mom kissed the moron
Trolling little girl,
Armageddon granny

[Pre-Chorus]
A-b-c-č-ć-d-dž-đ [e-f-g-h] (A|b|c|č|ć|d|dž|đ|e|f|g|h)
I-j-k-l-lj-m-n-nj-O (A|b|c|č|ć|d|d|đ)
(O-p-r-s, O-p-r-s-š-t), (Đ|dž|d|ć|č|c|b|a)
[u-v-z-ž] (H-d-z, h-d-z)
Mom, mom, mom, I'm going to play'
Mom, I'm going to war

[Chorus]
That little psychopath (War, war)
Little, vile psychopath (War, war)
Crocodile Psychopath (War, War)
Mom, I'm going to war

[Post-Chorus]
TRACTOR

[Stanza 3]
Mom kissed the moron
Sh-Ch!
Mom kissed the moron
Sh-Ch!
Mom kissed the moron
Trolling little girl
Armageddon, granny

[Chorus] x 2
That little psychopath
Little, vile psychopath
Crocodile psychopath
Mom, I'm going to war

Mom, mom, mom

[Chorus]
That little psychopath
Little, vile psychopath
Crocodile psychopath
Mom, I'm going to war
Sh-Ch!

---

Interpretation of the Lyrics

As guests in the N1 Pressing interview before the national Dora competition for Croatian Eurovision Song Contest Entry, Let 3 members Zoran Prodanović Prlja and Damir Martinović Mrle, when asked about Dora competition 2023 in Opatija, they said the following:

Damir Martinović Mrle: We accepted Dora as one of our projects. Everything we do is a novel, and all our songs are part of that novel, and they continue to be written by themselves. And now it was Dora's turn. It is also an introduction to our Antivalentine's Day. It was an interesting combination.

Zoran Prodanović Prlja: Let 3 has no competitive urges, but the band has been listening to fans for years saying that they should compete at Dora.
And we, good as we are, fulfill wishes. This year we have a very good song, it is far from mockery, it is an anti-war song. Appearing on Dora can have a long reach, and Dora is a good training ground for viewership. Such opportunities should be used so that artists like us would convey messages.[/i]

They state that in the song Mama ŠČ they sing about the current war in Ukraine.

N1 Press: You mentioned earlier that Mama ŠČ is an anti-war song. How do you comment those, who recognized Putin in that little psychopath?

Damir Martinović Mrle: If this is an anti-war song, and it is, then we are definitely talking about this current war, and if some recognized him in the song, perhaps they recognized it well.

Zoran Prodanović Prlja: We want to send a message to those who think that the planet is their toy and who manage everyone like puppets, and at the moment that guy is a prominent mannequin of that style, so it was his turn for us to dedicate him a song.

N1 Press: Why Mama ŠČ? What is ŠČ, that you are also wearing on your uniforms, what is the meaning behind it?

Damir Martinović Mrle: ŠČ is, let's say the oldest alphabet existing, discovered 5000 years before the Pyramids in Egypt were built. And some say that ŠČ is the oldest blood type, but it can also be a sigh during orgasm or meditation.

N1 Press: However, you have ŠČ not only in the song, isn't that right?

Damir Martinović Mrle: We have T-shirts, glasses, beer, everything a person needs.

N1 Press: If you win Dora, it would be also interesting to hear how would foreigners pronounce ŠČ.

Damir Martinović Mrle: And if we win on Dora, we certainly won't be singing in English at ESC.

N1 Press: What have you prepared for the performance?

Damir Martinović Mrle: We have made beautiful costumes for the performance. Until recently, we had apocalypse costumes that represented the five horsemen. These were war, plague, death and famine. The fifth was the one that unites all 4, which is the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Community, ruling party in Croatia).

Zoran Prodanović Prlja: But now we have sewn completely new costumes that will have their premiere on Dora. All our public performances, music videos, costimography and coreography are part of what Let 3 is. Let 3 is not just music but the whole expression, Let 3 consists of a team of about 20 people. The costumes will have their premiere in Opatija. We have already recorded the music video, as soon as we perform the song on Dora, it will immediately be released."

N1 Press: And what if you win on Dora?

Damir Martinović Mrle: Then the promotion of the song will be even greater than we expected. For instance we like the light show. And on Dora we are hoping it will be spectacular. And we know that the the light show on the stage in Liverpool is even more spectacular. That is the only thing that attracts us, that light show... And of course, the night life, a lot of sex and drugs and such things...

Zoran Prodanović Prlja: We just need to be careful to watch on the right side first before crossing the road...

N1 Press: How much have you been following the Eurovision Song Contest lately? Some fans have been, perhaps not disappointed, but surprised that Let 3 applied for Dora and ESC. And I know it is hard to fit in Let 3 in that profile. But lately it has become more inclusive...

Damir Martinović Mrle: I have younger kids at home and they adore Eurovision, so I watch it as well because of them.

Zoran Prodanović Prlja: Same here. We watch it and it's fun. People like to follow competitions, and on the other hand, it's the top as far as the production level is concerned.

---

Originality

How different and original was it in general?
Well, still quite, depending on the context and different layers...

As in the Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different Flying Circus trailer the narrator put it so well... Let me paraphrise it slightly...
Just once in a decade, in a lifetime maybe the world of entertainment is disrupted and utterly elated by something entirely new...
It could be the lyrics... The presentation...
The performers...
Or a combination of all three that team together to transform the ordinary into the original...
To emerge with something completely different...

So was the performance of Let 3' Mama ŠČ, and as if they used Monty Python as a guide, they have it (almost) all...
Crossdressing, dangerous grannies, ridiculous military march correographies, creating havoc, being lost in translation, sexual connotations in inappropriate places, lessons on how to appreciate good music and using language as a psychological weapon during a war...

Let's say that Let 3 is in a good company... Of Monty Python, Charlie Chaplin, Queen, Village People, Laibach, Rammstein, Los Del Rio, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, as well as Charles Baudelaire, Bertold Brecht, Aristophanes, Feral Tribune and Charlie Hebdo.

Even if they have been standing on the shoulders of the giants, building it from there, and if mentioned references served as inspiration or even imitation, as the sincerest form of flattery, they have remained true to themselves and brought some new elements and combinations to the mix...

On Croatian (and earlier on ex-Yugoslavia) music scene Let 3 has been present for more than 35 years and we have seen them both in uniforms as well as (half)naked and in skirts. Now they combine all that together, with multiple music genres from a child song to an opera packed tightly together in a unique mix, with the lyrics full of symbolism and a strong, both local and global, message recognizing the importance of the moment and packing it in an Eurovision song format, surpassing the competition or at least standing out.

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But let's get back now to reaction Youtube videos. I was especially interested in what the musicians among them have to say...

This one by GianniSka, a musician from Italy, who has 88.2K subscribers.


GianniSka: Absolutely fantastic, disruptive as in nature, irreverent punk.
Now, I think the references are clear enough. In short, compared to dictatorial regimes and therefore to this ironic mockery, this seems clear.
Now the various references escape me, but the power, even the theatricality of the band is extraordinary!

Like how deep the irony message sent me back, I don't know why to the memory comes Charlie Chaplin's film. That is, for a moment it occurred to me Charlie Chaplin, when he was parodying and I find them portentous...

Unfortunately I can't grasp all the nuances because the translation is quite cryptic...

Certainly the message is clear and powerful and strong.
They are absolutely great!

In short, my generation comes from Rock, comes from Punk, and these artists are absolutely powerful and believable.
I don't know how many will be able to decode their messages, because not many go into specifics of, let's say, about this band and somehow you don't go looking deeply at the message.
If perhaps for many it may be cryptic, to me it seems quite clear and also powerful and in short that this genre, that this music, that this band presents itself in this historical moment at Eurovision.

I find it an absolutely extraordinary thing, I only congratulate Croatia and the extraordinary choice it has made of this band.
Nothing else to add, except the compliments also to Let 3 and to this representation of punk rock that I find absolutely delicious.

I conclude as always by saying Enjoy life, enjoy music and be happy!

---

And somebody wrote in the comments:

... Music - Can't read it, but I can hear it.
The score may have graphic or aesthetic merits independent of the performance, but it is not, per se, music. Said that, music is the most harmonious result of the organization of several elements; a construction with a deliberate cut; sounds, silences even noises, with the aim to induce ecstasy.

When I hear this, it doesn't happen, is anything but music, won't even reflect on what visual looks like, sorry!

And I have been thinking about this... And in this context, this being Mama ŠČ by Let 3.



There might be a good point, but it's not that simple and (maybe) it's not quite right...

So the questions are, can we recognize good music easily and does good music need interpretation? (And of course, different people, different music tastes...)

Are Good Music and Likeable Music the Same Thing?

Music really could be the most harmonious result of the composition, and it usually is, especially in pop music, where, in order to make a song commercially successful, you need to make it highly likable (and it doesn't have to be very sophisticated, it can be fairly simple, too...) in order to make it popular, so the highest number of people wants to listen to it and buy it... And that is, or was, what Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is, or was, all about.

What is Music and What is Good Music?

However, it's not that simple.
Music in general, as well as the good music in general, is much more than that, it's much more than pop music.

Music is art.

What is Good Art?

And good art is creative and imaginative, could be technically proficient, could be beautiful and/or could have great emotional power or express conceptual ideas or be inspiring.

And as our emotions can vary from depression to extasy, and from fear to rage, so the expresiveness of the music can vary to match these emotions.

What is Good and Scary Music?

Do you like Mozart's music? Or perhaps Bach, Verdi, Wagner and Orff? Or the horror movies like Jaws, Psycho, Dracula or The Twilight Zone?

Here is the classical music Halloween edition, so check it out.

Is this music likeable? Perhaps not, or not that much. Is it good? It is more than good... These are masterpieces.

Good and Unlistenable Music?

If you want to go to the extremes, here are more examples...
Have you watched The Shining? The Exorcist? Shutter Island?
Have you listened to Frank Zappa? His music was inspired by some of the authors of these pieces:

10 Pieces Of Music To Make Your Ears Bleed

Are these music pieces likeable? On the contrary, they are most probably unlistenable for the majority of people at least. But still, they are more than good, they are masterpieces. And if you look that list of music pieces more closely and what were inspirations for them, you could notice that at least 5 of them have been inspired by wars and acts of violence (while the rest were most likely experimental). Artists are usually sensitive beings, and good artists can express themselves well through their art. And it is often that artists react strongly to war and violence, and some of the best works of art have been inspired by it.

All the way from Velasquez, Delacroix, Goya, Manet and Picaso, to Banksy, artists have mostly been opposing to wars and its horrors...

7 Paintings Made on War-Time Execution Theme

The list of literary works with anti-war thematics goes from Aristophanes to Khaled Hosseini and Michael Hastings...

List of books with anti-war themes is long...

In music it varies from classical to contemporary music...

The most moving classical music composed in wartime.

And 7 Songs about Violence and War, from John Lennon and The Beatles, Prince, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, U2, The Cranberries and The Zombies...

So does Let 3 and their song Mama ŠČ oppose the wars, the war propaganda and dictatorship...

Remember that one specific date in February, almost a year ago and the news with this quote?

I would now like to say something very important for those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside. No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.?

And the news titles from these days... For instance...

How to think about the risk of nuclear war, according to 3 experts (Feb 2022)

Since then we have been repeatedly reminded of this time and time again...

Here is the list of Nuclear threats during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

With titles like these:

Putin has threatened nuclear action. Here's what Russia is actually capable of (March 2022)

Putin could use nuclear weapon if he felt war being lost – US intelligence chief (May 2022)

Putin warns West: Threat to resort to nuclear weapons ‘not a bluff’ (September 2022)

Putin’s nuclear threats: Should the West take them seriously? (October 2022)

Putin: Nuclear risk is rising, but we are not mad (December 2022)

Putin ally warns NATO of nuclear war if Russia is defeated in Ukraine (January 2023)

Putin loyalist dials up nuclear rhetoric as NATO partners push for more weapons for Ukraine (January 2023)

Putin’s nuclear threats move Doomsday Clock closest ever to Armageddon, atomic scientists say (January 2023)

A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight (January 2023)

The path to peace in Ukraine runs directly through Putin’s red lines (February 2023)

And the last time, just a few days ago, on St. Valentine's Day, 3 days after Croatian music competition Dora has already finished and Let 3 was selected as the representative of Croatia for ESC.

I don't know on which continent you live and if you felt and feel safe enough, but here in Europe these threats seem really serious and way too close...

And Mama ŠČ is an artistic response to these threats. It is a way how to deal with this anxiety and fears.

And Let 3's Mama ŠČ is not a typical ESC song, it's not a pop song at all, but it is art and it actually is a good song.
If you look at it purely as a musician, it is unusual collage of alternative rock, the shock rock, mixed with dance macarena-like part it contains parts of a musical and parts of an opera.


After or even before listening to the song Mama ŠČ, there will probably be some questions...

First, how to pronounce ŠČ in the title of the song Mama ŠČ?
What does ŠČ mean? Is it a sound or a word?

And if you listen to the lyrics, more questions might follow...

Who is mama ŠČ and whose mama is she?
And why did she buy a tractor? What tractor?
And who or what is Armageddon-nona?
And what does it all have to do with psychopaths and crocodiles?
And who exactly goes to the war and why they are going?

And if you watch the music video performance, there might be even more questions to follow...

Where did that 6th guy appear from? Why does he carry the rockets? And what is it written on his forehead?
And what is it, is it Ninja or Njinle? And what does that mean?

Is this video for real or is this a joke?
Or are they just crazy?

And then a bit later...

How did that song end up being selected for ESC?
And why would a Country like Croatia select such a weird song? They haven't done anything like that in the last 30 years or so... They have always sent songs that fit the format of the ESC contest well and mostly don't stand out in any significant way... What happened, have they gone mad?
Don't they want to win this contest?
Are they mocking with it?
Should this song be allowed to participate in it at all?

Or am I missing something here?
Is the secret hidden in the lyrics? Or behind the lyrics?
What does it really mean? And why don't they just say what they mean?

And then if you think a bit more about this whole thing...

Perhaps it's a bit raw and vulgar and rough on the edges at the first sight and first listening.
Perhaps it's a bit confusing and maybe it seems a bit childish at the beginning...
(And yes, the children might like it, sing it and/or dance on it or do already... Definitely, there are parts of it that are quite catchy...)
And it might seem at least a bit cryptic...

And it might definitely be shocking.
But it is a brave response.

And the deeper you dig, the more genial it looks...

And if you stay open and give yourself a chance to understand it, the more and more you might appreciate it.
The more and more you listen to it and the more you think about it, the more it might grow on you...
And most of all it's a life lesson for all of us...

Yes, it is an atypical song, an odd one, a weird one, the one that stands out and can't be easily put into any box or a drawer, could not be even graded easily and compared to the other songs.

Yes, on the first listening Let 3's song Mama ŠČ perhaps isn't the most likeable song in the world, or perhaps not even in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, or perhaps it wasn't even the most likable song on the Dora Song Contest.

Perhaps it is not even a masterpiece (although, I don't necessarily agree with that), but who am I to judge?
I am not an expert, and even so... Only time will tell.
It is a long list of artists who were ahead of their time and who found fame only after their death...

Artists who found fame after death

So, I'll mention only the most famous ones today: Johann Sebastian Bach, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Stieg Larsson, Herman Melville, Claude Monet, Franz Kafka, El Greco, John Keats, Bruce Lee, Georges Bizet, Anne Frank, Jane Austen, Mikhail Bulgakov, William Shakespeare, Amedeo Modigliani, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Allan Poe and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

However Let 3 has been trying to expand people's horizons for 35+ years already and even if they have become old(er) and haven't become world famous (yet), nor they have become big in Japan so far, at least they are famous in Croatia and the rest of the countries of former Yugoslavia. So, it's not that their value hasn't been recognized yet, at least in this region of the world.

And Perhaps Let 3 and Mama ŠČ strayed into this Eurovision Song Contest Competition and perhaps their song is an ugly duckling of this contest...
But it is definitely an interesting one and a unique one there, among other candidates.
But who knows, perhaps this ugly duckling will grow until May and perhaps it finds its flock and spread its wings on the big stage in Liverpool...

Or perhaps Let 3 are even like those weaver-swindlers from The Emperor's New Clothes, who are trying to convince us that their art, and their art expression and their fashion expression are something worthy and original, and that all those who don't see it are either inept or stupid, so we play along although unwillingly, while all that we really see in them is a bunch of old half-naked middle-age guys in funny costumes, trying to tell us something hardly even pronounceable, in probably a foreign language that we might not understand and probably don't appreciate, because our age, nation, languages, cultures, beliefs, music tastes and styles differ a bit too much. (Even when we want to be polite, tolerant, inclusive, liberal and politically correct or even woke.)

And on top of that we might also not want to hear (all of) it as this song and its message are neither likeable nor pleasant. Or maybe they are just like that child from the same fairy tale that simply blurts what we all think and perhaps want to say, but don't dare to say out (too) loud, that the emperor is wearing nothing at all or that he really is what they are singing in that Mama ŠČ song...

That little psychopath.
A little vile psychopath.
Crocodile psychopath.

This song is definitely not an ideal choice for Eurovision Song Contest, let alone the sure winner.
It is a risk. And everybody is aware of it. But it is a brave choice.

Basically, Croatia had the type of choice like in Matrix...



The choice between taking a blue pill or taking a red pill.

You take the blue pill... the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

The Blue Pill

The blue pill being playing it safe and remaining in the contented experience of our usual choices that don't stand out much, everything stays the same. Something like this:


Harmonija disonance - Nevera (Lei, lei)

Or...

...Taking the red pill, being willing to learn a potentially unsettling and life-changing truth


The Red Pill

You take the red pill... you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.



So, Croatia took the red pill choice with:


Let 3 - Mama ŠČ! | Croatia 🇭🇷 | National Final Performance | Eurovision 2023

So how deep the rabbit hole goes?
Quite deep... Personally, it took me a week to get to the bottom of it and process it all...

This video explains it quite well, from this Ukrainian musician's point of view... Without further ado I give word to Roman Spivak, a musician from Ukraine, who has 7.63K subscribers.

Reaction video:


And then analysis video:


Both very good, analyzed from musical, visual and lyrics point of view and very positive.

---

What will be your choice?

To be continued...




Laibach: Tanz Mit Laibach (2003)


Laibach - Rossiya












Inspiration


Jedan mali rat - song iz predstave MAJKA COURAGE I NJEZINA DJECA

https://www.index.hr/magazin/clanak/mrle-ova-pjesma-predraga-lucica-bila-mi-je-najveca-inspiracija-za-mamu-sc/2437829.aspx

English: Mrle: This song by Predrag Lucić was my biggest inspiration for Mama ŠČ
Original (in Croatian)

Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo - Putin Tatoos

Charlie Hebdo editor: gorilla with tiny genitalia above nuclear button - you'll instantly recognize Putin
In Russia, demanded to introduce sanctions against employees of Charlie Hebdo

Feral Tribune

Feral Tribune: Die Geschichte einer permanenten Revolution
Heroes of Peace: The Devastating Feral Tribune


Croatia’s ‘Feral Tribune’: The State Strikes Back

News Bar: Satira ne poznaje svetinje, u protivnom gubi smisao

References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/europe/russia-gay-clown-putin/index.html


Village People - In the Navy OFFICIAL Music Video 1978
Younger generations are perhaps more familiar with the Minions version of YMCA also originally by The Village People
Y.M.C.A minions song

More Reaction Videos


Covers
Braća i Sestre - Mama ŠČ | Tik Tok
Ana Karakoleva


Let 3 Mrle - Kaluđerica bez nosa i rujo [2022-9-24] Armagedon Nona?

Deep Fake
Lukaschenko Singing Mama ŠČ

Let 3 - Mama ŠČ - Russian Reaction

Eurovision History
Eurovision: All LGBT Entries (1956-2022)

Nuclear Threats
Cuban Missile Crisis
How Modern Dictators Survive: An Informational Theory of the New Authoritarianism
Punk Rock and Nuclear Threats
Punk Rock
It’s Not a Phase Mom! Punks Against Nuclear Weapons
Punk rock and the cold war/atomic era?
Essay: A Brief History of Punk Rock in the Cold War
List of anti-war songs



Quora: What is something about human psychology that almost nobody knows? The manipulation of the American min😛 Edward Bernays and the birth of public relations

Prlja i Mrle u mladim danima

Anti-Valentine's Day Concert
Mama ŠČ

Why did Hitler attack the USSR?

Ukraine war: Why so many
Russians turn a blind eye to the conflict

Asociations:
Mötley Crüe


The Dictator [2012] - Democracy



Mrle@Let 3 - Kaluđerica bez nosa i Rujo

[ESC] Let 3 - Mama ŠČ, Music Aestetics and Matrix

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