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From 2008 to 2012, a Red culture campaign was carried out in the city of Chongqing in China, as a major part of an ambitious political project. Featuring four elements – “Singing Red, Reading Classics, Telling Stories, and Spreading Mottos” – the Red culture campaign was both widely publicized and highly controversial. The image of millions of people singing revolutionary songs in unison brought back the memories of China’s past political campaigns led by the Communist Party. In this paper, I analyze how the government and participants framed the meaning of Red songs during this campaign. Whereas the government used music as a mobilizing tool, different generations of participants approached and categorized it differently. For example, the older generation saw nostalgic value in these Red songs, whereas younger people were more critical and detached from the political campaign. I draw on the concept of “affective alliance” to explain this bifurcation of reception between these two generations.