title: MySQL CONCAT("string",longtext) results in hex string
body: <p>I'm experiencing a weird hex string result when trying to concat a string with a column that should be of LONGTEXT type.</p>
  
  <p>The query goes like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT concat("abc",t.LONGTEXT_VALUE,"cde") FROM mytable t
  
  61626354657374696e67636465
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The hex string <code>61626354657374696e67636465</code> is the correct value, just in hexadecimal form.</p>
  
  <p>A SELECT on the column itself will return the normal string:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT t.LONGTEXT_VALUE FROM mytable t
  
  Testing
  </code></pre>