I spent today just surfing Youtube, music and variety act vid clips, all because of Susan Boyle’s performance in Britain’s Got Talent. Now this feisty woman delivered a performance that was one of the biggest FU, ever served to a crowd of sceptics, who judged her on her appearance alone.
Her performance is not why I am writing this blog though. Earlier this afternoon, I was blown away by a spunk using sign language in his music video.
I was reading a few blogs, surfing as you do, when I came across this story, Womanizer sign language interpreter “speaks”. I was sceptical. I thought here we go, another hearing person, incorporating sign language into their music video. I thought gimmick! Throw in another pretty boy, and we can all wet our pants, and change them once the video is finished.
Anything with sign language in it, is going to peak my interest, even if it’s to look down my nose at their juvenile antics. But for once, my curiosity [inspite of reservations] was rewarded. Handsomely so. I WAS ABSOLUTELY ROCKED OFF MY FEET! I’m still jiving as I write this.
Everything that I thought was possible with sign singing, music, and dance was justified. I’ve always known that you could translate pop songs into use pure ASL, BSL, AUSLAN or other world sign language. I remember having debates about problems of translating pop and rock lyrics, and that Sign Supported English/ Signed English, is the way to sign sing. I disagree, and still do. This video is total vindication for me.
More to the point though, is that Michael DiMartino follows the rhythm and the beat of the song, so that you get more than just the interpretation. You get a sense of the playful sensuality in pop music. You get a sense of hip. You get a sense of personality. Michael has elevated sign language in music from mere translation, into a hip language. It’s not hard too think of rap and hip hop, when he performs. Heck I even forgot he is hearing [he works as a sign language interpreter].
This is not the first song that I learnt to sign sing. It was one of the first where I did my own translation. You will have to forgive the camera angle, though I suspect those who know BSL/ Auslan, will get what this song is about. In lieu of captions, I have provided the full lyrics at the end of this post.
This performance was part of a performing arts day, at a school near where I was living in the UK at the time. This is about just over 10 years ago now. The song is Devil Gate Drive, a jolly good rocker, that is the perfect antidote to the crappy lovey-dovey stuff, Deafies love to do. While you all are waiting For the World To Change, I’ve gone down to Devil Gate Drive.
I have three more videos that I would like to share with you, and they will come. The songs are Respect by Aretha Franklin, Independence Day by Bruce Springsteen, and Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison.
I will write more about my sign singing, but for now, let me introduce you to Tony the rock star, and I hope you enjoy the video for what it is. If you watch the oirginal video below, of Suzi performing the song, you will notice some of the moves are similar. At the time I performed this song, I hadn’t seen the video in years.
[Spoken:]
“Hey, you all want to go down to Devil Gate Drive?
Well, come on”!
“Welcome to ‘The Dive’!”
Well, at the age of five they can do their jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
And at the age of six they’re gonna get their kicks
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Well your mama don’t know where your sister done go
She gone down to the Drive. She’s the start of the show
And let her move on up. Let her come let her go.
She can jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
[Chorus:]
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive
When they reach their teens, that’s when they all get mean
Down in Devil Gate Drive
When I was sweet sisteen I was the jukebox queen
Down in Devil Gate Drive
I lead the angel pack on the road to sin
Knock down the gates!
Let me in. Let me in
Don’t mess me ’round, cause you know where I’ve been
To ‘The Dive’ down in Devil Gate Drive
[Chorus]
Well your mama don’t know where your sister done go
She goes down to the Drive. She’s the start of the show
Let her move on up. Let her come let her go.
She can jive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
[Chorus]
[Spoken:]
“Come on, boys. Let’s do it one more time for Suzi!
Are you ready, now?”
Music is an art form that appeals to the aural sense [hearing], in the same way that painting, sculpture, photography, writing, et al, appeal to the visual sense [seeing]. Listening to music, for me, is an “either/ or” proposition. If I can hear it, I will listen to it, if I can’t, I won’t bother.
The remnants of my upbringing, dictate that, if I can’t have it exactly the way I want it, then I don’t want it at all. It’s hardline I know, but I have yet to see the value of experiencing music as a series of vibrations, through my hands, my body, or coming off the dance floor.
My view and experiences of music, are tied to my “hearing” upbringing, and even tho, I have moved on from the medical/ disability model of deafness, I have never been able to shake off the perception of music as an “either/ or” proposition I mentioned earlier. I experienced music exclusively as a sound experience. Even though, I sign sing, and I love the art of sing singing, I can’t imagine it working or me, without the actual sound driving the hand shapes and signing.
My appreciation of music is determined by what I can hear at any given moment, and things like acoustics, even health issues such as sinus, have a strong influence on any pleasure I may derive from listening or dancing to music, and sign singing. I can replay, and revisit, favourite songs inside my head, and sign sing along to the memory, but I just can’t conceive of music without sound.
Like all the other senses – sight, touch, feel, smell, sound has its own intrinsic qualities that dictate that its best experienced in its intended form: aural [auditory]. Though I’m sure Evelyn Glennie, and Beethoven’s Nightmare would beg to prove me wrong. This does not mean that music [and indeed any of the other arts] cannot be experienced in other ways. Nor does it mean that we can’t explore alternative or different ways of experiencing the form.They can, and many people have gone out of their way to prove this. It just means that essence of the aesthetics and pleasure they [music] impart, lies in the experience of that [its] particular form.
The fact remains though, a Deaf person experiencing music, a deaf person experiencing music, and a hearing person experiencing music, are different sets of experiences, based on different physical characteristics [aural reception and perception]. Which are further influenced by the physical characteristics of location, environment, and acoustics.
Beethoven is held up as an example of someone who wrote music, and continued to do so, after he lost his hearing. But therein lies on oft ignored point. Apart from the fact that music was recorded via the written form of scores, and that each musical notation was a visual representation of a sound and how it is to be played, Beethoven was able to utilise his knowledge and understanding of the language of music [in its written form]. More pertinently, he was able to utilise his memory of sounds Beethoven had a lifetime of experience of music and sounds upon which he could draw from memory, as he continued to write music.
So, how does a Deaf or deaf person create or appreciate music, if its form and its qualities, are not, or not always open to us?
I love music. I am song and dance man, not so much a fan of instrumentals. As is the lot of Deafies and deafies, some of us may well be able to speak, but when it comes to singing, we probably sound like Pierre and his choir of felines in heat.
Still, there is sign singing, which art form in itself. The point of this post is not to analyse the artistry, creativity and techniques of sign singing, but to ask the question, why do Deafies congregate around the crappiest pop songs?
I’m listening to music now, and reading the lyrics at the same time [I always do], and that question cropped up again. I really love good lyrics. I love songs that play on many levels. I love poetic and literate lyrics. Sure, every now and then I give in to my baser instincts and listen to crass, commercial pop.
What prompted this question? My experiences in sign singing always seem to involve vomit inducing song choices [not saying what, but GOD knows!], revolving around themes of love, overcoming adversity, and emotions; or when used for marketing/ PR purposes, “Money, ****ing, Money!” I’ve had the pleasure of an interpreter who sign sung, Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix and Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin for me, so all is not lost.
I do wonder if here are any Deafies out there who are translating stuff like:
Yeah I can take a little pain
I could hold it pretty well
I can watch
your little eyes light up
When you’re walkin’ me through hell
Well I’ve
been your fool before, babe
And I probably will again
You ain’t afraid
to let me have it
You ain’t afraid to stick it in
Yeah you know so
many ways to be wicked
But you don’t know one little thing about love
Yeah those cobra eyes
Light with a smile
You take pride
In
that devil down inside
And G.O.D’s own favourite song [in fact, her theme song]:
When they reach their teens, that’s when they all get mean
Down in Devil Gate Drive
When I was sweet sixteen I was the jukebox queen
Down in Devil Gate Drive
I lead the angel pack on the road to sin
Knock down the gates!
Let me in. Let me in
Don’t mess me ’round, cause you know where I’ve been
To ‘The Dive’ down in Devil Gate Drive
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate Drive
So come alive. Come alive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive
Down in Devil Gate…down in Devil Gate
Down in Devil Gate Drive
I do wonder too, if any Deafie has sign sung The Rocky Horror Picture Show.This would be one hell of a show done in sign. As Rocky Horror is a homage to all the B Grade Sci-Fi movies of the mid 20 Century, with its satire on boy meets girls, and good vs evil. Though, the major challenge lays in its references to movies, singers, actors, and movie plots. I do prefer the Australian Cast recording with Reg Livermore.
Why don’t you stay for the night (night)
Or maybe a bite (bite)
I could show you my favourite obsession
I’ve been making a man
With blond hair and a tan
And he’s good for relieving my . . . tension
Well I was walking down the street just a having a think
When a snake of a
guy gave me an evil wink
He shook-a me up, he took me by surprise
He had a pick-up truck and the devil’s eyes
He
stared at me and I felt a change
Time meant nothing, never would again
Another show that would be great translated into sign, would be Return To The Forbidden Planet, a show I have seen when I was living in the UK nearly 10 years ago.
Yes! I am a rebel, and I do love my freedom and thumbing my nose at society songs! Meanwhile you can watch someone who has brought sexy into sign singing, Zombie Coterie!
What would you be prepared to do, to satisfy a desire for knowledge, power, status or change in life circumstances? What would you be prepared to trade off to achieve this knowledge, power, status or change in life circumstances? Decision making is not always a simple task of “either, or”, but a series of trade-offs where neither option is perfect.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.
Such is the journey to TheCrossroads, and such are the choices that we, Deaf and deaf people face constantly in our efforts to carve out a meaningful life. The sacrifices, and the trade-offs we make. Some of which are in our power, and some without our control, to ensure that the choices we make, are meaningful ones. This is the nature of the Faustian Bargain, where the choices Mephistopheles presents us with, are “either, or”.
Even though I’ve never read Faust, or any of the other Faustian legends, the theme is ever present in the lyrics and the sounds of the music I listen to. When singers and musicians harness the polar opposites of positive and negative, the propel the music towards meanings at odds with its surface presence. This can be evidenced in the blues, where lyrically, the mood is often one of despondency and despair, yet the music is upbeat, playful, joyful, and downright lusty, as to impart the message of survival, inspite of the circumstances.
You were standing there, years ago Waiting so patiently, to take me home And as you held out your hand, I’ll never forget I walked right by you, this day I regret
I had fire in my heart and you knew it I was like you, so much like you
As I marched along, five paces ahead You had a smile for me, I still can’t forget Still I wanted to walk, on my own You were there to protect me, on my way home
Time has gone, and it’s taken you with it I miss you so, this much I know
Now I look back, on all that I’ve done I hope you’ve forgiven me, see I was so young I have grown, I now walk alone I feel you beside me, still guiding me home
I had fire in my heart, and you knew it I was like you, I was so much like you
Time has gone, and taken you with it I miss you so, this much I know I miss you so, now that I know
It was written by Vika as an apology to her Grandfather for her
behaviour when she was younger and her shame of her cultural heritage.
A story I know, and identify with. Yet, it works brilliantly as a metaphor for
the relationship between human beings and their maker [God]. Or simply
a metaphor for human pride, borne out of ignorance, and pitted against
greater forces beyond their understanding [and control], and ultimate
concession [or submission to humility].
The killer lines in Grandpa’s Song, are neither lyrical or melodious, but the ebb and flow of Maori
Choir that swells up after the instrumentals break. This represents a
moment of epiphany, and the sound of the choir that ever so gently, tugs the singer [and listener] towards a state of humility [the greater good]. This never fails to raise
goose bumps, and a rush to the head, in me. There have been moments
when I was nearly given to tears.
The song itself is easy to translate into sign language, and would make for a great signed song. The point for me, though, is how to translate the sounds of the choir, illustrate that ebb and flow, and its gentleness, without whom the song would lose a lot of its intensity. [For me, anyway!]
There is one other song, by Vika and Linda, itself a killer tune, which also works on both the secular and spiritual levels. These Hands, which I will leave you to deduct its meaning, but suffice to say, I interpret it is a call to arms for Deaf Pride, is imbued with many of the elements that make Grandpa’s Song so powerful: pride, humility, knowledge, understanding and esteem.
The breeze blows gentle The trees all sway, as if to wave I picked up my suitcase To pack up my dreams and leave, and sail away On an endless ocean With a sinking heart, I was torn apart When a voice came drifting, warm and rise Something lifting me up to the sky These hands that hold me, are good and strong I’ll be on my feet before too long My life’s not over, why should it be? These hands that hold me They told me to hold on Along the journey, I’ll need hands to hold on My mind still wanders Along the long white beach, that washed my feet And the silver water Under the island moon, I can almost reach This endless ocean So cold and deep, and I’m trying to sleep Then a voice comes drifting, warm and wise Something lifting me up, to the sky
Actions are not without their consequences, a these two songs [and I'm sure you, my dear readers, can come up with examples of your own] illustrate. The pertinent lesson is that decisions we make, are not always clear cut. The
devil in the detail, being the shades of grey, the area of ambiguity
that exists between these polar forces.
In artistic terms though, these songs detail the tensions that exit between the polar forces of positive and negative [good and evil, yin and yang, black and white, being and non being, et al]. Which provides a rich mine of ideas for stories and images, with which you can enhance the story with ambiguity, irony, ecstasy, and enlightenment.
In a mainstream culture that worships the Faustian Bargain, the Crossroads, the Polar forces, continue to fascinate me, and are the source for the story that I am currently working on. A story about a Deaf boy who wants to become a rock and roll star. [As my friend Liam said to me, "It's about you!" - that is me.]
