All The Young Dudes

Music & Sign Singing

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:

Ways To Be Wicked [Lone Justice]

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]:

Devil Gate Drive [Suzi Quatro]

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!

Further Reading:

On Being Me: No Matter Where You Go, There You Are P3
The Crossroads

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On Being Me: No Matter Where You Go, There You Are P3

I want to share a song that has had a great impact on me when I first heard it. I am working on trying to translate it for sign singing it.

It is called No Matter Where You Go, There You Are, by the Irish folk-rock singer-songwriter, Luka Bloom.

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is a political song about a Muslim man who had to leave his country, to avoid being drafted into the army. It details his flight, wandering, homelessness and subsequent befriending of another homesick man.

Even though the song details a specific experience, about a specific person, there is plenty of detail, that it be can read as a metaphor of how one can never really run from themselves.

The kicker is its chorus:

You must go, follow your star
No matter where you go, there you are
No matter where you go, there are you
So don’t let go of what you know to be true

Listening:

Innocence

Further Reading:

On Being Me [But A Mask Is All You'll Ever See] P2
On Being Me [But A Mask Is All You'll Ever See]
What’s This Choice, That People Speak Of?
DEFINITION: Poison Person/ People
ASSASSINATING ALISON BRYAN - The Foaming Jaws Of The Poison People: The Prequel
ASSASSINATING ALISON BRYAN - The Foaming Jaws Of The Poison People: The Sequel To The Prequel.

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D-PAN: Deaf Performing Arts Network

The last post reminded me of the site, D-PAN: DEAF PERFORMING ARTS NETWORK, which I had come across ages ago, can’t remember how, but I just have to give them a plug now, and record them in my list of linx.

If only this was around when I was doing sign singing with FYD, and even earlier, when I was doing songs like Married Men, Devil Gate Drive, Independence Day, Would I Lie To You, The Old Man, The Lord’s Prayer, and An Evening Prayer.

Sigh!

I can just hear Alison and Liam asking: “When are you gonna do a video Tony?”
“When I fucking well want to! OK?”

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Music Video: Waiting On The World To Change

Got this link just a few moments ago from a friend, Garry Kerridge, of The Rebuttal fame. I’m not particulalry a fan of JOHN MAYER, but I do have the album, CONTINUUM, from where this song, WAITING ON THE WORLD TO CHANGE comes.

I’m not saying anymore, go watch the clip!

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Muzik, Muzik, Sweet, Sweet Me-YOU-zik!

I should make it clear that I am [technically,biologically, physically but not culturally] hearing impaired [a term used to describe people with some hearing]. I’m not going to go into the how’s, whys, and where for of hearing loss, all you need to know is that I have a lot of useful hearing and with two hearings, and can enjoy music - albeit recordings and not live music. The reason is that the volume in alive performance is too much for hearings aids to process - and I do have a pretty good understanding of the art form and its culture and context.

The next obvious question is, What Kind Of  Music? Pop, Rock, Soul, Gospel, Blues, a touch of Jazz, I’m not a fan of show tunes [otherwise known as that vomit inducing  term, Broadway] unless we are talking ROCKY HORROR SHOW or RETURN TO FORBIDDEN PLANET…. [and then it becomes, "How Ya Doin'???????????] and as I type this, I am listening to a CD or Arabic-Hip Hop - Dance Fusion.

The radio in my father’s car is permanently set to 2ME AM a local Arabic Music station. The stuff they play is just great - apart from pure Arabic, they play the modern stuff, which is a fusion between pop and Arabic… and the Arabic is so dominant - you know it’s a funk track, but the rhythm that gets you is Arabic….. I have now changed the CD that’s playing  to Joe Camilleri The Best Of 1977 - 2003….

You know, as much as I can sing, and I can…let’s not mince words here, I can sing..it’s just that I sound fucking awful [like a cat in heat I've been told] and that’s  for obvious reasons <smirk, smirk> you should know by now. Still, I do indulge my rockstar fantasies..wearing a broom swung low al la SUZI QUATRO..and in my younger days [when vinyl was the thing] I would put a speaker against my ear, crank up the volume and just scream along to 48 CRASH.. Oh baby I know the tunes, I got the moves, to seduce you baby <dirty guttural> He! He! He!

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