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 [But A Mask Is All You'll Ever See] P2

My last post,On Being Me [But A Mask Is All You'll Ever See], invoked a long forgotten memory of mine.

I can’t remember the year, but it was the early 1980’s, and I had signed up to do the summer school, with the Australian Theatre of The Deaf. It was an enjoyable experience, and while it was one aspect of my foray into the arts, it really was one step along the road towards finding Deaf community.

One exercise stands out however. One that taught me alot about me, only that it wasn’t obvious at the time. It involved the use of masks.

A selection of different masks were provided. The exercise was to choose a mask that attracted us. We were to pick up the mask, look at it for a few moments, before putting it on. The idea was to allow the character of the mask into yourself, and you were to interact with the rest of the group as that character.

I didn’t last very long before I took off that mask. I felt I was being taken over, and my real self being suppresed. My instinct [as always] was to fight it. I wasn’t receptive at the time to any analysis of acting and how the actor is supposed to use that, not be consumed by that feeling.

Another exercise, that I wasn’t aware of its significance, but I found more enjoyable, was creating short, postcard style scenes - think stills -, which had to communicate a theme, action or situation. We were divided into teams of three. I ended up as the director/ creator. This exercise was far more satisfying than the masks.

Fast Forward to 1994, the UK, Leadership Training Parts 1 and 2, with Friends For The Young Deaf [FYD - now sadly defunct, swallowed up by the National Deaf Children's Society, much to everyone's relief, where it sank into obscurity]. One of the oft repeated comments was how I didn’t like authority.

It’s true. I still don’t. Especially positions of authority occupied by boors.

Further Reading:

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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MEDIA WATCH: So You Think You Can Judge?

Like Aussies, Deafies are everywhere. Aussies are everywhere in American Prime Time TV. Now if only Deafies were as prominent in everybody’s lounge rooms, we wouldn’t have to waste precious moments of our lives discussing, debating, and reiterating, what we already know. Deafies rule! The others are struggling to catch up.

For those who like their pop culture on the slummy side, I bring to your attention the following article, So you think the deaf can’t dance? Beat it, because I rarely read the mainstream news these days, and a lot of these shows are crap. But the article caught my eye because it contained the words deaf and eharing in the same sentence.

I won’t bother correcting the misspelling of the word hearing in the previous sentence, because wouldn’t do what I hoped correcting the misspelling would do.

CORRECT THEIR ATTITUDES!

Anyway, the part that peaked my interest was:

“…..her deaf sister, Lorraine, who auditioned for the show but did not make it through the heats because the judges thought she would have trouble picking up new choreography.”

The judges should stick to judging what they know best. Frigging dancing!

Meanwhile you can read the article here, if you don’t want to click through to the original.

So you think the deaf can’t dance? Beat itEmily Dunn and Elicia Murray
March 31, 2008

To elitists, it’s just not dancing. To an army of krumping, breaking, freestyle-popping dancers in the deaf community, So You Think You Can Dance Australia is essential viewing.

When the hip-hop star Demi Sorono made it into the top 20 on the TV talent quest, she sent a message by sign language to her deaf sister, Lorraine, who auditioned for the show but did not make it through the heats because the judges thought she would have trouble picking up new choreography.

A former student of the sisters, Ross Onley-Zerkel, said many people - hearing and deaf - were surprised to learn that deaf people could dance.

“Some deaf people were amazed when they saw us perform at a conference dinner because they assumed we would be a professional hearing hip-hop group,” Onley-Zerkel said.

With the bass on full-blast, he learnt by feeling the vibrations and memorising steps using beats to match the music.

Onley-Zerkel said most dancers in his class couldn’t hear the words of the songs but some had hearing aids to help them hear the music. Next month he plans to run a hip-hop workshop for deaf students in Melbourne with Nikki Ashby, who reached the top 40 of the Network Ten show.

Demi’s brother, Carlo, who also reached the top 40, said many dancers in the deaf community had embraced Demi after they saw her use Auslan, or Australian Sign Language, on the show.

“It meant a lot to viewers, even hearing people,” he said. “They thought it really came from the heart.”

After dancing her way into the top 10 with her partner, Jack Chambers, Demi and the other contestants will swap partners every week for the rest of the competition. Tonight’s episode features the first of the top-10 eliminations.

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