I shot two sign song videos with me mate Mal a few weeks ago: RESPECT [Lyrics] by Aretha Franklin and WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME [Lyrics] by ABBA. [Sneering] I can see my friend Damian giving me the evil eye, and just what my friend Alison is going to say. 
I finished converting them and compressed them for uploading, Currently RESPECT resides on my Facebook account. If you want to see it and you are not my Facebook friend, suck it up, you’ll have to wait until I upload them both onto this website.
They are not flash videos. Just simple performances that demonstrate AUSLAN [Australian Sign Language] in a musical setting, to sign language students and people who are interested in learning to sign. Though it must be said, my AUSLAN is not pure. It has been contaminated by British Sign Language [BSL], a smattering of American Sign Language [ASL], and my own personal creations and variations.
I wasn’t too sure about the performances at the time they were filmed, but watching them over the last few days, I realised that they were quite good for performances that were under rehearsed. My translation is not bad at all, and the timing, is right on the knuckle. I am tempted to take on Michael Chase DiMartino with a version of the Britney song WOMANISER! [Lascivious grin].
I have to say, Auslan is the more expressive sign language, and the sex IS better in Auslan! Suck on it while you contemplate that arrogant thought! RAFLOL!
RESPECT is one of the first songs I sign-sung, another was INDEPENDENCE DAY[Lyrics] by Bruce Springsteen. It was back in 1989, a time when I getting sick of the victim mentality and the negative image of deafness and being Deaf. I was hungry for an alternative.
I joined Deaf Australia NSW, or New South Wales Association of the Deaf [NSWAD] as it was known then, for the express purpose of leap frogging onto the Deaf Awareness committee. I wanted to shake things up, and I did. Well, we created a splinter group, Deaf Pride Week, that ran concurrently with the traditional Deaf Awareness Week, week. I produced a Deaf writer’s night, in a pub in the city, that included stand up comedy and sign singing. One day when I digitise the video tape, I will upload it.
When I listen to music, I don’t just listen to the sounds, I listen to the singer. I like analyse the words, to work out the intent behind them. I like to visualise how the song might look being sign sung.
Unlike many people who sign deep and meaningful songs, that are nice to watch, filled with "Oo wee baby! Giggle!" and offer no challenge beyond a nice night’s entertainment, I wanted to do songs with determination and grit. I wanted to do songs that had attitude, and what better choice than Aretha’s rendition of attitude & sass: “OW! What you want? Bay bee, I got it!”
RESPECT is a song about being assertive. It is a call to liberation. A declamation that insists that I singer is a human being, and you, the listener, will treat them like one. It is a song where the singer points out that they are your equal. It is a song where the singer demands that you respect them for who they are. If you can’t do that, then you are cordially invited to fuck off!
I lived my rebellious youth by kicking, not too hard, against the gilded cage. I expressed my rebellion through music, and explicit and in your face lyrics were a must. I don’t do coy lyrics. Innuendo, double meanings and subversion yes, coy, no!
Yeah, I know, the swearing! I always have a spare “Fuck You!” somewhere to throw in. It’s my inner teenager yearning to break free. Inner teenager? Who I am I kidding? I am being a good Australian, and swearing is mandatory!
Of course these days, the follies of my youth are tempered with wisdom and humility. [Sniff] If you have following my writings over the years, you wouldn’t think so. [Smiling beatifically] That’s why I dedicate the song WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME, to my fallen angel.
I am considering three songs: THAT’S ALL [Lyrics], by Genesis, Grandpa’s Song [Lyrics], These Hands [Lyrics], and Lead Me On [Lyrics] by Vika and Linda, for the next shoot. AND this one, WHERE THE WILD ROSES GROW [Lyrics] as a duet between Mephisto and his sister Sammel. I thought this was another romp in grass, down by the river song, until I read the final verse.
There is no denying that music is an audio fest, an audio pleasure zone, but if like me, you grew up on pop/rock music, then you will know that the visuals is in integral part of the experience. Not just just music videos, but also the concert experience.
Watch Bruce Springsteen, he doesn’t just stand there, playing and singing. He moves. He creates a spectacle for the eyes as much as a spectacle for the ears. Better still, watch Bette Midler. The visuals are such an integral part of her act, that you can’t listen to her without seeing her. Who can forget The Divine Miss M ("So high, and so proud"), Vickie Edie ("Around the world in 80 ways"), Delores Delago ("The Toast of Chicago!"), Soph ("I will never for it you know…"), and the staggering Harlettes ("Ladies!!!")?
Whenever I watch Bruce……. "Wouldn’t it be just awesome to see a guitar slinging punk who signs?"
Fucking hell it would!
